Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

uBlock Origin VS Privacy Badger

Compare uBlock Origin VS Privacy Badger and see what are their differences

uBlock Origin logo uBlock Origin

Popular and efficient blocker for Chromium, Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, Safari, Thunderbird.

Privacy Badger logo Privacy Badger

Privacy Badger blocks spying ads and invisible trackers. How is Privacy Badger different from Disconnect, Adblock Plus, Ghostery, and other blocking extensions?
  • uBlock Origin Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-28
  • Privacy Badger Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-06-19

uBlock Origin features and specs

  • Efficient Performance
    uBlock Origin is highly optimized and lightweight, consuming fewer system resources compared to many other ad blockers, which helps in maintaining smoother browsing performance.
  • Customizability
    uBlock Origin offers extensive customization options. Users can create their own filters, whitelist websites, and adjust settings to suit their specific needs.
  • Open Source
    As an open-source project, uBlock Origin's source code is publicly available for review and contribution, ensuring transparency and fostering community trust.
  • Wide Range of Filters
    uBlock Origin supports numerous filter lists for blocking ads, trackers, and malware, ensuring a comprehensive browsing protection experience.
  • Improves Privacy and Security
    By blocking ads and trackers, uBlock Origin helps to enhance user privacy and security online, reducing the risk of data collection and potential malware exposure.

Possible disadvantages of uBlock Origin

  • Learning Curve
    For users new to ad blockers or those without technical knowledge, the wealth of customization options and settings might be overwhelming initially.
  • Potential Website Breakage
    In some cases, uBlock Origin might block essential elements of a website, causing parts of the site not to function correctly, which can disrupt the user experience.
  • Manual Updates for Filter Lists
    Some filter lists may require manual updates, which can be inconvenient for users who prefer a more hands-off approach.
  • Dependency on Community Support
    Being an open-source project, ongoing development and support depend heavily on community contributions, which might affect the speed and efficiency of updates and bug fixes.

Privacy Badger features and specs

  • Automatic Tracking Protection
    Privacy Badger automatically learns to block invisible trackers based on their behavior, rather than relying on a predefined blacklist.
  • Open Source
    The extension is open-source, allowing for transparency and community input on its development and security.
  • No Manual Configuration
    Users don't need to manually configure or update lists of trackers; Privacy Badger handles this automatically.
  • Blocking Third-Party Cookies
    The extension effectively blocks third-party tracking cookies, enhancing user privacy while browsing.
  • Visual Indications
    Privacy Badger provides visual feedback (color-coded) on which trackers are being blocked on a website, helping users understand its actions.
  • Ethical Stance
    Developed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a reputable nonprofit that focuses on defending civil liberties in the digital world.

Possible disadvantages of Privacy Badger

  • Learning Period
    There is a period of time during which Privacy Badger is learning tracker behavior, during which it may not block all trackers effectively.
  • Site Breakage
    Blocking certain trackers can sometimes lead to functionality issues or broken features on websites.
  • Limited Compatibility
    Privacy Badger may not be available or fully functional on all browsers, limiting its use for some users.
  • Less Comprehensive than Ad Blockers
    While it's effective at stopping trackers, Privacy Badger is not as comprehensive in blocking ads compared to dedicated ad blockers.
  • Potentially Higher Resource Usage
    The learning and block-list management processes might slightly increase browser resource usage, although typically minimal.

Analysis of Privacy Badger

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Privacy Badger is recommended for users who want a simple and effective tool to improve their privacy while browsing the web. Its ability to block trackers without the need for extensive user intervention makes it a convenient choice.

Why this product is good

  • Privacy Badger is generally considered a good choice for enhancing browser privacy because it automatically learns to block invisible trackers, ensuring that your browsing experience is more private and secure. It is developed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a reputable organization known for its privacy advocacy. Additionally, Privacy Badger is user-friendly and does not require complex configurations, making it accessible for less technical users. The extension is also open-source, allowing for transparency and community-driven improvements.

Recommended for

    Privacy Badger is recommended for individuals who are concerned about online tracking and privacy but prefer a solution that works seamlessly without requiring much technical knowledge. It is suitable for users of popular browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera.

uBlock Origin videos

Trying uBlock Origin w/ Brief Review of Features

More videos:

  • Tutorial - How to use uBlock Origin to protect your online privacy and security | uBlock Origin tutorial 2018

Privacy Badger videos

How to use Privacy Badger (2019)

More videos:

  • Review - Boosting Your Online Safety and Privacy with Privacy Badger, AdBlock Plus and HTTPS Everywhere

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to uBlock Origin and Privacy Badger)
Security & Privacy
57 57%
43% 43
Ad Blockers
60 60%
40% 40
Privacy
55 55%
45% 45
Monitoring Tools
54 54%
46% 46

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare uBlock Origin and Privacy Badger

uBlock Origin Reviews

The Best Ad Blockers for YouTube 2024
We also like that uBlock Origin is an open-source platform. Applications with open-source code often give transparency into vulnerabilities that can be found and fixed quickly. uBlock Origin also has advanced settings that allow users to customize the ad-blocking features. However, these are focused more on power users who understand how to manage and change these settings....
List of 10 Best Ad Blockers in 2024
With its powerful fеaturеs and widеsprеad popularity, uBlock Origin has еstablishеd itself as a rеliablе and еfficiеnt tool for blocking intrusivе advеrtisеmеnts. It is highly rеgardеd for its ability to еffеctivеly block ads across various platforms, including wеb browsеrs and mobilе dеvicеs. uBlock Origin boasts a lightwеight dеsign that minimizеs its impact on systеm...
Best Ad Blockers in 2023: Adblock Plus vs AdGuard vs uBlock Origin and More
Any of these options will block ads without a second thought, but they’re not all the same. uBlock Origin, for example, works on all types of ads, whereas Adblocker for YouTube blocks autoplay video ads only. Let’s take a closer look so you can see which of these options is the right one to block ads and trackers on your device.
Best Ad Blockers
uBlock Origin (not to be confused with uBlock or µBlock) is a stellar extension that runs on a wide variety of browsers. But be careful which version you’re installing — those with similar names are not the same program. The project went through several name changes as different people contributed or modified it, but the most advanced version and the one sustained by the...
22 NextDNS Alternatives
uBlock Origin is an effective ad blocker that is sleek on memory and CPU to lets you have a frustration-free atmosphere. uBlock Origin is a wide spectrum content blocker with security-enhanced functionality that doesn’t harm your online activities. More lists are also available for you so you can select from Fanboy’s Enhanced Tracking List, spam404, Dan Pollock’s host's...

Privacy Badger Reviews

10 Best FREE Anti Tracking Software In 2023 [TOP SELECTIVE]
Privacy Badger is your badge to track free internet surfing where your data remains protected and out of reach of people with malicious intent. This tool uses an advanced algorithm with a cookie-based blocking feature that blocks all the cookies from a website, making it easier to disable the trackers.
Best Ad Blockers
Privacy Badger is a unique extension. It is not a traditional ad blocker, and will not automatically block ads on the pages you visit. Instead, it functions more on a need-to-block basis. It pings all ads on a page with a “do not track” request. Ads that don’t comply with the request, or trackers that appear on three pages or more, are then blocked automatically by Privacy...
The best ad blockers in 2020
Privacy Badger functions similarly to extensions like AdBlock Plus (on which it was based), observing the various tracking tools that advertisers and other third parties might use to track your online activities and selectively blocking them from executing. Built-in learning algorithms adapt to the sites you visit and take any new tracking tools discovered into account.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Privacy Badger seems to be a lot more popular than uBlock Origin. While we know about 84 links to Privacy Badger, we've tracked only 3 mentions of uBlock Origin. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

uBlock Origin mentions (3)

  • Donefirst reviews
    They're advertising on this sub? They can go fuck themselves. I've got ad-blocking enabled (and mods can't see ads on their own subs anyway) so I had no idea. I super recommend ublock origin for ad and content blocking. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • Browsing in 2022
    No, it does not. It's open source and non profit. If you want you could make your own adblock with it's source code. https://github.com/gorhill/ublock. Source: over 3 years ago
  • cURL to add native JSON support
    Firefox has its own "Enhanced Tracking Protection", Which is eclipsed by pretty much any specialized content blocker (such as uBlock Origin). Anyone who cares for that stuff has probably turned it off And installed a better extension for that, And for people who don't, well, it's completely unnecessary. Source: over 3 years ago

Privacy Badger mentions (84)

  • Can anyone verify this information about privacy?
    ~Using privacy plug-ins or browsers. You can block our site from setting cookies used for interest-based ads by using a browser with privacy features, like Brave, or installing browser plugins, like Privacy Badger, Ghostery or uBlock Origin, and configuring them to block third party cookies/trackers. Source: over 1 year ago
  • X-ray CT scans of coffee equipment: Aeropress, Fellow kettle, Moka pot
    There are a lot of solutions to those annoying popups, but changing your browser shouldn't be one. https://www.i-dont-care-about-cookies.eu & https://hellogoodbye.app & https://privacybadger.org. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • Tax prep companies shared private taxpayer data with Google and Meta for years, congressional probe finds
    Everyone should install the browser extension Privacy Badger, created by the nonprofit privacy organization Electronic Frontier Foundation. It blocks tracking pixels like the ones described in this article as well as many other forms of tracking that AdBlockers do not. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Game Thread: July 2 - Boston Red Sox (42-42) @ Toronto Blue Jays (45-39) - 1:37 PM
    If you watch on a laptop or pc, try Privacy Badger. It's a browser extension made by the EFF that's blocks third party trackers from monitoring your web activity. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Article About How to Safeguard Your Data and Browsing Experience with a Chrome Extension
    Installing more extensions is the best way to compromise your security. You should keep your extension list as short as possible. So uBlock Origin and Privacy Badger which is built by the EFF. Source: almost 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing uBlock Origin and Privacy Badger, you can also consider the following products

AdGuard - Surf the Web Ad-Free and Safely. Shield up!

Adblock Plus - AdBlock Plus is a browser extension for Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and several other popular browsers that prevents intrusive ads like pop-ups and malicious code from appearing on websites you visit.

Ghostery - Privacy tool for transparency and control

AdBlock - Ad blocker for Chrome, Safari and Opera on desktop and Safari for iOS devices.

Disconnect - Make the web faster, more private, and more secure. Disconnect lets you visualize and block the invisible sites that track your search and browsing history.

Blokada - The best ad blocker for Android. Free and open source.