# SponsorBlock

137 Hacker News commenters recommended SponsorBlock and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 13 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** A free, open-source extension that auto-skips sponsor reads, intros and filler in YouTube videos using crowdsourced timestamps, though it only works once someone has submitted segments.

## Why people recommend it

- Auto-skips in-video sponsor segments (10 comments): "You might be interested in the SponsorBlock[1] browser extension for Firefox and Chromium based browsers. It deals with this issue, and is open source." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48236792)) "I use ad-blocking as much as possible, along with things like SponsorBlock to skip such content within the video itself." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47327754)) "I have watched literally zero ads on Youtube since I installed uBlock Origin and SponsorBlock many years ago" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48482692))
- Also skips intros, filler, tangents (6 comments): "fortunately SponsorBlock can take care of this, they have optional categories you can enable beyond just sponsors, including the "hook"." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46764970)) "I also get to skip content-free intermissions, tangents, etc. and jump straight to the highlight of the video." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46193449)) "One of the best features of SponsorBlock is crowd sourced timestamps for the meat of the video." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46302493))
- Crowdsourced timestamps that keep improving (6 comments): "Crowd sourced in-video sponsor auto skip, I have been contributing to it myself as the UX is great." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46673706)) "One of the best features of SponsorBlock is crowd sourced timestamps for the meat of the video." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46302493)) "it's survived almost 7 years so far, with only a small amount of spammer firefighting" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48781867))
- Pairs well with uBlock Origin (8 comments): "I can't even stand to visit YT without the combo of Blocktube/Unhook/uBlock Origin/SponsorBlock/Return YouTube Dislike." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47019692)) "I have watched literally zero ads on Youtube since I installed uBlock Origin and SponsorBlock many years ago" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48482692)) "Firefox on Android with the UBlock Origin and Sponsorblock extensions is still the gold standard" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49984035))

## What people warn about

- Depends on users submitting segments (3 comments): "as long as someone has uploaded intervals to Sponsorblock for that video" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47185187)) "Users have to first watch the video, identify "sponsor blocks" and then update the blocker's database." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46697618)) "I feel like SponsorBlock would work better if it allowed high-quality AI bots to submit blocks" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50321691))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Firefox Multi-Account Containers](https://hackerapproved.com/p/firefox-containers.md): 76 recommend
- [NoScript](https://hackerapproved.com/p/noscript.md): 61 recommend
- [Consent-O-Matic](https://hackerapproved.com/p/consent-o-matic.md): 36 recommend
- [LibRedirect](https://hackerapproved.com/p/libredirect.md): 35 recommend
- [uMatrix](https://hackerapproved.com/p/umatrix.md): 31 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "SponsorBlock", https://hackerapproved.com/p/sponsorblock/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).