Total Adblock Review 2024: A Set-It-and-Forget-It Ad Blocker (2024)

There are a few important reasons to consider using ad blockers, like being able to browse the internet anonymously, protecting your digital privacy, and enjoying ad-free web surfing experiences. Total Adblock is an effective, easy-to-use ad blocker that delivers all these benefits.

The software is easy to set up and provides hands-off ad-blocking without disrupting your web surfing. It's gotten top results from ad blocker test sites, and its free version comes with a decent amount of ad- and tracker-blocking features. Its paid version offers all the ad-blocking you could want, in addition to award-winning antivirus protection.

Below, we dive into Total Adblock to share details about how it works, what it offers, and whether it’s worth the cost.

Total Adblock overview

Total Adblock pros and cons

Total Adblock paid plan

Total Adblock offers a paid plan option starting at $1.99/mo (billed annually) for first-time users. After your first year, it jumps to $119 a year. We recommend the paid version for a few reasons:

• Total Adblock’s free version excludes the top 15,000 websites as listed on Alexa.com, so your ad-blocking is limited. The paid version blocks unlimited ads from everywhere.
• The paid version comes with TotalAV’s antivirus protection, which we highly recommend.
• The paid version also removes unwanted browser notifications.

Total Adblock paid plan prices

Total Adblock features

Total Adblock Free comes with an array of features, including:

• Block ads from a selection of sites
• Protection from malicious websites
• Manage trusted websites and acceptable ad preferences
• Whitelisting to ensure you see certain ads or pop-ups (enable if you want to support certain content creators, like YouTubers living off advertising revenue)
• Third-party tracker blocking

Additionally, information in the drop-down browser extension lets you know how many ads and trackers you have blocked — among other data points.

The paid version (more on that below) also comes with the ability to remove unwanted browser notifications and block all ads from any site, as well as TotalAV antivirus protection.

Total Adblock test results

We tested Total AdBlock using the Adblock Tester and EFF's Cover Your Tracks tools. AdBlock Tester tests for the following types of ads:

• Contextual advertising, the most common form of advertising and tracking
• Analytic tools, which are used to monitor user activity and collect data
• Banner advertising, which are often used on large websits that sell ad
• space
• Error monitoring, used to track for errors on websites

Total Adblock received 100/100, proving it’s a powerful ad-blocking tool.

Cover Your Tracks tests for ads with trackers. Total AdBlock successfully blocked tracking ads, and invisible ads. However, our results also showed that our browser has a unique fingerprint, meaning that it's easier to profile you online.

Total Adblock scores

*Test results as of 10/12/2023.

Does Total Adblock block YouTube ads?

For many, YouTube is an app used daily. But now pre-video, in-video, and post-video ads are omnipresent on the platform, which breaks up your streaming experience and forces you to skip or listen to ads.

We put Total Adblock to the test by playing videos that run long with ad timestamps. Total Adblock was successful in blocking all ads for the entire duration of these videos. Videos played in an instant without stutters or lag. In total, Total Adblock stopped 21 ads and 227 trackers on YouTube alone. It felt good to watch videos of Disneyland secrets without getting cut off by an ad for Disneyland.

With YouTube's latest attempts to bring down ad blockers, we've been relieved to see Total Adblock consistently thwart its ads, from ads in-video to banners on the page.

If you're watching videos from your favorite YouTubers, it's better not to use Adblock. YouTubers rely on ads during their videos to generate revenue. If you wish to keep supporting them so their channel can grow, we suggest turning Total Adblock off. If you use private or Incognito windows in your browser, ads will play but their visuals get blocked. We noticed this in testing, so for seamless ad blocking, we recommend staying in a regular window.

Our Total Adblock experience

The Total Adblock app is easy to use and it blocks content without intruding on the web surfing experience. Setting up Total Adblock couldn’t be simpler, with prompts explaining exactly how to install the extension on Chrome and get started.

Upon installing the extension, Total Adblock starts working right away. Click on the extension at any time to view what the software is blocking.

During the setup process, Total Adblock ushers you through a couple of steps — all of which took less than five minutes to complete. In one step, it’ll ask how you want to manage your search history (with options to clear browsing history, junk images and files, and download history).Deleting this data can improve your browsing experience and improve page load speed.

We chose to only clear our download history, and the software moved us forward to a step where we hand-selected which adverts to block. Total Adblock has a whitelist of acceptable ads to ensure it allows useful alerts, but despite this reliably blocks unnecessary pop-up ads that could be phishing scams.

The program then tells you Total Adblock is on. If you want to take advantage of the mobile version, Total Adblock provides a QR code to scan so you can start blocking ads on your mobile device.

We didn;t experience any glitching websites while using Total Adblock (aside from the two YouTube videos mentioned above), and no ads made their way through the blocker. It began working immediately, and we didn’t have to do anything after installing the extension. It’s quite a hands-off experience.

However, if you want a more hands-on approach to your ad-blocking, Total Adblock allows you to manage your trusted websites and ad preferences manually.

Total Adblock compatibility

Total Adblock is compatible with the following browsers and devices:

• Google Chrome
• Microsoft Edge
• Safari
  
• iOS (iPhone and iPad)
• Android (must be downloaded outside of the Google Play Store)

Total Adblock FAQs

Bottom line: Is Total Adblock good?

Total Adblock is one of the best ad blockers, especially for those who want a “set it and forget it” experience while browsing anonymously. With a 100/100 score from Adblock Tester, you can’t get much better.

Even if you don’t opt for the paid version, you’ll still receive a solid amount of protection from trackers and a smoother web-surfing experience from Total Adblock Free. The downside to using the free version is the exclusion of the top 15,000 websites as listed on Alexa.com.

The paid version provides access to TotalAV’s renowned antivirus protection, which — coupled with Total Adblock — is worth the money if you are willing to pay. One downside: Some reviewers noted difficulty canceling their subscriptions.

But based on our testing, anyone looking for a simple yet powerful way to get rid of annoying ads need to look no further than Total Adblock. If you're considering the paid plan, read our TotalAV review to learn more about the antivirus that comes with it.