10 Best Ad Blockers in 2025 — Apps and Browser Extensions

Most ad blockers sound great on paper, but in reality, many of them barely work. I’ve lost count of how many times I installed a so-called blocker, only to see pop-ups, banners, or YouTube ads still slipping through. Some ad blockers can compromise your online security by tracking and selling your data, or even infecting your device with malware.

What is the best ad blocker? AdGuard Adblocker is one of the most effective ad blockers we tested, stopping 90% of ads, and has over 150 million users (Paddle, 2025)¹. However, after the Chrome Manifest V3 update, most ad-block extensions have become less effective. Additionally, YouTube has improved its technology to detect ad blockers.

My team and I tried over 30 ad blockers to find the best ones that are truly privacy-friendly and still work — I was surprised how many failed. While AdGuard is our overall favorite, we've found several other robust network-wide solutions and free browser extensions to compare. Read ahead to review their strengths and weaknesses.

Short on Time? Compare the Best Ad Blockers for 2025

Below is a comparison of the key features to consider when selecting an ad blocker. All my recommended options are lightweight and improve page loading times. Unfortunately, with Google's Manifest V3 update, which is designed to undermine ad-blocking extensions, no ad blocker can block all ads.

YouTube has also introduced anti-ad-blocking technology, which detects ad blockers and prompts users to disable their ad blockers. Make sure the ad blocker you choose is compatible with both of these new updates.

Best Ad Blockers — Full Analysis (Updated 2025)

1. AdGuard AdBlocker — Highly Effective Ad-Blocking Apps and Browser Extensions

Unlike most ad blockers, which offer only a Chrome extension, AdGuard provides full Windows, Mac, iOS, Android (including TVs), and Linux apps. These apps block annoying ads on your browser and other apps. During our tests, it successfully blocked 90% of ads, including pop-ups, banner ads, and newsletter ads.

AdGuard also offers extensions for popular browsers, including Safari. The Safari extension was less effective than the Chrome one, but it still worked well, blocking all ads on Forbes, The Guardian, and other websites. It also successfully blocked in-video ads on YouTube — we rarely saw any ads while streaming content on the platform during tests.

Even sponsored links on Google searches were effectively blocked by AdGuard. However, this setting is customizable, and you can easily switch it off to check for promotions and offers. AdGuard's parental controls allow you to block or enable selective websites and prevent downloading all .exe files. You can also set third-party cookies to self-destruct after a chosen period.

I initially had concerns that AdGuard was founded in Moscow, since Russia is known to have intrusive data monitoring laws. However, it has now relocated to Cyprus. You need a subscription to use AdGuard apps, but there's a 60-day money-back guarantee to test it risk-free.

✅ Blocked 90%+ of ads
😐 Blocked 50% to 80% of ads
❌ Blocked less than 50% of ads

Try AdGuard AdBlocker >>

2. Brave Browser — Private Browser With Built-In Ad Blocking

Brave Browser has built-in ad and tracker blocking and does a great job of removing ads. Similar to AdGuard, we rarely saw ads on popular websites like BuzzFeed, Instagram, PCGamingWiki, and other ad-riddled sites we tested. What encouraged me most was how well Brave handled YouTube ads, even after the latest update designed to trip up ad blockers. I only saw the occasional video ad sneak through.

This browser is based on Chromium and uses the more privacy-friendly DuckDuckGo as its default search engine. This search engine is famous for not running sponsored or third-party ads. Plus, Brave and DuckDuckGo don’t track your browsing, so you know your data won't be sold or used for targeted ads, unlike other popular browsers, like Chrome.

You can create a customized feed to get the latest news from your favorite websites. This also prevents you from seeing dozens of ads on that source’s website. You can also browse onion websites with the Brave browser’s Private Window with Tor.

The only con I could find with Brave is that it has an ad program that shows ads to users. However, you will only see the ads if you want to, and you can earn up to 70% of the ad revenue that Brave receives from advertisers.

✅ Blocked 90%+ of ads
😐 Blocked 50% to 80% of ads
❌ Blocked less than 50% of ads

Try Brave Browser >>

3. Adblock Plus — An Open-Source Blocker That Can Prevent Social Media Tracking

Adblock Plus can prevent social media websites from tracking your data so that customized profiles can be created. It is also open-source, meaning anyone can view its code and suggest improvements. In our tests, it worked effectively on multiple websites, including BuzzFeed and YouTube, by blocking video ads, floating pop-ups, and self-promotional sidebar ads.

You can choose distraction control or block additional tracking in 1-click

It has a simple interface, and you can easily customize most settings with just one click. In addition to traditional ad blocking, Adblock Plus has a Block element feature, which you can use to block sections or ads manually on a webpage. With its Language Filters, you can also choose to block ads from a specific language.

Adblock Plus's premium version offers additional blocking capabilities against cookie consents, floating plus self-playing video ads, and newsletter ads. It has a 60-day money-back guarantee to test all the features.

✅ Blocked 90%+ of ads
😐 Blocked 50% to 80% of ads
❌ Blocked less than 50% of ads

Try Adblock Plus >>

4. Opera Browser — Integrated Privacy Features To Improve Website Load Times

Opera is a smooth and user-friendly browser with a built-in ad blocker. Its privacy protection can improve your website load times, and during tests, it blocked a considerable amount of ads and trackers. Opera stopped banner, sidebar, and video ads on Fandom.com, Twitch, and YouTube.

This panel also allows you to connect to the VPN

Its integrated messages allow you to use all major messengers in a browser window without ads. Adjusting your settings is also pretty straightforward. All I had to do was click the blue shield icon in the search bar to open the Privacy Protection dropdown.

Opera includes a free VPN, but it is slow and offers limited servers. During tests, it reduced our speeds by as much as 75% compared to our base speed (this was much slower than Brave’s built-in VPN). It also uses Google as the default search engine, which allows sponsored links and collects a lot of data via ads and trackers, so it’s not great for privacy.

✅ Blocked 90%+ of ads
😐 Blocked 50% to 80% of ads
❌ Blocked less than 50% of ads

Try Opera Browser >>

5. AdBlocker Ultimate — Blocks Ads Without Exceptions for a Cleaner Browsing Experience

AdBlocker Ultimate is a no-nonsense ad blocker that doesn’t allow “acceptable ads” by default. It offers extensions for Chrome, Opera, Safari, Firefox, and Edge that can reliably block banners, video ads, and pop-ups. I also noticed pages loading faster once the junk was stripped away, which made browsing feel a lot cleaner. It even blocks known malicious domains, which is a nice bonus for extra security.

It also offers filters to enhance your online privacy and security

It provides dedicated apps for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. Although these apps are paid, they provide system-wide protection by filtering ads within apps, games, and websites. We also saw fewer ads on YouTube with AdBlocker Ultimate enabled. One annoying thing is that it forces you to pay donations.

✅ Blocked 90%+ of ads
😐 Blocked 50% to 80% of ads
❌ Blocked less than 50% of ads

Try AdBlocker Ultimate >>

6. AdBlock — Compatible With Mobile To Prevent Ads on Your Phone

Unlike most ad blockers, AdBlock is available for mobile and major browsers. It also has the same interface across all the supported platforms, so you don’t need to adjust to a new interface on different devices. Please be aware that this service is different from AdBlock Plus.

It also allows you to hide a specific section of a webpage

Mobile compatibility is the top reason AdBlock made my list. It allows non-intrusive ads by default. Despite all these features, it could only stop about half the ads and trackers. It’s one of the more popular blockers, which is probably why many people think ad blockers don’t work.

✅ Blocked 90%+ of ads
😐 Blocked 50% to 80% of ads
❌ Blocked less than 50% of ads

Try AdBlock >>

7. uBlock Origin Lite — An Easy-To-Use AdBlocker for Chrome and Safari

uBlock Origin Lite is the Manifest V3-compatible version of the adblocker that's compatible with Chrome and Safari. It features a simple interface that allows you to select between different levels of content filtering. You can still use the older version on Opera and Firefox.

It also has preset filters that you can enable or disable with just a click

You can manually remove any element or create a custom filter to block an element permanently. During our tests, uBlock Origin Lite performed well, but we still encountered occasional banners and in-video ads on YouTube.

✅ Blocked 90%+ of ads
😐 Blocked 50% to 80% of ads
❌ Blocked less than 50% of ads

Try uBlock Origin Lite >>

8. Ghostery — Free Ad-Blocker With Tracker Protection for Your Privacy

Ghostery is capable of blocking ads and protecting your online data from trackers. The extensions have a very simple interface, but also offer extensive customization options, such as regional language and ad filters, as well as URL redirect protection.

Its "Trackers" option also shows the details of all the trackers it has blocked

It performed pretty well on all websites during our tests. My only concern was that Ghostery has had multiple privacy-related issues in the past, including collecting and selling user data. However, its ownership has been changed since the prior privacy issues, and there haven't been problems since then.

✅ Blocked 90%+ of ads
😐 Blocked 50% to 80% of ads
❌ Blocked less than 50% of ads

Try Ghostery >>

9. AdLock — Preset Filter Lists for Blocking Ads in Different Languages

AdLock enables you to filter ads in specific languages, such as English and Russian. You can easily do this by allowing the preset lists to filter content based on language. The interface feels straightforward and intuitive — I never had to dig through confusing menus to find what I needed.

These filters are good but we could still see ads of a blocked language during tests

Unlike AdGuard, its apps don’t provide a free trial, with tracker blocking offered as a paid option even in extensions. The extension also had mixed effectiveness, blocking ads on websites like CNN, but it blocked PCGamingWiki entirely instead of the ads.

✅ Blocked 90%+ of ads
😐 Blocked 50% to 80% of ads
❌ Blocked less than 50% of ads

Try AdLock >>

10. Stands AdBlocker — All-Purpose Ad Blocker That Works Against All Types of Ads

Stands AdBlocker can block banners, a few video ads, and social media promotions. It can even prevent annoying pop-ups on search engines and email platforms. Additionally, it can hide cookie banners by accepting only essential and functional cookies on your behalf.

These settings allow you to disable tracking, popups and cookie notices

However, during our tests, we would still see some ads most of the time. This is the only reason that we have ranked it as our last choice. Otherwise, it has a very clean interface with minimal yet effective settings options.

✅ Blocked 90%+ of ads
😐 Blocked 50% to 80% of ads
❌ Blocked less than 50% of ads

Try Stands AdBlocker >>

Extensions vs Apps: Which Ad Blockers Are Better?

Ad-blocking extensions only work against the ads and trackers present on your browser. In addition to this limited compatibility, their capabilities were severely restricted after Google deployed the Manifest V3 update. The apps that don’t align with the new framework have even been removed from the extensions store. One notable example of such removal is uBlock Origin.

Ad-blocking apps offer better compatibility and can prevent ads on all apps. They also work on the DNS level to prevent ads more effectively and remain unaffected by the new Google update. Compared to extensions, ad-blocking apps offer more features and work against more types of ads.

Tips for Choosing the Best Ad Blocker

Are ad blockers worth it? Ad blockers are definitely worth it; some sources suggest that around 33% of internet users won't browse without one (Exploding Topics, 2024)², while others claim it’s as high as 42% (B2, 2024)³. While I've never found an ad blocker that consistently eliminates every ad across all my devices, the best ones can remove most.

From our testing, I’ve learned that picking the right ad blocker isn’t just about how well it blocks ads — there are a few other factors that really matter too. For example, if you’re planning to use an ad blocker for a specific app, what makes it “the best” might look a little different than if you’re just using it in a browser. Here’s a quick breakdown of what I think you should keep in mind before choosing one.

• Regular updates. Advertising tactics change constantly, so it's essential to choose an ad blocker that provides software updates at least once a year. I ensured that the blockers on my list receive regular updates.
• Ad blocking effectiveness. There are many types of online ads (mastheads, banners, pop-ups, widgets, streaming videos, GIFs, etc.), and many ad blockers fail to block them all. I’ve prioritized ad blockers that work with various ad formats.
• Device compatibility. Many ad blockers are limited in compatibility with multiple browsers and operating systems. My recommended ad blockers all offer a good level of compatibility, and those that work with more devices rank higher on my list.
• Customizable settings. I’ve only included ad blockers that let you customize allowlists and other security features. Each one also comes pre-configured for ease of use.

What Are the Worst Ad Blockers?

Ad blockers that seem trustworthy could be tracking your data. Some blockers have even been caught embedding malware on user devices. For these reasons and more, I advise against using the following blockers:

• uBlock. uBlock has been known to modify cookies so it can track its users. It has been removed from the Chrome Extensions store. uBlock should not be confused with uBlock Origin, which has been removed from the extensions store after implementing the Manifest V3 update.
• Privacy Badger. Privacy Badger isn’t really an ad blocker because it only blocks trackers. Its privacy policy states, “Where possible, we take steps to limit the ability of third parties to retain data about our users”, which doesn’t fill me with confidence.

An Ad Blocker Is Not a Security Product — How To Stay Safe Online

Are ad blockers safe? Some ad blockers are safe, like the ones on my list, but they're not designed for security and don't hide your IP address, so your real location and identity can be exposed to websites, advertisers, and malicious actors. To stay safe online, I recommend the following:

• Don’t click on ads. Always avoid clicking on intrusive ads (such as pop-ups, banners, in-video ads, etc.) as they can be injected with malware or redirect you to malicious websites.
• Use an Antivirus. Antivirus software scans downloaded files and deletes those that are harmful. They can also delete malicious files that start to download automatically, even when you accidentally click on pop-ups.
• Switch to a private browser. Some browsers, like Chrome, support ads. The Manifest V3 update is just an example of how it continually works to limit ad blockers' capabilities. So, the best way to avoid harmful ads is to use a private browser that is not ad-supported.
• Use a VPN. VPNs are safety tools designed to safeguard your online privacy by hiding your online activity from hackers, snoops, and your ISP. It also makes your online location difficult to trace by encrypting and assigning new IP addresses. Top-tier VPNs also come with built-in ad-blockers that are more effective than extensions.

FAQs on the Best Ad Blockers

Get the Best Ad Blocker Today

A good ad blocker can improve your browsing experience. Finding the info you want online is easier when there aren't countless ads that break up the content. We have selected the best, safest ad blockers available that can effectively prevent ads and trackers.

However, keep in mind that after the introduction of the Manifest V3 update by Google, even the best ad blockers can’t block everything. The blockers I’ve recommended still work after the Manivest V3 update, and many circumvent YouTube's aggressive ad blocker detection technology. Still, you may need to combine a few of them or use them with additional security software to eliminate all ads.

References

1. https://www.paddle.com/customers/how-adguard-scaled-to-150-million-global-users
2. https://explodingtopics.com/blog/ad-block-users
3. https://www.b2.ai/ad-blocker-statistics-2024/