AdBlock
Hacker ApprovedRanked 6 of 16 ad blockers by recommenders
Free ad blocker that people use for years with little hassle, especially on YouTube and Safari; the Manifest V3 version is imperfect and some say it misses newer ad tech.
Free ad blocker that people use for years with little hassle, especially on YouTube and Safari; the Manifest V3 version is imperfect and some say it misses newer ad tech.
20 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 18
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 90%
Recommended in 12 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 18 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 9 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 12 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Works well on YouTube and Safari
“it does handle Youtube's website very well with Safari and AdBlock.”
Comment from 31 Jan 2026 in “YouTube blocks background video playback on Brave and other Browsers” “On iOs with BlockBear and AdBlock works fine.”
Comment from 16 Oct 2026 in “The 8-mile hole in a Hawaii national park that no one can explain” “I use Safari with the AdBlock add-on.”
Comment from 27 Feb 2026 in “Smartphone Mkt to Decline 13% in '26, Largest Drop Ever Due to Memory Shortage” Reliable ad blocking
“they perform about as well as you need them to for an adblocker”
Comment from 26 Nov 2025 in “Someone at YouTube Needs Glasses: The Prophecy Has Been Fulfilled” “You don't need RSS; you need AdBlock.”
Comment from 23 Mar 2026 in “PC Gamer Recommends RSS Readers in a 37MB Article That Just Keeps Downloading” “You know what does work? Adblock.”
Comment from 22 Jul 2026 in “Advertise in ChatGPT” Works fine on Manifest V3
“I've been using manifest v3 version of Adblock and it's worked just fine for me. But obviously is not perfect”
Comment from 16 Jun 2026 in “Google Chrome update will close the door on ad blockers” “I've been using manifest v3 version of Adblock and it's worked just fine for me.”
Comment from 16 Jun 2026 in “Google Chrome update will close the door on ad blockers”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Manifest V3 version less effective
“I've been using manifest v3 version of Adblock and it's worked just fine for me. But obviously is not perfect”
Comment from 16 Jun 2026 in “Google Chrome update will close the door on ad blockers” “find and old version of Adblock which isn't hip to all the new invasive ad technology”
Comment from 22 Sep 2026 in “I said no and Apple said yes” “I've been using manifest v3 version of Adblock and it's worked just fine for me.”
Comment from 16 Jun 2026 in “Google Chrome update will close the door on ad blockers” Acceptable Ads whitelisting for payment
“It's the same model as AdBlock and the "Acceptable Ads"”
Comment from 18 May 2026 in “We stopped AI bot spam in our GitHub repo using Git's –author flag” “charged firms 1mi to "whitelist good ads"”
Comment from 16 Aug 2026 in “Firefox for iOS now has a native adblocker”
Other ad blockers people recommend
The four most recommended other ad blockers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| uBlock Origin | 765 | 71 | 92% | 13 | 2 yrs9 owners | Approved |
| uBlock Origin Lite | 148 | 65 | 69% | 12 | 1 yr5 owners | Approved |
| AdGuard | 78 | 8 | 91% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Wipr 2 | 41 | 7 | 85% | 11 | — | Approved |
| AdBlockThis page | 18 | 2 | 90% | 12 | — | Approved |
What people said
18 of the 22 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“On iOs with BlockBear and AdBlock works fine.”
“saved both days/weeks/months in ads and hundreds of dollars in subscription fees”
“find and old version of Adblock which isn't hip to all the new invasive ad technology”
“charged firms 1mi to "whitelist good ads"”
“Adblock and noscript break web standards, but people use them just fine, they actually make web work better.”
“Zero tracking, zero external servers, 100% local”
“You know what does work? Adblock.”
“I've been using manifest v3 version of Adblock and it's worked just fine for me. But obviously is not perfect”
“I've been using manifest v3 version of Adblock and it's worked just fine for me.”
“I've used Adblock aggressively for the last 10 or 15 years.”
“It's the same model as AdBlock and the "Acceptable Ads"”
“You don't need RSS; you need AdBlock.”
“Ad networks make too much money not to look the other way on malvertising.”
“I use Safari with the AdBlock add-on.”
“it does handle Youtube's website very well with Safari and AdBlock.”
“throw in Adblock and your exposure is extremely limited”
“it offers a lot of benefit”
“they perform about as well as you need them to for an adblocker”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.