Best for Ease of Use

4.5

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On Total Adblock's website

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Total Adblock

• Remove ads & trackers on YouTube, Facebook, and most websites
• Hands-off ad-blocking experience
• Easy to set up
• Free version excludes top 15,000 websites

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Best for an All-in-One-Solution

4.5

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On NordVPN Threat Protection's website

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NordVPN Threat Protection

• Threat protection - Block ads, trackers, and malicious downloads
• Works on multiple devices and browsers
• 30-day money-back guarantee
• Lacks a dedicated firewall

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Best for iOS

5.0

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On AdLock's website

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AdLock

• Blocks YouTube Ads on iOS
• Doesn’t sell data
• Fewer features for Safari

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Best for Compatibility

4.6

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On 1Blocker's website

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1Blocker

• Compatible with cybersecurity software
• Doesn’t sell your data
• Free iOS app is limiting

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Best for Parental Controls

5.0

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On AdGuard Ad Blocker's website

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AdGuard Ad Blocker

• Detailed parental controls
• Compatible with many operating systems and browsers
• Stats not straightforward

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Ads are annoying. We all know it. Unfortunately, Apple products such as Macbooks and iPhones tend to get shorted when it comes to security. The five we’ve chosen not only work on Apple products but also provide a number of features for security.

AdGuard has strong parental controls, but 1Blocker was built specifically for Apple products and has top-notch compatibility with other security software. If you’re looking to clean up your browsing experience with a content blocker, consider this list of the best Mac and Safari ad blockers.

The best ad blockers for Mac and Safari 2024

• Total Adblock: Best for ease of use
• NordVPN Threat Protection: Best for an all-in-one solution
• AdLock: Best for iOS
• 1Blocker: Best for compatibility
• AdGuard: Best for parental controls

Top 5 ad blockers for Mac and Safari compared

Ad blocker	Total Adblock	NordVPN Threat Protection	AdLock	1Blocker	AdGuard
Compatibility	Chrome, Edge, Firefox, iOS, Android	Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Chrome, Firefox, Edge	Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Chrome, Safari, YouTube	macOS, iOS, Safari	Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, Opera, Yandex
Features	Whitelisting, third-party tracker blocking	Malware blocking, malware scans, VPN	Multi-language support, spyware filter, social media filter, allowlist	Toggles for different types of blocked content, custom options	Parental controls, allowlist, user rules, stealth mode, DNS, browser assistance
Learn more	Get Total Adblock	Get NordVPN Threat Protection	Read AdLock Review	Read 1Blocker Review	Read AdGuard Review

Total Adblock: Best for ease of use

4.5

Limited-time offer: 80% off

Learn More

On Total Adblock's website

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Total Adblock

• Remove ads & trackers on YouTube, Facebook, and most websites
• Hands-off ad-blocking experience
• Easy to set up
• Free version excludes top 15,000 websites

Total Adblock is an ad-blocking solutions from the makers of TotalAV antivirus. Similar to TotalAV, Total Adblock is a product that's easy to install, setup, and use, as it silently works in the background to provide you with an enhanced web browsing experience. 

What we liked

Our testing proved that Total Adblock is an easy-to-use and reliable ad blocker. As soon as we installed the extension, Total Adblock started working right away. The setup process took less than five minutes to complete too. If you're curious about how well Total Adblock is working, you can click on the extension to view the number of ads and trackers blocked, as well as the data you've saved from using the ad blocker. 

We also liked that Total Adblock had stellar test scores for ad and tracker blocking. Even with the free version, Total Adblock had a perfect score of 100/100 ads blocked and it passed 2/3 of the tracker blocking tests. If you do wish to pay for Total Adblock, the bundle comes with TotalAV antivirus so you can protect your devices from malware threats too. 

What we didn’t like

The Total Adblock free version excludes the top 15,000 websites as listed on Alexa.com, which can make your ad-blocking experience pretty limited. You'll have to pay for Total Adblock to work its magic on all ads.

While testing, we received a lot of Total Adblock pop-up banners on the bottom of some websites urging us to upgrade to premium. It's ironic that Total Adblock would be the source of the ads we're receiving, and we can see how this would be annoying for some users.

Total Adblock pros and cons

Get Total Adblock | Read Our Total Adblock Review

NordVPN Threat Protection: Best for an all-in-one solution

4.5

NordVPN Threat Protection Ad Blocker

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On NordVPN Threat Protection's website

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NordVPN Threat Protection

• Threat protection - Block ads, trackers, and malicious downloads
• Works on multiple devices and browsers
• 30-day money-back guarantee
• Lacks a dedicated firewall

Although you may not immediately think of a virtual private network (VPN) as being a good ad blocker, NordVPN boasts a built-in ad blocker known as NordVPN Threat Protection. This means you’ll get the ad blocker you’re looking for plus the added security of a VPN.

What we liked

NordVPN is one of the best-known names in the VPN industry, and one of the many reasons for that is its extensive features. One of those features is NordVPN Threat Protection, which blocks ads, trackers, and malware. You can even scan downloaded files for malware. For Nord users, all you need to do is visit the settings section of the NordVPN app and turn on the toggle for Threat Protection. 

Just because Threat Protection tackles several cyberthreats, doesn't mean it's slacking on any of them. Threat Protection received impressive test scores: a 93/100 on AdBlock Tester, 2/3 on Cover Your Tracks, and it passed its malware detection and phishing detection tests. 

What we didn’t like

NordVPN may not be the best substitute for an antivirus, considering that Threat Protection doesn't have its own dedicated firewall. Nord could also be an expensive option if all you need is an ad blocker. Plans start at Standard 2-Year, which is more than any of the featured ad blockers on this list.

NordVPN Threat Protection pros and cons

Get NordVPN Threat Protection | Read Our NordVPN Threat Protection Review

AdLock: Best for iOS

AdLock is a free ad-blocker browser extension for Safari (with paid tiers) and a paid app on iOS products. Although the ratings on the app store hover around a 2.5 rating for the Safari extension, the iOS product works well at blocking ads. It was built by cybersecurity experts and prioritizes privacy while also providing filtering options.

What we liked

AdLock’s privacy policy is impeccable. Not only does it not sell your data, but it also works on an internalized system to make sure your requests aren’t being sent to an outside server. Most free products harvest and sell your data, but this one is transparent about what it logs, who uses your data, and for what purpose. The privacy policy is truly impressive.

Additionally, we found that AdLock blocks ads on YouTube with no lag time, blocks banner and pop-up ads, and blocks follow-along video ads such as the ones you’d find on blogs. And this is just for the free product, which also blocks social media and spyware.

What we didn’t like

It’s not fancy and isn’t great on macOS. AdLock will block ads with some language filters and has the option for allowlisting on the iOS app, but you’ll have to pay for the social media and spyware filters. These come free on the Safari extension, so we’re not sure why the iOS app would be different.

AdLock pros and cons

Get AdLock | Read Our AdLock Review 

1Blocker: Best for compatibility

1Blocker has more than 4,500 ratings on the app store with a 4.6 rating. It also touts itself as a “set and forget” product. According to one reviewer, 1Blocker was the only ad blocker that worked with their school’s mandatory enterprise security software.

What we liked

We are 100% on board with products that want to make the Mac user experience easy, and that’s what 1Blocker came to do. We’re also excited about the reports from reviewers that customer service was a breeze. Its compatibility with stronger security software, the “set and forget” ease of use, the fact that it’s free, and it doesn’t sell your data all make this a strong contender.

What we didn’t like

The free iOS app only allows you to have one filter at a time. This means we have to choose between webpage ads and web trackers. Also, there was a little more setup for the app than just plug-and-play. We had to go in and configure the ad-blocking extension settings manually after installation.

1Blocker pros and cons

Get 1Blocker | Read Our 1Blocker Review 

AdGuard: Best for parental controls

Although AdGuard shares many of the same features as its competitors, the real gem here is the parental controls. You have the ability to not only manually blacklist or whitelist websites you see fit, but you can also customize the type of content that comes up in search results on your children’s devices based on age. For you parents, this should help with peace of mind when your children are online.

What we liked

Being able to filter search content based on age is a helpful feature that’s included in AdGuard. Parents can rest assured they’re not only protecting their kids' privacy online with the ad-blocking capabilities but also filtering out potentially harmful content. There’s even an option to block executables so kids can’t accidentally download malware or other malicious content.

What we didn’t like

You may need to install the extension on multiple web browsers if everyone in your family is using something different. Also, we didn’t love how strange the ad-blocking statistics were. They might be difficult to interpret.

AdGuard pros and cons

Get AdGuard | Read Our AdGuard Review

Honorable mentions

There are plenty of ad blockers on the market, but they aren't all suited for macOS and Safari. Here are some honorable mentions and why they didn't make the cut

• Adblock Plus: This ad blocker is pretty easy to use, and it does a good job of blocking annoying and malicious ads. It’s not fancy, but it’s clean and transparent. However, you have to pay to get better ad-blocking features and there aren't as many features for Safari as there are for other browsers.

  Read Our Adblock Plus Review

• Brave Browser: Brave blocks ads, trackers, cookies, and fingerprinting, and it helps to keep you safe from malware and phishing attempts. But with Brave, you'd have to learn a new browser, which isn't ideal if you want to stick to Safari.

Best ad blockers for Mac and Safari FAQs

Bottom line: The best ad blockers for Mac and Safari

Security products are usually glitchy, laggy, and lack features when installed on Apple devices. This is because Apple’s proprietary security is so strong that it historically hasn’t needed security products. Unfortunately, cyberthreats have evolved. That’s where these ad blockers come into play.

We chose these five because they not only work with Apple products but also provide helpful features such as ad blocking and malware protection. We were even impressed to find a product like 1Blocker that was built exclusively for macOS and iOS. Apple products may not be infallible, but at least we know there are products committed to keeping them safe.

5 best ad blockers for Mac and Safari 2024

	Best for	Compatibility	Learn more
AdLock	iOS	Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Google Chrome, Safari, YouTube	Read AdLocl Review
1Blocker	Compatibility	macOS, iOS, Safari	Get 1Blocker
AdGuard	Parental controls	Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, Opera, Yandex	Get AdGuard
Adblock Plus	Ease of use	Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, Opera, Yandex	Get Adblock Plus

How we tested the best ad blockers for Mac and Safari

Security and ad blockers for Apple products are notoriously lacking. Some of the products we looked at, such as uBlock Origin, didn’t support Safari and didn’t offer an iOS app. We looked at security, features, compatibility, and how well the products worked to decide what blockers to include here.

Features we decided were relevant:

• Compatibility: It had to work on macOS and iOS as well as Safari.
• Actual ad blocking: it had to block ads successfully.
• Security: Were there additional security features?
• Extras: Did the product include extra features such as allowlisting or parental controls?

How to choose the best ad blocker for Mac and Safari

There are plenty of products out there claiming to block ads. When you’re looking for a product, many of the features and services depend on what’s important to you. However, there are some non-negotiable features you should consider in all ad blockers.

• Removes most or all ads: Free products should remove most if not all ads, whereas paid products should remove all ads.
• Lag-free video streaming: It shouldn’t slow down your video.
• Compatibility: It has to work with your operating system.
• Privacy: It cannot sell your data.
• Price: There are good free products out there, and the paid ones should be even better.
• Security: A good ad blocker will keep you safe from tracking ads and other malicious scripts or executables.

5.0

Learn More

On AdLock's website

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AdLock

• No ads on YouTube
• Blocks tracking ads
• Social media blocker requires paid tier

Author Details

Mary James

About the Author

Mary lives in Los Angeles and has been a cybersecurity writer for over five years. With a B.S. in Liberal Arts from Clarion University and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Point Park University in Pittsburgh, her career in online security began in sales and content creation for a private cybersecurity firm.