AdBlock Review 2024: Is the Premium Version Worth It?

AdBlock is a freemium ad blocker. You can use the free product and donate if you think it’s worth it, or you can purchase the Premium version and get advanced features. While both have their advantages, we decided to test the free version to see how well it blocks ads.

We found the free plan blocked some ads, but not trackers. The best ad blockers offer a variety of features and provide broad blocking capabilities, but AdBlock doesn’t hit every mark.

AdBlock overview

Our experience

We tested the free version of AdBlock on a MacBook Pro running an M2 chip and installed the extension on the latest version of Safari. Installing AdBlock was easy, and we had it up and running quickly.

We went to work testing it using our three ad sites, AdBlock Tester, Cover Your Tracks, and Can You Block It. We also tried bypassing paywalls and checked to see how it held up against YouTube. Overall, we were disappointed with the results.

It didn’t hide us from trackers the way we hoped, and there were still ads that popped up on YouTube when we tested it. Also, it scored only a mediocre 68/100 on the AdBlock tester site. We did find, however, that it blocked a lot of ads on regular websites we visited, although not all.

Overall, the free version of AdBlock is more useful than not having anything installed, but there are better ad blockers out there. If you think you want to try AdBlock, we’d suggest upgrading to Premium since it offers more features than the free product.

AdBlock paid plan

AdBlock maintains that you can always use it for free. If you find it useful, you can donate to AdBlock since it has a “pay what you can” model. If you want additional features like distraction control and a cookie consent cutter, you can purchase the Premium version.

The distraction control feature can prevent video ads from following you down the page, block newsletter pop-ups, and eliminate allow requests. The cookie consent cutter auto-rejects cookies, which is more useful than you might think. As you browse the web, you’ll never need to configure the cookie settings on a website again, as this will do it for you.

Main features

AdBlock is a simplistic ad blocker, but it still offers a variety of features. There are whitelisting and blacklisting capabilities — and the Premium features — which block advanced ads like video follow ads and even cookie requests.

There aren’t a lot of other features offered, although the Premium version does include a virtual private network (VPN) for the Safari extension.

AdBlock’s test results

We test ad blockers by running them through three different testing sites. AdBlock Tester includes a lot of code that mimics a variety of ads to see if the ad blocker can block them.

Cover Your Tracks sees how well the ad blocker works at hiding you from trackers and allowing you to browse anonymously online.

Finally, Can You Block It performs a series of tests to see how well ad blockers handle ads like pop-ups when a site first loads and banner ads.

AdBlock scores

Test results as of 06/07/2024.

YouTube ad test

YouTube seems to be serving more and more ads, which can really ruin your viewing experience. A good ad blocker extension stops these ads from playing when you access YouTube through your browser.

We always test our ad blockers to see if they can block YouTube ads. Unfortunately, this time, AdBlock didn’t block YouTube ads. We tried configuring some of the settings, but every time we still got ads on our YouTube videos.

If you watch YouTube via its app or don’t care about blocking out ads, AdBlock may still be a good choice for you. However, if getting rid of YouTube ads is a top priority, you may need to look elsewhere.

Bypassing paywall test

Paywalls are those annoying little pop-ups that happen when you’re in the middle of reading an article that block you from finishing it without purchasing a subscription. Sometimes an ad blocker can circumvent those for you. We test each ad blocker to see if it can.

Unfortunately, AdBlock wasn’t able to block paywalls from places like The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal. It also wasn’t able to block soft paywalls (the ones that limit you to a certain number of articles in a time frame).

What browsers and software is AdBlock compatible with?

AdBlock offers broad compatibility with several browsers as well as iOS and Android devices. The free version of the ad blocker works on Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari, iOS, and Android, while the Premium version only works on desktop versions of Chrome, Firefox, and Edge.

AdBlock Free compatibility:

• Chrome
• Firefox
• Edge
• Safari
• iOS
• Android

AdBlock Premium compatibility:

• Chrome
• Firefox
• Edge

How to use AdBlock

1. Download AdBlock from its site.
2. Run the installer
3. Enable the extension on your browser
4. Grant AdBlock the permissions it requires
5. Enjoy

The whitelisting capabilities are fairly straightforward. When you click on the extension, you can choose to allow ads on a page or a site.

You can manage the white- and blacklists in the dashboard.

Top alternatives

We know that software is personal, so if AdBlock isn’t for you, we have a roundup of the best ad blockers on the market. Each has various features, like tracker and YouTube ad blocking.

		Threat Protection	CleanWeb
Best for	Best for blocking YouTube ads	Best overall	Best for blocking streaming ads
Price	Starts at $1.59/mo (billed annually)	Starts at $3.99/mo (billed every two years)	Starts at $2.19/mo (billed biennially)
Free version?
Adblock Tester score	100/100	93/100	96/100
Cover Your Tracks score	2/3	2/3	0.5/3
Can You Block It score	3/3	2/3	3/3
Blocks YouTube ads?
Compatibility	Windows, Mac, Chrome, Edge, Opera, Amazon Fire, Safari, Android, iOS	Threat Protection: Windows, macOS Threat Protection Lite: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, Chrome, Edge, Firefox	Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, Chrome, Edge, Firefox, FireTV
Learn more	Get Total Adblock	Get NordVPN Threat Protection	Get Surfshark CleanWeb

FAQs

Bottom line: Is AdBlock good?

AdBlock Free is okay, but AdBlock Premium is better. If you’re looking for a solid ad blocker with strong capabilities and a variety of features, there are better options. While this is a perfectly acceptable program, if you want the best ad blocker, you can find ones that block YouTube ads as well as stop online trackers.

3.6

AllAboutCookies writers and editors score products based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.

Editorial Rating

Learn More

On AdBlock's website

Ad Blocker

AdBlock

• Blocks most page ads
• Includes whitelisting for acceptable ads
• Doesn’t block trackers

Author Details

Mary James

About the Author

Mary is a seasoned cybersecurity writer with over seven years of experience. With a B.S. in Liberal Arts from Clarion University and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Point Park University, she educates audiences on scams, antivirus software, and more. Her passion lies in educating audiences on helpful ways to protect their data.