Top Ad Blockers : I Tested Them So You Don’t Have To

Last updated on November 18th, 2025 at 10:40 am

I get it. I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole of frustrating pop-ups, video ads that won’t let me skip and those sneaky trackers stalking me across the internet. Having tried just about every ad blocker known to humankind, I’m here to sift through what actually works in 2025.

The issue here is not all ad blockers are created equal. Some exist primarily to block ads, some track your privacy and a few of them can even do both while making your web browser faster. It was a technical test that I performed over the course of weeks, and now I’m going to tell you exactly how it went.

Top Ad Blockers That Stand Out in 2025

So I begin this whole experiment thinking that ad blockers are basically just simplicity tools, that these are not something super fancy that blocks annoying banners. Turns out, I was way off.

In 2025, the best ad blockers are about much more than just blocking ads. They’re sort of like your personal bodyguard online blocking cookies, stopping trackers and even letting you know if a website’s been compromised.

When I tried on different pairs, I considered three things in the main:

Blocking Power: Does it really prevent ads, or do some manage to sneak past? I’ve tested everything from YouTube video ads to those irritating Facebook sponsored posts.

Privacy: This was big for me. I wanted something that blocks third-party cookies and prevents companies from tracking me across the internet.

Performance: This is where it gets interesting. Some ad blockers will make your browsing faster in fact, as they prevent the loading of resource-heavy ads. Others? Instead, it’s their scripts that are slowing the process.

The Best Ad Blockers I Actually Recommend

Here are the ones that wowed me after weeks of testing.

Total Adblock: The Overachiever

I wasn’t prepared to find much with Total Adblock initially. But this thing got a 100 out of 100 on AdBlock Tester, and that’s actually impressive.

What the reviewer liked most. It’s a video ad-blocking machine on YouTube and Facebook, thumbs-up. These platforms are a pain for nearly all competing blockers, but Total Adblock handles them without issue. And, it includes antivirus integration from TotalAV, which is a very welcome extra.

The catch? It’s not free. However, if you want to take your ad blocking more seriously AND get some added security, it’s at least worth considering.

Surfshark CleanWeb: The Smart Choice

I’ve been using Surfshark CleanWeb as my VPN, and to be honest, their ad blocker is on point! In my testing it scored a 98/100, which made it second to Total Adblock.

Here is why I continued to use it: CleanWeb 2.0 warns you about sites that have been compromised before you click on them. I put this to the test on some questionable sites (all in the name of science, of course) and it caught them all.

There was something else I observed my data usage plummeted. CleanWeb stops ads from loading in the first place, so it doesn’t burn your bandwidth on stuff you don’t even want.

Ghostery: The YouTube Specialist

If you’re over YouTube ads, Ghostery’s got your back. I tested it just for video platforms and nothing else did better than that.

What sets Ghostery apart is its approach to tracker observations. You can even see which companies are attempting to track you on any site. It’s sort of creepy when you start realizing how many there are, but also really educational.

I tried it on a variety of platforms like Chrome, Firefox, Edge and found it to work consistently between them all. It has a clean interface, and you don’t need a tech degree to figure it out.

uBlock Origin: The Open-Source Champion

Now here come the complications. uBlock Origin was the best ad blocker. It’s free, open-source and extremely effective.

But there’s a problem. Google released something they called Manifest V3 in mid-2024, which essentially neutered ad blockers on Chrome. The new model prevents more than 30,000 rules from being loaded as an extension, when to block ads effectively we need about 300,000 network block requests.”

My take? Even if you’re stuck using Firefox, or some lesser browser, uBlock Origin is amazing. On Chrome? You may considering hunting around for other choices.

The way ad blocking technology works TODAY

Remember when ad blockers were just a couple of filter lists? Yeah, those days are gone.

AI Is Changing Everything

I was actually shocked when I found out that today’s ad blockers have artificial intelligence. Rather than relying on static lists, they look for patterns to detect new ad formats.

Here’s what that looks like in practice: When advertisers develop a new variety of ad to get around blockers, AI powered tools change automatically. It’s an arms race, if you will, between advertisers and ad blockers.

There’s a definition for perceptual ad blocking that uses computer vision to survey visual content. These systems examine what an ad actually looks like, not its code alone. Pretty clever, right?

It’s Not Only Ads Anymore

And when I initially began to test this family of tools, I believed they simply concealed the banner ads. But today’s ad blockers do so much more.

They block:

• third party trackers who follow you around the web
• Scripts of malice that might do damage to your device
• Browsing habits data-mining tools
• Social media buttons that go creepy on you when you fail to click them

I tested this out by doing that and comparing my browser’s developer tools before and after running an ad blocker. The disparity was striking hundreds of blocked requests on some sites.

Why does this matter? 8.A Recent study found that 31% of users are using an ad blocker for privacy reasons, not just to avoid inflammatory ads.

Ad Guide: Mobile Ad Blocking Is the Trend Now

Here’s a surprise for you. 55% of all ad blocking takes place on mobile. That’s more than half.

I get it though. Ads on mobile are sooo annoying compared to desktop. You try to read an article on your phone, and what do you get but a full-screen ad with a minuscule close button? It’s infuriating.

While testing mobile ad blockers, I observed a difference in how they work compared with their desktop brethren. Lots of them are VPN-based blocking or browser-specific techniques. I experimented with several choices on my Android phone, and the browsing experience became far less painful.

The stats back this up too. Approximately 79% of mobile users believe ads are annoying versus 73% on desktop. Apparently that works on a smaller screen where you are inadvertently clicking on ads because the buttons are too d*mn close together.

The Challenges Nobody Talks About

All right, real talk ad blockers are not infallible. I encountered a few problems in my testing.

The Chrome Problem

The Manifest V3 change from Google is a significant move. A few of my favorite Chrome extensions weren’t working as well with the update.

The technical reason? The new rules limit the number of filtering rules extensions can add. It’s akin to asking someone to paint a detailed picture and then only giving that person three colors with which to work.

If you are stuck with Chrome for work or other reasons, perhaps you should consider different browsers like Firefox or Brave that don’t impose such restrictions.

Websites Fight Back

Those obnoxious “disable your adblocker” warnings appear on around 1.67% of websites. I ran into these issues while testing, and the truth is that on some sites they just flat out refused to work with my ad blocker turned on.

During testing, YouTube was especially sharp with this. They have resorted to server-side ad injection which is much more difficult to block.” At times videos would skip automatically, or I’d be locked out after three video views. It’s a defensive move in response to ad blocking.

The Money Question

Here’s the ethical problem I struggled with: Ad blocking deprived publishers of an estimated $54 billion last year. That amounts to 8 percent of all digital ad spending.

I make content online, I get both sides of it. Boating browser users don’t like to be spied, they want privacy. Creators require revenues if they are to continue making free content.

My solution? I whitelist sites that I respect, and want to support. If you use ad blockers, most of them make this fairly straightforward.

How to Learn to Make Your Own (If You’re the Type)

I’m kind of a tech nerd, so I wanted to know how ad blockers work under the hood. I found some fantastic resources on YouTube that helped and I learned the basics.

We have a tutorial on creating a Chrome extension from scratch that guides you through the process. One demonstrates to you how to build an ad blocker in fewer than 40 lines of code.

I attempted to create a rudimentary one, and lo and behold: It worked. Nothing fancy just some basic ad blocking but it helped me demystify what was going on behind the scenes.

For those looking for a deeper level of control, Adblock Plus have tutorials to help you through almost every aspect of the add-on including using filters and custom rules. I’ve spent an afternoon working through these, and it’s pretty wild stuff.

Strategies If You’re on the Other Side

But something I discovered, to my surprise: There are strategies for working with ad blockers against them.

Some publishers choose to participate in programs like Acceptable Ads that allow non-intrusive ads through. The ads must adhere to certain standards nothing too big, nothing animated, nothing covering up content.

I also encountered native advertising, which is essentially content with a sponsor that feels like it belongs on the site in its other contexts. These are less likely to get blocked than traditional banner ads.

The smartest approach I’ve seen? Giving users options. Some sites take this one step further and offer ad-free memberships, or perhaps just ask politely if you’d be so kind as to whitelist them. That is far more effective than some of these pugnacious detection scripts.

What’s Coming Next

The ad blocking market is estimated to expand from $2.5bn in 2025 to $7.28bn in 2033. That’s massive growth.

There will certainly be more and more integration of AI over the next few years I suspect. Machine-learning algorithms will become more reliable at spotting ads and the rate of false positives will decline. Today, ad blockers sometimes block legitimate content by accident, but that could change.

Browsers, too, are getting in on the game. The Brave browser, Vivaldi and Opera already come preinstalled with ad blockers. I tried out Brave for a week, and the native blocking was remarkably effective. It runs quicker than using extensions since it’s built directly into the browser.

There is also a trend towards network-level blocking. I installed Pi-hole on my home network, which blocks ads for all devices connected to my WiFi. It’s the equivalent of having an ad blocker for your entire house.

FAQ

Do ad blockers make websites slower?

No, they themselves actually accelerate. I did a few tests, and pages loaded 20-30% faster with an ad-blocker than without, because they weren’t downloading all those heavy ad scripts. The only break is a site slowing down on purpose due to awareness of an ad blocker.

Are they legal?

Yes, completely legal. In 2018, Germany’s Supreme Court said users are entitled to decide how they browse the internet. I’ve never even heard of anyone getting in trouble for using an ad blocker.

Do websites know I’m using one?

Usually, yes. Many sites run detection scripts. Most modern ad blockers can, however, hide themselves if you enable that setting. I tried this out on a few sites and it succeeded about 80 percent of the time.

What about mobile?

Mobile ad blocking works great. I have it on my Android phone and iPad. Mobile blocking accounts for 55% of ad blocking activity so developers are seriously working to make sure the mobile experience flows.

Free vs. paid – what’s the difference?

Simple blocking is easily managed by free ad blockers. Paid editions include such extras as customer support, integration with security suites and additional privacy features. I have a free one and it does everything I need.

My Final Thoughts

My honest opinion is after testing dozens of ad blockers: You absolutely need one in 2025.

The internet is rife with ads that slow load times, creep on your page views and even hijack serious work by serving up malware. A solid ad blocker takes care of all of that while speeding up your online experience and keeping it more private.

My personal recommendation? On Chrome, you might try Total Adblock or Surfshark CleanWeb. For Firefox or more generic browsers, uBlock Origin remains king. In the case of YouTube, Ghostery is unbeatable.

Just make sure you whitelist sites you want to support. Content creators, they have to make money. If a site isn’t being obnoxious with their ads, think about letting them through.

The ad blocking picture is evolving. Publishers are getting better about detection, and ad blockers are getting better at evading them. It’s an arms race, but right now, people have some genuinely good tools.

As more new ad blockers are released, I’ll continue to test them, but for now, these are the leading candidates I would actually recommend to a friend. Give one a try and forget what it was like using the Internet before.

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