AdBlock vs Adblock Plus: Two Similar Names, One Real Choice

What is the difference between AdBlock and Adblock Plus?

The practical difference is interface and extras, not blocking power. Under the hood both extensions block requests using community filter lists, both must run as Manifest V3 extensions in current Chrome, and both ship with Acceptable Ads turned on by default.

Where they split is presentation. Adblock Plus keeps a small popup with a block counter and a single on/off switch per site. AdBlock wraps the same idea in a busier menu with pause options and an options page for managing filter lists. If you only glance at the toolbar icon once a month, you will barely notice which one you installed.

Neither one is a privacy tool first. They hide ads and block some trackers through optional lists, but a dedicated tracker blocker or a stricter content blocker goes further. Our ad blocker hub ranks the wider field if you are not tied to either name.

Are AdBlock and Adblock Plus made by the same company?

They began as unrelated projects by different developers, and that history is why the names collide. Since April 2021 both have belonged to the same company, so comparisons claiming separate owners are out of date.

Adblock Plus

Debuted on Firefox in 2006 and is developed by eyeo GmbH, the German company that also created the Acceptable Ads program (introduced in 2011).

AdBlock

Created for Chrome by Michael Gundlach in December 2009, independently of Adblock Plus. It was sold in 2015 and began taking part in Acceptable Ads that October.

Where things stand

In April 2021, eyeo bought AdBlock, Inc., and the two teams began working together. AdBlock's own help centre describes it as having joined Adblock Plus, which eyeo owns. The products still ship separately.

The products still have separate websites and help centres: AdBlock lives at getadblock.com, Adblock Plus at adblockplus.org. If you need a bug fix or help with an account, use the support site of the one you actually installed.

Do AdBlock and Adblock Plus both allow some ads?

Yes. Out of the box, both let through ads that meet the Acceptable Ads standard: static, clearly labelled, placed so they do not interrupt reading. Adblock Plus says large platforms pay licensing fees to take part, while the Acceptable Ads Committee sets the criteria. You can opt out in either extension in under a minute.

Turn off Acceptable Ads in Adblock Plus

1. Click the puzzle-piece Extensions icon in Chrome's toolbar and pin Adblock Plus so its icon stays visible.
2. Click the ABP icon, then the gear icon in the popup to open Settings.
3. On the General tab, find the Acceptable Ads section.
4. Untick Allow Acceptable Ads. The change applies on your next page load.

Turn off Acceptable Ads in AdBlock

1. Click the AdBlock icon, then the gear icon.
2. Open the Filter lists tab.
3. Deselect Acceptable Ads, then reload any open pages.

The official Acceptable Ads site explains the criteria and who decides them. Some people keep the setting on deliberately, reasoning that small, quiet ads keep free sites funded. That is a fair choice as long as you know it is the default. The AdBlock help centre's Acceptable Ads page covers the same switch.

What permissions do they need, and is that safe?

Both request the broadest permission in Chrome, 'Read and change all your data on all websites'. A content blocker cannot hide ad slots or stop requests on a page it is not allowed to see, so that warning is expected here rather than a red flag on its own.

What matters more is who holds that access and what the privacy policy says they do with it. Read each product's privacy policy for what it collects, because that varies by company and can change. Either way, a single bad update from any all-sites extension could read pages you visit, which is why we explain what extension permissions really allow before recommending any blocker.

• Install only from the Chrome Web Store listing linked from the official site, because lookalike extensions with similar names can appear in search.
• Remove one if you have both: two blockers double the pages with full access for no extra protection.
• To limit exposure, open chrome://extensions, click Details under the blocker, and set Site access to On specific sites. Ads will then only be blocked on those sites.
• Review the safety write-ups for AdBlock and Adblock Plus if you manage devices for other people.

Is AdBlock or Adblock Plus free?

The core ad blocking is free in both, so price rarely decides this choice.

AdBlock is listed as Freemium in our catalogue. Wikipedia describes it as free to download and use, with a pay-what-you-want model of optional donations. Any paid extras change over time, so read the current offer on getadblock.com.

Adblock Plus is listed as Free, and its own site says it stays free for users while eyeo earns money from licensing fees paid by large platforms in the Acceptable Ads program. Check the official site for any optional paid add-ons.

If price is the deciding factor, both are fine without paying. Money only enters the picture if you want to support the developers or choose an optional paid extra.

Which one blocks more ads, including on YouTube?

With default settings the results are close, because both lean on the same filter lists and both allow Acceptable Ads. Turn that setting off in each and the gap narrows further; the bigger difference comes from which extra filter lists you enable.

YouTube is the moving target. Google changes how video ads are served and shows warnings to people it detects blocking, and filter maintainers respond with updates. Any blocker can fail for a few days and then start working again, so a single bad week does not tell you much about long-term accuracy.

1. Open your blocker's settings (the gear icon in its popup) and look for the filter lists page, where you can update the lists manually. In AdBlock this is the Filter lists tab.
2. Add a tracker-protection list and a cookie-notice list if you want trackers and banners gone too.
3. Run our ad blocker test page before and after to see what changed.
4. Keep only one blocker enabled while testing, or you will not know which one did the work.

Why is Adblock Plus or AdBlock no longer working?

Usually one of four things: stale filter lists, a site accidentally allowlisted, a second blocker conflicting, or Chrome having disabled the extension after an update. Work through them in this order.

1. Go to chrome://extensions and make sure the toggle is on. If Chrome shows a notice that the extension was turned off, reinstall the current version from the Web Store.
2. Click the blocker's icon on the problem site. If it says paused, disabled or allowlisted for this domain, switch blocking back on.
3. Update the filter lists manually from the blocker's settings, as described in the previous section.
4. Disable every other ad, privacy or script blocker for a minute and reload. Conflicts between blockers are common.
5. Open Details → Site access and confirm it is not restricted to specific sites.
6. If only one site fails, report it through the blocker's 'report an issue' option so the filter maintainers can add a rule.

Chrome's move from Manifest V2 to Manifest V3 stopped older extension versions from loading, so an up-to-date install from the official listing is the first fix to try.

Is ad blocking legal, and what are the downsides?

Ad blocking is legal for personal use in most countries because you are deciding what your own browser loads. Publishers have challenged it in court, most prominently in Germany, where Wikipedia reports several suits against Adblock Plus failed and that courts found in eyeo's favour.

Legal does not mean free of trade-offs. The main downsides you will actually feel:

• Broken pages. Aggressive rules sometimes hide login buttons, comment boxes or checkout steps. Pausing on that site usually fixes it.
• Anti-adblock walls. Some news sites and video platforms block content until you allowlist them or subscribe.
• Allowed ads by default. Both show Acceptable Ads until you switch the option off.
• Broad access. Any all-sites extension is a trust decision, as covered above.
• Lost revenue for sites you like. Allowlisting favourite creators is an easy middle ground.

Neither extension works in Chrome for Android or iOS, because mobile Chrome does not support extensions. Adblock Plus lists iOS and Android among its platforms, and AdBlock has mobile apps too; check their official sites for what is available on your phone.

Which ad blocker is better than Adblock Plus?

If you want to skip the Acceptable Ads question entirely, uBlock Origin Lite is the usual alternative: free, open source and built for Manifest V3. AdBlock and Adblock Plus remain reasonable if you prefer their menus. Ghostery and AdGuard AdBlocker are other options in our catalogue.

See how the two leading names stack up in our Adblock Plus vs uBlock Origin Lite comparison, or read uBlock Origin vs AdBlock for the other half of the three-way question. Whichever you choose, run only one blocker at a time.