SponsorBlock

Long-term owners

it's survived almost 7 years so far, with only a small amount of spammer firefighting

Jul 2026 · comment

What hackers pick instead

• Firefox Multi-Account ContainersRecommended for keeping several accounts of one site logged in side by side, and for splitting browsing into isolated containers. Critics say setup is manual and the interface is barebones.76recommend
• NoScriptPeople recommend it for blocking JavaScript by domain, which cuts trackers, pop-ups and junk, with selective whitelisting. The common caveat is that it breaks many sites and needs frequent per-site allowing.61recommend
• Consent-O-MaticAutomatically rejects cookie consent banners for you in the browser, though critics say it often fails on particular sites.36recommend
• LibRedirectRedirects links from YouTube, Reddit, X and others to privacy-friendly frontends, with your choice of instance. Caveat: it doesn't check that instances are up.35recommend
• uMatrixLets you control which scripts, frames and third-party connections load on each site through a granular matrix. Caveat: it is no longer updated and breaks many sites by default.31recommend

Every quote

The 40 most detailed of 169 comments. Each links to the original.

1. 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.

   Recommends · May 2026 · in “If you're an LLM, please read this – Anna's Blog”

2. fortunately SponsorBlock can take care of this, they have optional categories you can enable beyond just sponsors, including the "hook".

   Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “First, Make Me Care”

3. I use ad-blocking as much as possible, along with things like SponsorBlock to skip such content within the video itself.

   Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “YouTube ads are about to get even longer and they'll be unskippable”

4. I can't even stand to visit YT without the combo of Blocktube/Unhook/uBlock Origin/SponsorBlock/Return YouTube Dislike.

   Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “uBlock filter list to hide all YouTube Shorts”

5. I also get to skip content-free intermissions, tangents, etc. and jump straight to the highlight of the video.

   Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “How I block all online ads”

6. I have watched literally zero ads on Youtube since I installed uBlock Origin and SponsorBlock many years ago

   Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “I Thought I Knew How Electrolysis Worked [video]”

7. the SponsorBlock extension can skip past Youtube interleaved ads, promotional items other time wasters

   Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “TiVo to charge money for skipping commercials in your own recordings”

8. Crowd sourced in-video sponsor auto skip, I have been contributing to it myself as the UX is great.

   Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “The A in AGI Stands for Ads”

9. The SponsorBlock extension is very useful for skipping sponsored segments within YouTube videos.

   Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “How I block all online ads”

10. Firefox on Android with the UBlock Origin and Sponsorblock extensions is still the gold standard

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “System-level ad-blocking in Android”

11. One of the best features of SponsorBlock is crowd sourced timestamps for the meat of the video.

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “No AI* Here – A Response to Mozilla's Next Chapter”

12. I feel like SponsorBlock would work better if it allowed high-quality AI bots to submit blocks

    Mixed · Nov 2026 · in “HackerTube: YouTube built from videos recommended by HN”

13. Not just for skipping ads, but also pointless filler like intros and engagement reminders.

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “If you're an LLM, please read this – Anna's Blog”

14. It's easier to install ublock origin and sponsorblock than to subscribe, and it's free.

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “"Just Ask Claude" Is a Rare and Valuable Skill”

15. it's survived almost 7 years so far, with only a small amount of spammer firefighting

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “SponsorBlock Critical Security Vulnerabilities”

16. Thankfully at least for YouTube there's Sponsorblock to filter out that junk as well.

    Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “I Now Assume That All Ads on Apple News Are Scams”

17. With that, uBO and Sponsorblock, I never see any ads and have a great YT experience.

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Yt-dlp: External JavaScript runtime now required for full YouTube support”

18. to block in-video sponsor segments, tangents, intros, outros and other time wasters

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “I Thought I Knew How Electrolysis Worked [video]”

19. Saying it doesn't work isn't true though, and as more people get onboard, improves.

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Show HN: I quit coding years ago. AI brought me back”

20. if you have YouTube Premium and don't have Sponsorblock, you're still watching ads

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Leaking YouTube Creators Private Videos”

21. thank science for SponsorBlock, because sponsored segments in videos are the devil

    Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “The EU moves to kill infinite scrolling”

22. The site becomes much better with sponsorblock+ublock origin+hide shorts/trending

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Television is 100 years old today”

23. uBlock origin + SponsorBlock has a much better price to performance ratio imo

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “Men are ditching TV for YouTube as AI usage and social media fatigue grow”

24. Sponsorblock has zero issue jumping to the precise moment after the sponsor

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Disney+: New user agreement allows ads before movies in all subscriptions”

25. Sponsorblock and uBlock Origin makes YouTube a whole different experience

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “What If We Made Advertising Illegal?”

26. as long as someone has uploaded intervals to Sponsorblock for that video

    Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “What podcasts are you listening to?”

27. It crowd sources timestamps to auto-skip intros, ad-reads, credits, etc

    Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Chrome extension adjusts video speed based on how fast the speaker is talking”

28. Users have to first watch the video, identify "sponsor blocks" and then update the blocker's database.

    Criticizes · Jan 2026 · in “Show HN: I quit coding years ago. AI brought me back”

29. Sponsorblock instantly 'broke' video for me; I feel incredible discomfort watching any video without it. Amazing extension.

    Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Chrome extension adjusts video speed based on how fast the speaker is talking”

30. Use Invidious, self-hosted or otherwise with the Sponsorblock extension and you get these benefits everywhere

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “PipePipe: NewPipe hard fork implementing SponsorBlock”

31. There are two apps called "DeArrow" and SponsorBlock that basically everyone should be using.

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Someone at YouTube Needs Glasses: The Prophecy Has Been Fulfilled”

32. appears to be the best solution but that only mutes ads and skips them when permitted

    Mixed · Sep 2026 · in “PipePipe: NewPipe hard fork implementing SponsorBlock”

33. AdGuard and PiHole like solutions do not provide the same benefits as Sponsorblock.

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Fox to Buy Roku Streaming Service in $22B Deal”

34. alternate YouTube clients that implement sponsorblock can skip those automatically

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Sorry, I'm in a meeting”

35. Get adblock and sponsorblock, or just yt-dlp it and let it cut out all the cruft

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Warner Bros Begins Exclusive Deal Talks With Netflix”

36. I love sponsorblock, it feels like adblock felt the first time I installed it.

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “PipePipe: NewPipe hard fork implementing SponsorBlock”

37. combined with ublacklist and sponsorblock it's fairly good coverage for safari

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Apple's new 'Switch to Safari' campaign details why you should ditch Chrome”

38. I would add Smarttube with Sponsorblock extension for android TV to the list.

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “How I block all online ads”

39. These alternative apps and adblockers/sponsorblock hurts Google and it's good

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “PipePipe: NewPipe hard fork implementing SponsorBlock”

40. now I'm back on it mildly with dearrow, sponsorblock, unhook and no account

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (July 2026)”