(Credit: René Ramos)
Table of Contents
Real ads from legitimate companies are annoying on their own, but some online advertisements can be downright dangerous. For example, you may have encountered malicious scareware ads that look like antivirus alerts. Other ads impersonate law enforcement and demand hefty fines. You should also want advertisers to know less about you. Ad blockers not only drastically reduce the ads you encounter online, but they also prevent advertisers from tracking your online activities. The best news? All of the ad blockers on this list are free. Read on to find out which extensions we recommend and how to choose the right one.
Our Top Tested Picks
The Best Ad Blocker Deals This Week*
- Surfshark CleanWeb — Block Ads and Trackers for $2.49 Per Month
- Guardio — Try for Free on All Your Devices Plus Get 40% Off the Premium Plan
Best for Allowing Ads
Adblock Plus
Adblock Plus is an old and recognizable name in the ad-blocking space. The free version of the extension functions well in testing. I could block ads and other inline page elements on PCMag.com without fiddling with the Settings menu.
If you open the extension's Settings, you'll see additional blocking options available for Premium subscribers. Adblock Plus Premium costs $40 annually or $4 per month. It allows you to block cookie consent pop-ups and other page elements. The latter is a free feature found in uBlock Origin.
If you don't want to block all ads on a page, you can leave the Acceptable Ads setting checked in the Settings menu. This option allows advertising that Adblock Plus deems unobtrusive to appear on websites. If you uncheck this setting, as I did, all ads should disappear after a page refresh.
On YouTube, the extension's blocking functioned a bit clumsily. I briefly encountered pre-roll ads that would play and then disappear.
Adblock Plus received middling scores from both AdBlock Tester and EFF's Cover Your Tracks website because my browser was found to have a unique fingerprint, and the extension failed to block some tracking ads during the testing period.
Best Interface
Ghostery
Overall, I liked how easy it was to use the Ghostery extension. It doesn't offer the level of customization found with uBlock Origin, but it blocked ads effectively and received top scores from the AdBlock testing website and EFF's Cover Your Tracks.
The Ghostery browser extension for Firefox has an attractive blue and purple accented interface. In testing, it had no trouble blocking ads on PCMag's homepage. Like uBlock Origin, Ghostery blocked ads before and during YouTube videos and ads on the YouTube homepage.
Remember that you have to enable the extension's privacy settings before Ghostery can block ads for you. I recommend reading privacy policies and terms of service documents whenever you download a new app or browser extension. I read Ghostery's privacy policy and didn't notice anything unusual.
Best Tracker Detection
Privacy Badger
Privacy Badger is a tracker-eliminating extension created by the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), and it was effective during the most recent testing period. Tracking your activity all around the web is a big part of an advertiser's job, so naturally, Privacy Badger's tracker detection filter eliminates ads, too. During previous tests, the extension took a long time to start working, but the most recent tests showed no perceptible delay between installing the extension and ads disappearing on PCMag.com.
You can adjust the blocking you want on each page by moving the bars to green, yellow, or red for each ad tracker. Green means all ads and cookies are allowed to load on a page. Yellow blocks cookies only. Red blocks ads and cookies.
I also tested the extension while watching videos on YouTube. Aside from one pre-roll ad during my first session, I didn't encounter any other ads on YouTube during my tests.
Not surprisingly, the privacy rating for EFF's Privacy Badger was pretty good on EFF's Cover Your Tracks website. That said, the extension netted the lowest score (62/100) on the AdBlock Tester website of all ad-blocking extensions I've tested. The most significant issues were failures for the flash banners, GIFs, and static image tests.
Best Customization
uBlock Origin
If it's an ad, uBlock Origin can block it. Even if it's not an ad but instead an annoying image or video on a page, the open-source browser extension can still hide the offending element from your view with its handy Element Zapper mode. In testing, I used the extension to block all the ads on the PCMag homepage, along with any mid or pre-roll ads encountered on YouTube.
That said, uBlock Origin doesn't work on all popular browsers. When you try to download uBlock Origin from the Chrome web store, you're greeted with a notice stating that the browser extension doesn't follow best practices. In other words, uBlock Origin doesn't work with Manifest V3, which is Google's new platform for browser extensions.
In a GitHub post, the uBlock Origin developers stated that while there is a Lite version of the extension to comply with Manifest v3, no full version is available. The full version still functions for people who use Edge, Firefox, Opera, and Thunderbird's productivity interface.
During the latest round of testing, uBlock Origin received top marks from Adblock Tester and a decent rating from EFF's Cover Your Tracks. Despite not playing well with Chrome, uBlock Origin is the most customizable ad-blocking extension I've tested.
Easiest to Use
AdLock
AdLock is an accurate and very easy-to-use ad-blocking extension for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. I tested it using Chrome.
AdLock is also available as a total system solution, which purports to block ads within games or other apps on up to five devices. To use this version of AdLock, you'll need a paid subscription, which starts at $3.50 per month.
The extension blocked all of the ads on PCMag.com immediately without the need to tweak any privacy settings. If you visit the Settings menu within the extension, you can turn off and on rules for different sites.
I also tested the Chrome extension while watching YouTube videos, and my experience was a bit of a mixed bag. While watching music videos, I encountered a couple of pre-roll ads, but later in the day, I watched a "free with ads" movie without any interruptions.
As for the other independent tests, EFF's Cover Your Tracks reported that AdLock blocked tracking ads effectively but failed to block invisible trackers. The score from AdBlock Tester was much better, though, a 96/100. The only failure came from a failed sentry script execution test.
Stay Safe With the Latest Security News and Updates
By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Thanks for signing up!
Your subscription has been confirmed. Keep an eye on your inbox!
Is Google Blocking Your Ad Blocker?
For years, tech behemoth Google threatened to crack down on browser extension activity within its Chrome browser to improve security. Now, the company is making good on the threats and disabling browser extensions that don't comply with Manifest V3, the company's new browser extension framework.
Security experts, like those at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), say Manifest V3 is not a solution for real security problems, such as browser extensions that scrape people's browsing histories and sell the data to the highest bidder. For its part, Google states that Manifest V3 isn't designed to stifle adblocker development.
Currently, uBlock Origin is the only ad-blocking browser extension on this list that is affected by the changes within Chrome. However, some of your other extensions may be affected, too. You can re-enable these extensions temporarily by opening Chrome, selecting More > Extensions > Manage Extensions, and then toggling them on.
Though Chrome is a wildly popular browser, it's not the only game in town. Most of the adblockers on this list are available for other popular browsers, like Edge and Firefox, too. If you're looking for something totally different, try one of these alternative browsers.
How We Test Ad Blockers
All of my browser extension testing was conducted on a desktop computer running Windows 11 Pro. I tested each ad blocker's Firefox extension.
For functionality tests, I click around PCMag's homepage and other well-known news and social media websites. I also watch YouTube videos to see how many pre-roll, mid-roll, and overlay advertisements I encounter while they run. During the test, I note the aesthetic choices for each extension and give preference to those with attractive and easy-to-use layouts. I also factor in scores from ad block extension testing websites such as AdBlock Tester and the EFF's browser testing site.
Go Beyond Ad Blockers
Ad blockers are valuable tools, but there are more ways to maintain effective cybersecurity hygiene. Consider exploring your browsers' built-in privacy tools. If those settings can't provide the level of protection you need, check out our list of the best privacy-focused web browsers.
A VPN is also a worthwhile privacy investment. VPNs use encryption to hide your online activity, making it a little more difficult for advertisers to track you online. Remember that account takeovers and malware infections are the biggest threats to your security online.
Enable multi-factor authentication wherever you can online to keep bad guys from taking over your accounts. Download antivirus software, and use a password manager to create and store unique and complex passwords or passkeys for each app you use.
Of course, the best way to stay safer online is to give up as little information about yourself as possible. Read about the concept of poisoning your well of data, and then use some of my tips to delete or obscure your existing private information online.
To make cyber hygiene maintenance easier, I put together a cybersecurity checklist. It consists of tasks you can complete at regular times to protect your privacy and online safety year after year.
