Ublock Origin vs Adblock: Which is Best? – The Digital Guyde
Ad blockers are a quintessential part of everyone’s online privacy, but sadly enough, some people forgot ad blockers completely. I think that ad blockers are a digital staple, and should always be in conjunction with other primary privacy and anonymity tools. This along with a complete antivirus package and a VPN.
But most people don’t know that ad blockers help protect privacy. Instead, many people incorrectly assume that ad blockers only exist to help stop those annoying pop-ups from filling your screen and crashing your browser with odd scripts.
It is true that ad blockers help thwart pop-ups from inundating you with hundreds of annoying and sketchy offers. Additionally, they can help stop interruptions in your favorite streaming video and multimedia content, such as ads that interrupt YouTube videos.
Furthermore, ad blockers eliminate advertisements that we can typically find in free software. Many companies turn to sell advertising space to help monetize their free software downloads.
But two other crucial benefits aren’t obvious. First of all, ad blocking plugins and extensions can help increase performance on your laptop or mobile device. By stopping an ad from loading, a web page needs less bandwidth to load, and scripts are prevented from executing that would otherwise waste valuable space in RAM and CPU cycles.
In fact, you can even use Adblock to prevent message recipients on Facebook from knowing whether or not you have ‘seen’ their message. Instead of a utility purely designed to stop ads from popping up, you can use them as a filter to block communication with different website components. Ad blockers even act as a security tool because they can be used to filter malicious domains as well.
Today we’re making a comparison of two of the leading ad-blocking utilities: Ublock vs. Adblock. So, let’s get started with a price comparison!
Pricing Comparison
The pricing comparison is going to be somewhat dull and anticlimactic because both utilities are open source. Also, they are protected under the GNU General Public License. How do these utilities support themselves, you ask? Well, quite a lot like Wikipedia – they are supported by contributions from their users. If you’re feeling generous and want to keep them running, you can contribute to either browser extension.
Available Platforms
Unlike the majority of other types of software, both Ublock and Adblock are web browser extensions. This means they are, for the most part, operating system independent. Instead, they processed through your web browser, so as long as your operating system can run a browser that they support, you can use either ad blocker.
I suppose the only exceptional operating systems that couldn’t run these plugins would be command line interfaces, like some archaic varieties of Linux and Unix, but in those scenarios, a web browser wouldn’t be the primary concern.
The following outlines the platforms on which Adblock is available:
Firefox
Chrome
Android
Opera
Internet Explorer
Safari
Yandex
Maxthon
Microsoft Edge
The following outlines the platforms on which Ublock Origin is available:
Chromium
Overall, Adblock is much more versatile because it supports more browser platforms than Ublock. I was surprised that Ublock’s Safari extension was still in Beta. Again, I must admit, both ad blocking solutions cover all the important basis, and can both accommodate the vast majority of users.
Ublock Origin is often confused with, and it seems there has been a bitter battle between the two due to confusion from customers thinking they’re simply different versions of the same product.
Unfortunately, since Ublock Origin is an extension that’s free to use like Adblock, it doesn’t have a full website as you might expect with another software service, such as a VPN tunnel.
Ublock Features
At any rate, the first feature I wanted to discuss was the extension’s interface in the browser. Just by clicking on the button, you can enable or disable the plugin for a website, which is excellent because some sites won’t load if they detect you are using an ad blocker.
The button makes it a snap to toggle the ad blocker on or off without having to dig through long and tedious menus. Furthermore, note that the software can both create and read data from host files, but it does come preloaded with a ton of different lists of harmful websites and domains to block.
Among the preinstalled lists of websites, there are ad blockers as well as lists of malware domains to prevent a malicious script or virus from infecting your computer. But you’re not limited to the files that are preinstalled.
In fact, there are complete libraries of other lists to choose from. However, do note that the more lists you have actively configured with cause the ad blocker to use more CPU and memory. That said, it was designed to have as small an impact on system performance as possible.
And if you use it as out-of-the-box, I doubt anyone is going to have any problems or even notice the slightest change in system performance. If, however, you’re using a computer that’s three or four generations old and can hardly run a web browser without crashing, then perhaps you’ll notice performance differences. At any rate, Ublock Origin provides a highly streamlined set of features to help prevent ads, ad tracking, and malware from harming your computer.
In summary, the following outline Ublock Origin’s features:
One-click button to permanently enable or disable Ublock on a specific page
Can read and create filters from host files
Includes filters by default, including EasyList, Peter Lowe’s Ad server list, Easy Privacy and a list of malware domains
Other lists are available for download, including Fanboy’s Enhanced Tracking List, Dan Pollock’s hosts file, MVPS HOSTS and Spam404 among others
Small resource consumption fingerprint, very light use of memory and CPU
Free to use, protected under GPLv3
Adblock Features
Adblock also has a great set of features, with the primary functionality being the ability to block advertisements. But I have personally used Adblock for a different scenario: blocking social media updates.
Social media sites like Facebook communicate with various components of websites to send status updates and alerts to others in your social network. But what if those updates were undesirable, and I didn’t other people receiving those updates because I wanted to protect my privacy?
For example, I find it irritating if a friend relentlessly pesters me for an answer in a text chat after they have received the “seen” notification. What if I’m at work or otherwise busy, and had time to read the message but respond to it?
What if some crazy person contacts me, and I don’t want to have anything to do with a person, let alone speak with them? Fortunately, I can use Adblock to prevent the “seen” message on Facebook chats from being sent.
How is Adblock different…
Like Ublock Origin, Adblock comes with a ton of preinstalled lists as well, including EastList and a ton of international and multilingual filters. And like Ublock, the default Adblock filters are well adept at blocking pop-up windows, banner advertisements, and the stray malware domain from invading your device, wreaking havoc, and slowing things down. However, note that the default setting is to allow non-intrusive advertising (those that don’t interrupt your content or pop-up to block your screen).
It also can disable the social media share buttons, such as those that appear on the tops, sides, and bottoms of most web pages in an effort to get visitors to share their content for free.
Personally, I don’t find them all that annoying and like having social media buttons so I can share interesting posts and articles with my friends. But to each their own, and you can disable it if you want to.
And last but not least, do note that you have the power to black-list individual websites and domains at your own discretion. This is handy if you noticed that you’d been accidentally fooled into landing on a phishing page or a domain kept redirecting you to another site that was undesirable.
In summary, the following outlines Adblock’s features:
Can be used to prevent Facebook message recipients from knowing whether you have ‘seen’ a message
Blocks banner advertisements, pop-up windows, and online ad tracking
Can block malware and malicious domains
Users can configure what types of ads are blocked, and which are permitted
By default, non-intrusive ads are permitted
Disables social media share buttons on websites
Can block domains at your own discretion with a feature that essentially functions as a personal ‘black-list. ’
Open Source Considerations
As I said before, both Adblock and Ublock are open source utilities. What ‘open source’ means is that the source code is available and made public, which is a massive security benefit.
Since it is open-source, this means it can be downloaded, viewed, and audited by anyone. Also, open source utilities can be reviewed by third-party security organizations. They ensure that the software doesn’t contain any malicious code, tracking software, or other security risks.
Closed source software, on the other hand, is under wraps to protect proprietary intellectual property. For example, the source code of the Microsoft Windows operating system is a closed source, unlike Linux, which is also open source.
The problem with closed source software is that the public has no idea how it works and functions under the hood, leading to a lot of scary security concerns. For instance, note that Microsoft has conspired with the federal US government in the past to comply with the NSA, and wrote code that essentially spied on US citizens. Fortunately, neither of these ad blocking utilities have these security problems.
Final Thoughts
So, which one was better? Well, I first have to say that both of these free plugins are pretty darn near the same. However, despite them being so similar, I prefer Adblock over Ublock Origin.
The bottom line is that either plugin is going to be able to block ads just as well as the other. The real key here is realizing that it’s the lists that determine the quality of ad blocking service. Thus, as long as a particular list is available on both extensions, they’ll perform more or less the same.
That said, I think Adblock has better documentation and guides that detail the steps needed to block social media updates. And I think that the Adblock interface is more straightforward, cleaner, and more attractive. Lastly, note that Ublock Origin isn’t wrong by any means, but I’d recommend checking into Adblock first.
uBlock Origin vs. Adblock Plus – Web Browsing/Email and Other Internet …
#1
Andre_Castillo14
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Gender:Male
Local time:09:53 PM
Posted 06 June 2021 – 09:15 PM
Hello, I’m currently looking at uBlock Origin as a replacement for Adblock Plus, as some of my friends have been put off by it, since ads kept on bypassing their Adblock Plus, so they moved to uBlock Origin.
I downloaded uBlock Origin from the Chrome Web Store and is currently using it to supplement my daily online routine. I noticed that all websites I usually frequent with Adblock, now struggles to load with uBlock Origin. I haven’t seen any ads get around uBlock yet, but to be fair I never had this problem even with Adblock Plus.
Are there any more significant advantages that uBlock Origin has over Adblock Plus? Is it better to stick with uBlock Origin now?
Edited by Andre_Castillo14, 06 June 2021 – 09:18 PM.
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#2
ET_Explorer
4, 169 posts
ONLINE
Location:Forestville California
Local time:06:53 AM
Posted 06 June 2021 – 09:25 PM
Most of the users on Bleeping Computer, uses UBlock Origin.
#3
Pkshadow
BC Advisor
2, 847 posts
Gender:Not Telling
Location:In the West Coast Lounge, Canada
Posted 06 June 2021 – 09:40 PM
UBlock Origin, easy to let more in plus the eye dropper to get rid of a popup. It is a matter of teaching it and learning which and what are video sites to allow in. Essentially can allow part or full for all the options, let to much in and cookies and ads. My main thing is cookies even in Private Mode.
Do a little, click the lock and refresh, trial by error. No idea if Chrome has Privacy Possum but it is a great little header blocker of stuff that is wonderful, never have to adjust and if do you know most stuff I can find on another site.
Ya, just learn the full/half allow and lock and reload and then the picker and or zapper, which sites have sound/video Sometimes have to use Firefox Inspect the page to find the URL it actually comes from then find it in the list.
Once have all your regular sites done should have no problems to little after.
“… 30 years of Blah blah blah… ”
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#4
0lds0d
853 posts
Location:Canada
Local time:09:53 AM
Posted 06 June 2021 – 10:37 PM
For Adblock Plus, it is important to uncheck the “Allow Acceptable Ads”. This remove some of the ads that were missed.
Ublock is lighter and probably faster than AdBlock Plus, but if you are using AdBlock Plus with just a few filters instead of many then the difference is not noticeable. I use a customized small filter for AdBlock Plus and it is very fast.
As for CSS ads and elements, these can be easily blocked in AdBlock Plus. But I use Stylus for that type of blocking.
Edited by 0lds0d, 06 June 2021 – 10:38 PM.
#5
opera
1, 242 posts
Local time:02:53 PM
Posted 06 June 2021 – 11:29 PM
Note this from uBlock dev who also states ”All content blocker extensions are affected by this issue. ”
#6
Posted 07 June 2021 – 08:57 AM
@opera “Note this from uBlock dev who also states ”All content blocker extensions are affected by this issue. ”” Huh?
#7
Posted 07 June 2021 – 09:43 AM
He is using v91 which most people aren’t on yet. Sort of a heads up for what might be to come.
There has been a regression in the extension API of v91 of Chromium-based browsers
#8
Posted 07 June 2021 – 10:52 AM
OK Thank you.
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uBlock Origin – Free, open-source ad content blocker.
Easy on CPU and memory.
uBlock Origin is not just an “ad blocker“, it’s a wide-spectrum content blocker with CPU and memory efficiency as a primary feature.
Open-source ad blocker
The uBlock Origin is a free and open-source, cross-platform browser extension for content filtering—primarily aimed at neutralizing privacy invasion in an efficient, user-friendly method.
CPU and memory efficiency
Globally, uBlock Origin could save consumers more than $1. 8 billion/year(study). Open source ad blockers are a potentially effective technology for energy conservation.
Various browsers support
uBlock Origin’s extension is available for several of the most widely used browsers, including: Chrome, Chromium, MS Edge, Opera, Firefox and all Safari releases prior to 13.
About uBlock Origin
In 2014 uBlock Origin’s founder, original author and lead developer, Raymond Hill, created the original uBlock extension, with its development initiated by forking the codebase of
HTTP Switchboard with a separate blocking extension, uMatrix, which had been previously designed for advanced users. The initial uBlock was developed by Raymond Hill in order to enable
community-maintained block lists while simultaneously adding additional features and upgrading the code quality to proper release standards. First released in June 2014 as an exclusive Chrome and
Opera extension, in late 2015 the initial uBlock extension expanded to other browsers under its current name – uBlock Origin.
(occasionally represented globally as – uBlock₀).
Following this 2015 introduction, a collaborative comsource and Sourcepoint industry research survey reported an 833% growth rate over a 10-month period ending in August 2016, the most rapid growth among
any industry software publicly listed at that time. This report attributed this enormous surge to collective user demand for “pure” blockers with the capacity to operate outside the “acceptable advertising” program used by AdBlock,
and other industry extensions.
Quickly gaining traction throughout the entire ad-blocking industry, the uBlock Origin Firefox version collected over 5 million active users, with its Chrome extension subsequently compiling over 10
million active users. Developer Nik Rolls then officially released uBlock Origin for the Microsoft Edge browser in December 2016.
In January 2017, uBlock Origin was added to the repositories for Debian 9, and Ubuntu (16. 04), and the uBlock Origin extension was awarded the prestigious IoT honor of “Pick of the
Month” by Mozilla.
As of 2021, uBlock Origin continues to be maintained and actively developed by founder and lead developer Raymond Hill.
The uBlock Origin extension remains an industry leading, open-source, cross-platform browser extension with software developed specifically for multiple platform use, and as of 2021, uBlock Origin’s extension is available
for several of the most widely used browsers, including: Chrome, Chromium, Edge, Opera, Firefox and all Safari releases prior to 13.
The uBlock Origin project still specifically refuses donations at this time, and instead advises all of its clients, users and supporters to donate to block list maintainers.
Frequently Asked Questions about ublock origin vs adblock edge
Which is better uBlock Origin or AdBlock?
Ublock is lighter and probably faster than AdBlock Plus, but if you are using AdBlock Plus with just a few filters instead of many then the difference is not noticeable. I use a customized small filter for AdBlock Plus and it is very fast. As for CSS ads and elements, these can be easily blocked in AdBlock Plus.Jun 6, 2021
Is uBlock Origin available for Edge?
uBlock Origin’s extension is available for several of the most widely used browsers, including: Chrome, Chromium, MS Edge, Opera, Firefox and all Safari releases prior to 13.
Does uBlock Origin block anti AdBlock?
Most anti-adblocking scripts should be blocked automatically once you have changed the configuration of uBlock Origin and integrated the custom filter lists in the extension. A quick test on several sites that use anti-adblocking functionality confirmed that this worked just fine at that point in time.Feb 15, 2019