# uBlock Origin Lite 148 Hacker News commenters recommended uBlock Origin Lite and 65 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 1 years (5 owners). It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** An official, lightweight Manifest V3 ad blocker that most people find blocks ads about as well as full uBlock Origin, though it lacks the element zapper and advanced filtering. ## Why people recommend it - Blocks ads reliably (9 comments): "People who complain about MV3 probably spent more time complaining about it than actually trying uBOL and seeing that it works just fine." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49315571)) "I've used uBlock Origin Lite and have had no issues with blocking ads. The only downside I've seen is that I can't do "Block Elements"" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49222408)) "I just tested Chromium with uBlock Origin Lite (default settings, aka "Optimal") and had no issue blocking YouTube ads." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48557856)) - Barely different from full uBO (6 comments): "I honestly haven't really noticed a difference in ads after switching to the Lite version. It seems to work well enough." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49313063)) "uBlock Origin Lite works nearly as good as uBO and is generally indistinguishable from its MV2 counterpart" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49762616)) "I'm fairly happy with uBlock Origin Lite. Sure the original was better but this one does the job as well." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49515164)) - Efficient, better performance (3 comments): "UBOL uses vastly more efficient compiled code that is part of the browser and is just a far better ad blocking experience altogether." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47903338)) "the MV3 approach is less resource intensive and didn't require sacrificing any of the features" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48556220)) "The lite version has better performance since it's effectively just a bunch of MV3 blocklists." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49968096)) - Supports custom filters and rules (4 comments): "you can always increase the filtering level if you’re willing to grant the extension read access to pages to basically match uBO" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50073507)) "which works in chrome; just paste the content directly into the custom filter settings" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47018350)) "I also prefer the custom element removal or uBlock and can reuse my desktop filters." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49014884)) ## What people warn about - Weaker than full uBO under MV3 (6 comments): "it's got all the limitations of Manifest V3 which prevents it from doing a good bit of blocking" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49320919)) "It's a best effort attempt at converting UBO rules to Apple's declarative blocking framework, but is nowhere near as capable as actual UBO." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49320894)) "it cannot do dynamic filtering, script blocking, or url parameter removal, among other limitations" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46284660)) - Missing element zapper (2 comments): "I've used uBlock Origin Lite and have had no issues with blocking ads. The only downside I've seen is that I can't do "Block Elements"" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49222408)) "it's missing the element zapper and has some other limitations, but it works pretty well for the most part" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50077230)) - Some ads and tracking slip through (5 comments): "I’ve found uBlock Origin Lite (and every other non-uBlock Origin blocker) to struggle with websites using Ad-Shield." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49306958)) "It will be "largely fine" until the ad networks start using the methods not blocked by the Lite version." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49305464)) "I've tested and see that ads pass through, and tracking passes through with uBo light on Chrome." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47904540)) - Limited on iOS Safari (3 comments): "it only works in Safari but doesn't provide ad blocking in the web views like the other two do" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49307777)) "it's only using the iOS content blocker and it doesn't work effectively in many use cases" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46513063)) "uBlock Origin Lite on Safari on iOS is a poor man's imitation of the real uBlock Origin" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46456855)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [uBlock Origin](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ublock-origin.md): 765 recommend - [AdGuard](https://hackerapproved.com/p/adguard.md): 78 recommend - [Wipr 2](https://hackerapproved.com/p/wipr.md): 41 recommend - [uBlock](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ublock.md): 32 recommend - [AdBlock](https://hackerapproved.com/p/adblock.md): 18 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "uBlock Origin Lite", https://hackerapproved.com/p/ublock-origin-lite/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).