The internet can feel like a full-on assault of the senses at times, with video ads loading up in the corners of the screen or the whole thing being taken over by the latest entreatment from a company that wants to sell you things.
It doesn’t have to be this way though, as ad-blockers can quieten the visual cacophony and restore order to your browser once more. There’s also the added bonus that many of them will also protect you against being tracked by the same ad companies in their never-ending quest to get money out of your pockets and into theirs.
But which ad-blockers should you trust, what do they do and how much will it cost you? We’ve gathered together our current favourites so you can experience a cleaner internet while also knowing that no one is looking over your shoulder.
If privacy is paramount in your list of needs, we’d recommend going one step further and signing up for a VPN as well. These encrypt your internet data and remain the best way to prevent any snooping on your online activities.
Take a look at our guide to the best VPNs to find one that suits your preferences.
Why you should consider not blocking ads
On the flip side, advertising exists to support all the free content that everyone expects to find on their favourite websites – including this one – and blocking them denies the creators of that content the revenue that allows them to produce it in the first place.
Some ad blockers, such as AdBlock and AdBlock Plus, default to allowing non-intrusive adverts, which brings some balance that could make you feel more comfortable in blocking the rest. Others just block everything, including trackers which monitor your behaviour on the site and follow you as you visit other sites.
From a privacy point of view, you probably don’t want to be tracked, but these again are a source of revenue for the websites that use them. One option is that ad blockers usually allow you to create a ‘whitelist’ where ads are allowed on certain sites so you can support your favourite ones. Making these exceptions means you don’t have to see ads everywhere you go online, but the sites you like to frequent will still be there when you click on that bookmark.
AdBlock
Martyn Casserly
AdBlock has been around for 15 years and is an excellent app for keeping control of your browser. Available on Chrome, Edge, Safari, Firefox, Android and iOS, it’s free and has plenty of useful features.
Obviously you get ad and tracking blocking, plus there’s also a fair amount of granular control over how this behaves. It defaults to allow some ads, which the company explains is due to its participation in ‘the Acceptable Ads program, where publishers agree to ensure their ads meet certain criteria. Ads that are deemed non-intrusive are shown by default to AdBlock users.’
There’s a similar feature for YouTube and Twitch, but it seems Google is fighting back and making it hard for blockers to truly filter out all ads on YouTube. AdBlock says it is continuing to work on this issue so it can deliver an ad-free experience on the platform.
If you want some extra features, such as getting rid of those annoying cookie warnings on pretty much every website, enhanced pop-up blocking, a dark mode, plus the rather novel approach of replacing the ad-spaces on a page with pictures of cats, dogs and other elements of nature, then you can sign up to a premium account for $2 (around £1.60) per month.
Should you wish to add a VPN service from AdBlock into the bargain, then the total goes up to $4 (around £3.10) per month, both of which are very reasonable indeed.
AdBlock Plus
Martyn Casserly
AdBlock Plus (yes, the name is very similar and slightly confusing) is another veteran app that’s been around for years and comes with a mature range of capabilities.
Like AdBlock, this one defaults to allow ‘Acceptable Ads’, but again you can configure the app to deny these if you choose. There are fully customisable filter lists, which gives you granular control over what the app blocks as well as stopping trackers from monitoring your online activities.
For additional features, including blocking floating video ads and getting rid of cookie warnings, there’s the Premium subscription that will set you back $20 (around £16) per year or $2 (around £1.60) per month.
AdBlock Plus supports a wide range of browsers and platforms, available on Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, Opera, Yandex, iOS, Android and Samsung Internet (Android), making it one of the most comprehensive ad-blockers around.
Ghostery
Martyn Casserly
Ghostery has been around for a long while now and is one of our favourite privacy extensions.
It’s available for Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Edge and Safari, plus there’s now a dedicated Ghostery Private browser that you can install on Windows, iOS, Android and Linux (sadly not macOS yet) which is even more powerful as it’s built on Firefox to incoporate a privacy-first approach to the internet.
Ghostery is free, and blocks all kinds of ads and trackers. You get messages and indicators of the tracking that’s being blocked, and you can see a breakdown of how each site has tried to servce ads or feed tracking cookies. If you’re intrerested in seeing how the app is working to protect you, then Ghostery is a bit of an eye-opener. Speeds are solid, with no noticeable slow-downs, and the interface is simple and easy to use.
Ghostery also offers a Private Search feature that means you can escape the Google or Apple algorithims, with their own inherent bias, and try out a different way of searching the web.
While there’s no fee, the app is supported by contributors from the community who value the work being done by the company. The community seems to be strong too, as there’s even a merchandise shop where you can buy t-shirts, hoodies and mugs with the logo proudly displayed.
uBlock Origin
Martyn Casserly
For those who want to really dig into the settings of something and know what’s happening while online, uBlock Origin will be the way to go. Only available on desktops, although supported across Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Opera, this is one for the more hardcore.
There’s your standard ad and tracking blocking, plus the extension allows you to adjust certain parameters on the webpage you’re visiting. This can include blocking large media elements, pop-up windows, cosmetic filtering, remote fonts, and Javascript.
There are also useful tools like the Element Zapper which can disable certain parts of a webpage if you don’t want to set up a filter, useful if you’re unlikely to visit the site again. As you’d expect, there are filter lists for different sites, you can create bespoke rules for how the extension behaves on certain sites, plus there’s a logger and more advanced code-based features if you know what you’re doing.
Not one for the user that just wants to clean up their browser, but a great tool for the more experienced browser. It’s all free and open-source too.
Opera Browser
Martyn Casserly
If you don’t want to use extensions or just prefer a clean slate, then switching to a new browser with advanced security features is another option.
There are several that are worth consideration, with Brave being a standout, but for familiarity and speed, Opera is hard to beat.
You get a built-in ad-blocker, which can be configured to allow Acceptable Ads if you choose or none at all. There’s also an exception list available so you can still support your favourite sites. Tracking is also blocked, again with an exception list available.
One thing that gives Opera the advantage over many rivals is that it comes with a free VPN to further protect your online activity.
All this, along with a great design, plenty of features, and speedy performance makes Opera not only a great choice for security but also just as your everyday browser.
It’s available on Windows, macOS, Linux, Chromebook, Android and iOS.
That’s it, our choice of the best ad blockers you can get at the moment. For more web-based fun, also take a look at our best web browsers roundup.