uBlock Origin Review 2025: Is It the Best Free Ad Blocker?

uBlock Origin is a free, open-source content filtering extension with countless settings to customize your ad blocker experience. Our testing proved it provides near-perfect blocking, but you'll need to find your way around the settings with limited customer support. 

We were also affected by the Manifest v3 launch and can no longer use the extension on Google Chrome. Of all the ad blockers we've tested, it was one of only two options that are unavailable on Chrome. 

Read on to learn about how we tested the uBlock Origin browser extension and how it stacks up against the best ad blockers.

uBlock Origin overview

Ads blocked on Forbes	21
AdBlock Tester score	100/100
Cover Your Tracks score	2.5/3
Can You Block It score	3/3
Does it block YouTube ads?	Yes
Whitelisting available	Yes
Blacklisting available	Yes (dynamic filtering rules)
Compatibility	Firefox, Edge, Safari (prior to 13), Opera
Paid version	N/A
Learn more	Get uBlock Origin

We last tested uBlock Origin on March 7, 2025.

Our experience 

We found uBlock Origin effective at blocking ads across most websites, but you'll need more technical knowledge to get the extension to its full potential. Since it's no longer available on our Chrome browser, we tested uBlock Origin on Firefox. 

uBlock Origin doesn't provide a tutorial after you've enabled it. You'll need to dig in the settings and filters if you want a more comprehensive blocking experience. 

For instance, uBlock Origin received a 90/100 with AdBlock Tester and only partially passed all the Cover Your Tracks tests. Once we checked off every filter we could find, the scores were 100/100 and 2.5/3, respectively.

uBlock Origin functions by filtering out elements on webpages that would otherwise interrupt your viewing experience. When you load a page, it checks it against a database of filters and removes anything that might cause issues, such as ad trackers and other ad placements. 

uBlock also doesn’t receive payments to allow what’s known as “acceptable ads.” These are ads deemed as not interfering with your content by other blockers like Adblock Plus.^[1]

You can also whitelist sites by adding them to the list of trusted sites in the settings. This works great if you want to support your favorite creators on sites like YouTube. You can also remove specific buttons and ad placements. 

Note that we regularly used uBlock Origin but Google turned it off because it's no longer supported. The rollout officially happened over the summer, so we weren't sure if uBlock Origin would actually be taken down but looks like it started being slowly rolled out to users in December. 

Main features

uBlock Origin labels itself as a wide-spectrum content blocker with several features to block ads, tracking, malware, and other annoyances. It was created by Raymond Hill in 2014 and continues to be maintained and actively developed by him as an free and open-source extension. 

Ad blocker counter

The ad blocker counter tells you the number of ads and trackers blocked on the website and individual webpages. The counter also shows you the number of ads blocked to date and on the current browser page. 

uBlock Origin also provides warnings if you navigate to websites that are malicious, have spyware, or have notable privacy and tracking issues.

Advanced filtering

uBlock Origin has several different filters lists that you can enable depending on your preferences. 

The EasyList is the primary filter list that removes most ads from from webpages, inclding unwanted frames, images, and objects. The EasyPrivacy list tackles blocking trackers like web bugs, tracking scripts, and information collectors. 

There's also the Online Malicious URL Blocklist, Peter Lowe's ad tracking list, and countless others. 

Customizable blocking modes

The extension offers easy, medium, and hard blocking modes for all levels of users. Elevated features for more advanced users include the element zapper, which removes specific social media icons and buttons from webpages, and the element picker, which can permanently remove these elements.

uBlock Origin user resources

Along with uBlock Origin’s beneficial features, it also offers several resource libraries. uBlock’s repository of help for installation includes a dedicated Github and a subreddit.

Although this ad blocker can work effectively for less tech-savvy users, more advanced users may want to create custom filters or change privacy settings. In addition to the Github site, which offers guides on these customizations, the uBlock subreddit designed to help users connect and share their experiences with this tool.

uBlock Origin's test results

To review uBlock Origin, we used testing websites, including AdBlock Tester, Cover Your Tracks, and Can You Block It. We also test how well ad blockers work against ads on YouTube and paywalls. 

AdBlock Tester tested uBlock Origin against several types of ads. Contextual advertising collects data about users in order to find the right ads for you. Traffic analytics tools are used to monitor your actions on a website and collect information about you. Finally, error monitoring is used to track and measure errors on websites.

uBlock Origin got a perfect score from AdBlock Tester. A few tests were listed as "most likely passed," but not enough to knock down points on the score.

Cover Your Tracks tests for blocking trackers, invisible tracking, and fingerprinting. Invisible tracking is when data tracking elements are hidden in websites to obtain information on you. Fingerprinting is the term for how tracking sites piece together user data to form a “fingerprint” of your device.

uBlock Origin received a 2.5/3 Cover Your Tracks score, providing strong protection against tracking ads and invisible trackers.

Finally, Can You Block It is an easy-to-use browser test that lets you know the different types of advertisements blocked. These include the "disable adblocker" warning, banner ads, and interstitial ads (or ads that pop up before the page actually loads). 

uBlock Origin successfully blocked all the ads. How do we know? Because we didn't see any. That's how simple the test is. 

uBlock Origin scores

	AdBlock Tester	Cover Your Tracks	Can You Block It
uBlock Origin score	100/100	2.5/3	3/3

YouTube ad test

Advertisers and content creators have been able to monetize on YouTube thanks to ads and sponsored content. However, it can make the viewing experience annoying for YouTube users. That's why we also check the ad blockers we review based on their ability to block YouTube ads.

uBlock Origin proved effective at blocking banner ads and even many video ads on the YouTube website. This is especially impressive following YouTube's recent crackdown on ad blockers, making uBlock Origin one of the best ad blockers for YouTube. 

However, you won’t find as much success while using the YouTube mobile app, as uBlock Origin is currently only available as an extension for web browsers.

Bypassing paywall test

Ad blockers can't typically bypass paywalls but we always try in case we're surprised. During this round of testing, uBlock Origin was able to unblock a paywall from Bloomberg. It still failed against the Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic, but it beats almost all the ad blockers we've tested by unblocking one site.

uBlock Origin can also bypass soft paywalls, like the ones common in local news sites. We tested the ad blocker against the Austin American Statesman and were able to fully access subscriber-only content. All we did was navigate to the news site and click on the articles of interest while the ad blocker was enabled. 

What browsers and software is it compatible with?

uBlock Origin is compatible with multiple popular browsers, and the following browsers are supported:

• Mozilla Firefox
• Safari (prior to 13)
• Microsoft Edge
• Opera

uBlock Origin is slowly being taken down on Google Chrome due to the Manifest V3 update. It has developed a compliant extension, known as uBlock Origin Lite, but it's not as powerful as the original blocker. (Learn more about how the Lite version compares to uBlock Origin.)

How to use uBlock Origin

Adding the uBlock Origin extension is easy. Here’s how to get the browser extension for Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.

For Mozilla Firefox:

1. Head to the uBlock Origin website.
2. Select Get uBlock Origin.
3. From the Firefox Browser Add-Ons page, click Add to Firefox.

For Microsoft Edge:

1. Head to the uBlock Origin website.
2. Select Get uBlock Origin.
3. In the Microsoft Edge Add-ons store, click Get.
4. From the pop-up, click Add extension to Microsoft Edge.

Top alternatives

uBlock Origin is one of our top-rated ad blockers, but it may not be right for you. We've compiled a list of some alternative ad blockers for you to consider. Plus, all of these tested services block YouTube ads as well as ads on major streaming platforms. 

FAQs

Bottom line: Is uBlock Origin good?

Whether you're looking to block ads on YouTube or reduce ad tracking, uBlock Origin is a great selection for a free ad blocker. It can remove ads from YouTube videos and social media sites, as well as website takeover ads. In addition to removing ads on most websites, uBlock Origin also prevents pop-up windows and other distractions from interfering with your web browsing experience.

The ad blocker works effectively from installation, so you can set it once and trust it will work for you. The only downfall to this ad blocker is that it's not compatible with all browsers and doesn't have a mobile app. It could also require more technical knowledge, depending on what features you want to use. But if you want a good ad blocker for the most widely used browsers, uBlock Origin delivers on its promises.

If you need more advanced security features or are looking for a guaranteed blocker for Chrome, learn more about other top-rated ad blockers we've reviewed. You can also see how uBlock Origin compare to other ad blockers:

• uBlock Origin vs. AdGuard
• uBlock Origin vs. Adblock Plus
• uBlock Origin vs. Ghostery
• uBlock Origin vs. 1Blocker
• uBlock Origin vs. Privacy Badger

Featured ad blockers to consider