uBlock
Hacker ApprovedRanked 5 of 16 ad blockers by recommenders
Free ad blocker that people say blocks ads, cookie banners and page clutter; its main caveat is that some sites, including YouTube on Firefox, break while it is enabled.
Free ad blocker that people say blocks ads, cookie banners and page clutter; its main caveat is that some sites, including YouTube on Firefox, break while it is enabled.
36 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 32
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 89%
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
- 32 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 8 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
Blocks ads and cookie banners
“Firefox with uBlock which blocks the cookie banners”
Comment from 3 Mar 2026 in “I'm reluctant to verify my identity or age for any online services” “uBlock which blocks the cookie banners”
Comment from 3 Mar 2026 in “I'm reluctant to verify my identity or age for any online services” “I use uBlock to block the ads”
Comment from 10 Nov 2025 in “Time to start de-Appling” - Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “8M users' AI conversations sold for profit by "privacy" extensions”
Works well in Firefox and on mobile
“X is far better with Firefox+uBlock on mobile.”
Comment from 24 Nov 2025 in “X's new country-of-origin feature reveals many 'US' accounts to be foreign-run” “Firefox + uBlock is pretty much standard now.”
Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “How I block all online ads” “Enjoying Orion with uBlock on the iPhone”
Comment from 9 Jan 2026 in “Kagi releases alpha version of Orion for Linux” - Comment from 5 Sep 2026 in “Portal by Spotify cut my Claude Code token usage by 90%”
Pairs well with other privacy tools
“If you install a ton of privacy extensions like Privacy Badger, uBlock”
Comment from 10 Nov 2025 in “Benchmarking leading AI agents against Google reCAPTCHA v2” “these days i prefer the mix uBlock Stripped + 3P-Matrix-lite”
Comment from 15 Aug 2026 in “Firefox is now the last major browser that still supports uBlock Origin” “firefox, ublock and canvasblocker seems to be enough for me”
Comment from 12 Oct 2026 in “Fingerprints are the new cookies” Removes recommendations and Shorts clutter
“uBlock rules for recommendation elements is a good adjunct for things like YouTube”
Comment from 2 Nov 2025 in “Show HN: I built a smart blocker after destroying my dopamine baseline” “uBlock is so handy at removing shorts, already-watched recommendations, etc.”
Comment from 28 May 2026 in “YouTube to automatically label AI-generated videos” “I recommend to block the Linkedin feed with uBlock.”
Comment from 29 Mar 2026 in “LinkedIn uses 2.4 GB RAM across two tabs”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Some ads still get through
“despite having uBlock installed”
Comment from 16 Jun 2026 in “Google Chrome update will close the door on ad blockers” “it looks like with the latest Chrome it does not block”
Comment from 18 Jun 2026 in “Ask HN: Is there a way to stop the animated Google Doodles?” Breaks some sites and videos
“I haven't been able to watch youtube videos on Firefox without disabling uBlock.”
Comment from 12 Nov 2025 in “Yt-dlp: External JavaScript runtime now required for full YouTube support” “every request returns an error and they enter a constant request loop”
Comment from 3 Apr 2026 in “LinkedIn Is Illegally Searching Your Computer” Past ad blocker sellouts concern users
“Most adblocker developers throughout history have routinely taken millions of dollars to weaken their adblockers”
Comment from 17 Dec 2025 in “Is Mozilla trying hard to kill itself?” “a version that was sold to advertising companies many years ago”
Comment from 1 Jul 2026 in “Sony Deletes 551 Movies PlayStation Owners Paid For”
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 |
| uBlockThis page | 32 | 4 | 89% | 12 | — | Approved |
What people said
34 of the 38 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“it's trivial to write a ublock filter for whatever keywords you don't want”
“free and highly effective, and do a better job than paying”
“uBlock on every browser (or a DNS-level sanitizer)”
“firefox, ublock and canvasblocker seems to be enough for me”
“Ublock on Firefox mobile seems to keep scrolling unfucked on this page for me”
“Couldn't recommend it enough.”
“these days i prefer the mix uBlock Stripped + 3P-Matrix-lite”
“Old.reddit, the Reddit Enhancement Suite (RES), custom userstyle CSS and uBlock make Reddit tolerable.”
“a version that was sold to advertising companies many years ago”
“it looks like with the latest Chrome it does not block”
“despite having uBlock installed”
“uBlock is so handy at removing shorts, already-watched recommendations, etc.”
“otherwise the logic is solid”
“every request returns an error and they enter a constant request loop”
“I recommend to block the Linkedin feed with uBlock.”
“It synced my extensions and installed uBlock automatically.”
“uBlock which blocks the cookie banners”
“Firefox with uBlock which blocks the cookie banners”
“May be a bit safer for those who don't want to introduce a new dependency”
“Add age gated site to uBlock”
“Enjoying Orion with uBlock on the iPhone”
“Full ad blockers like uBlock are great but overkill for many”
“Most adblocker developers throughout history have routinely taken millions of dollars to weaken their adblockers”
“it is still blocking ad networks which do reduce internet performance”
“uBlock seemed to have handled it for me.”
“uBlock + SponsorBlock are superior.”
“Firefox + uBlock is pretty much standard now.”
“That is why I use uBlock.”
“what uBlock and the like have given me”
“X is far better with Firefox+uBlock on mobile.”
“I haven't been able to watch youtube videos on Firefox without disabling uBlock.”
“If you install a ton of privacy extensions like Privacy Badger, uBlock”
“I use uBlock to block the ads”
“uBlock rules for recommendation elements is a good adjunct for things like YouTube”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.