VPN services are getting more sophisticated each year. As competition between providers accelerates, VPN apps get extra features and, as a result, some VPNs now come with a built-in ad-blocker.
An ad-blocker VPN provides digital privacy and unblocking capabilities while also preventing adverts from loading. By blacklisting domains associated with ads and marketing, VPNs can improve page load times and prevent you from accidentally clicking on annoying and malicious adverts.
In this guide, we have pinpointed reliable and trustworthy VPNs that can provide fast speeds and online freedom in addition to ad-blocking.
What are the best ad-blocker VPNs?
We have listed the best ad-blockers VPN services below. These VPNs have ad-blockers built-in and great security features, so you can stop annoying ads from following you around the web. For more information about each service, please scroll down for in-depth summaries, or click through to our VPN reviews.
- Surfshark - The best VPN ad-blocker. Its CleanWeb feature is excellent value, easy-to-use, and included in a 30-day money-back guarantee.
- NordVPN - The best value ad-blocking VPN. It uses its CyberSec feature to block malicious domains to prevent malware, ads, and tracking.
- Private Internet Access - The best secure VPN with ad-blocker. PIA's MACE works through the VPN app so you don't need browser extensions.
- Perfect Privacy - The best all-round VPN with ad-block. It prevents ads with its TrackStop feature, which does a great job at blocking ads.
- Windscribe - The best free ad-blocker VPN. It gets rid of ads and trackers with its ROBERT feature built into the app.
All of these VPN services have developed their very own ad-blockers that come as part of their services. These inbuilt ad-blockers provide users with the following benefits:
- Speed up your internet - blocking ads means that pages load quicker.
- Blocks Trackers - This stops advertisers from tracking what you do with cookies.
- Blocks Malware - Malware is sometimes injected into website banners and ads, these VPN block it with their built-in ad-blocking features.
We cover each VPNs unique features below.
Best VPNs with dedicated ad-blockers – In-depth analysis
To find VPNs with ad blockers you can trust, we searched far and wide for reliable and trustworthy services that are excellent VPN services first and foremost. Below, we take a closer look at the best ad-blockers VPN services.
Surfshark is the best VPN ad-blocker, with its CleanWeb technology blocking ads, tracking, and over one million infected websites. Try their 30-day money-back guarantee today! Surfshark Demo Surfshark is a relative newcomer to the VPN industry that has quickly become a consumer-favorite service. Its CleanWeb feature is a sophisticated ad and tracker blocker, which ensures you do not accidentally stumble on over a million malicious websites that could cause you to become infected with malware. Having this coverage is especially important on mobile devices, which Surfshark also covers. Surfshark VPN is fully featured with strong OpenVPN encryption, a kill switch, DNS leak protection and obfuscation. This makes it excellent for accessing censored content or for downloading torrents privately. And, thanks to its no logs policy Surfshark is a service you can trust to provide watertight digital privacy. Plus, Surfshark is famous for unblocking sought after services like Netflix US, BBC iPlayer, hulu, and much more. Finally, we love that Surfshark lets you use the VPN software on an unlimited number of devices. This is an amazing offer, as most VPN vendors have a cap on the number of simultaneous connections on a user's account. We also appreciate that Surfshark's live chat support is available 24/7. It's a superb all rounder that has everything you need at an amazing price point. Try their 30-day money-back guarantee today and see if Surfshark lives up to your expectations. NordVPN is the best value ad-blocking VPN. It offers great value for money, complete with built-in ad-blocking that protects against ads, malware, and tracking. Nord Demo NordVPN is an excellent service based in Panama. It is a VPN that has superb apps for all platforms that come fully featured with a kill switch, obfuscation, Tor over VPN, double hop encryption, DNS leak protection, military grade OpenVPN encryption, and an app-based CyberSec feature that blocks ads and tracking (as well as malicious domains) inside the VPN application. NordVPN offers CyberSec, another DNS based solution for blocking malicious content before it reaches your computer. This includes a built in ad-blocker, to make sure anything that gets past the DNS level doesn't end up in your browser. To enable it is as simple as can be: Just click the "CyberSec" tickbox in the NordVPN app and you're now much better protected against adware, malware, botnets, and other online threats. With NordVPN you get access to servers in 62 countries, and those servers provide great speeds for torrenting or streaming in HD. NordVPN is also one of the few services that can access Netflix US, iPlayer, hulu, Prime Video and much more. This makes it a VPN we consistently recommend for checking out streaming content. We enjoy using Nord’s apps on all platforms and there is no doubt that this is one of the most user friendly VPNs on the market. It's a great all-round VPN with ad-blocking that is achieved in the app and server-side, and is well worth testing using its 30-day money-back guarantee! Private Internet Access is the best secure VPN with ad-blocker. It blocks unwanted domains to remove ads, trackers, and malware with its MACE feature. PIA Demo Private Internet Access (PIA) is a VPN provider based in the US that has proven its no-logs policy in court on several occasions. Although a no-log audit is good, you can be confident PIA really has nothing to hand over. This means you can trust it to properly protect your online privacy. This VPN has fully featured apps for all platforms that come with a kill switch, obfuscation, port forwarding, split tunneling, and an ad-blocker called MACE. MACE stops DNS requests made to known malware distributors and other websites that've been flagged for abuse. This stops you falling victim to a huge number of dodgy websites, and prevents both ads and tracking from making its way onto your browser. Not only does MACE afford you protection, but all the filtering occurs at the DNS level, not in your browser. This also massively cuts down on the memory footprint it takes to block those nasty ads! We love that this VPN can unblock Netflix US, and because it permits torrenting across its server network, you can use it to download in privacy. Admittedly, PIA only has servers in 33 countries - but those are extremely well positioned servers perfect for most people’s needs. And this VPN provides exceptional speeds. It's well worth testing using its 30-day money-back guarantee. Perfect Privacy is the best all-round VPN with ad-block and lives by its name, blocking ads, trackers, and malware domains at the VPN server level. Perfect Privacy is a reputable VPN provider from Switzerland; a location that is generally regarded as the best place in the EU for a VPN to be based. With Perfect Privacy, you get an excellent all rounder with apps for all platforms that are considered highly secure. And its TrackStop feature is an advanced ad and tracker blocker that will prevent you from stumbling on malware domains as you surf the web. Perfect Privacy has servers in 26 countries, and those servers provide pretty great speeds for streaming or downloading. Unfortunately, this provider does not unblock Netflix US, so if this is a requirement, then we recommend you look elsewhere. Futhermore, their support channels are not the best, so if you're trying to track down exactly which services work with Perfect Privacy you may end up with more success trying their free trial and testing your service than contacting them. However, this is an impressive service that is excellent when it comes to gaining added privacy and security online, and it has rare features such as Tor over VPN, multi-hop encryption, and port forwarding. Their unique load balancing system named "Neurorouting" also attempts to pick the VPN server located most closely to your final destination, keeping your traffic on the VPN for as long as possible. You can compare it to our other recommendations yourself by 7-day money-back guarantee. Windscribe is the best free ad-block VPN. The ROBERT feature provides customizable server-side domain and IP blocking that blocks ads and trackers. Windscribe Demo Windscribe is a Canadian VPN that's often praised by consumers for providing a large choice of features, good speeds, and excellent reliability. Being based in Canada may not be considered the ideal spot for a privacy service (because it is a Five Eye country). However, the VPN makes up for this by having strong encryption and a no logs policy. This means that it will provide watertight digital privacy for your data. We enjoy using this VPN to unblock Netflix US and other sought after services, and you can even test this VPN for free due to its limited free subscription plan. However, please bear in mind that access to Netflix is on the paid plans only. This is typical for most VPN vendors, as there is a real cost associated with putting up servers that effectively unblock major streaming services. Plus, with Windscribe you get servers in a whopping 61 countries, and this VPN will let you use its software on an unlimited number of devices - a real rarity for VPNs! Best of all, Windscribe’s R.O.B.E.R.T feature is a comprehensive server-side ad blocker that will prevent tracking and malvertising from affecting you online. Unlike most other DNS blocking tools offered by vendors, Windscribe allows you to employ several different house lists that encapsulate different types of content, such as ads, or malware, or porn, or "fake news". You can also build your own custom blocklists. It's an excellent VPN with a kill switch and a 3-day money-back guarantee doesn't go amiss. 1. Surfshark
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Surf ad-free
Keep your browsing private
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No more ads
Keep your machines secured
Stream in style
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Powerful privacy provider
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Privacy in perfection
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5. Windscribe
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Locked down encryption
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Unparalleled choice
Benefits of using a VPN with a built-in ad-blockers?
Unnecessary adverts are one of the blights on the internet, Ads can slow down page load times, clog your screen, frustrate your browsing experience, and even cost you money by using up more of your data plan. A VPN with a built-in ad-blockers will remove adverts from the pages you visit, so you can enjoy an uncluttered (and less manipulative) online experience.
Ads can:
- Slow down your system
- Use more data
- Mislead you
- Make the screen less legible
- Infect your system with malware if clicked
You can get a free ad-blockers extension for your browser. Extensions like ad-block Plus are free and they are just as effective as a VPN ad-blockers. For this reason, an ad-blockers is not necessarily a must-have VPN feature.
On the other hand, it is possible to get a highly reliable and functional VPN that also has a built-in ad-blockers. This is a win-win situation that will permit you to install one less extension in your browser – which will actually improve your browser's performance!
Whether you want a VPN that comes with ad-blocking is really down to you. You could opt for a premium VPN that has no ad-blocking and stick to using a browser-based extension like uBlock Origin. However, we think built-in ad-blocking is a fantastic extra feature to have, and you can get it without paying over the odds for your VPN subscription!
Check out our best ad-blockers software page for some recommendation and information about using an ad-blockers extension.
How does ad-blocking work?
A regular browser-based ad-block extension works by scanning the elements loading on the web pages you visit. It does this to cross check them against a database of blacklisted ad services. If an ad domain is detected, the ad-blockers simply stops that content from loading.
This process improves your experience by blocking pop-ups, banners, video ads, and other content of no interest to you. Reliable ad-blocking extensions also prevent third-party trackers from loading. This prevents those marketing companies from collecting information about you, which improves your online privacy.
How do VPNs block ads?
VPNs implement ad blocking in one of three ways. Some simply provide a VPN extension that has a built in ad-blockers just like Adblock Plus (and other similar browser-based extensions). This kind of ad-blocking is effective, but it is not as beneficial as server-side ad-blocking. These are the three methods used by VPNs:
- A free ad-block extension that you must install in your browser.
- Ad blocking via the VPN software.
- Ad blocking that is happening server-side.
Of these options, our favorite implementation is ad-blocking at the server level. This removes the processing power needed to block ads, freeing up your browser or computer. In addition, server-side ad-blocking always removes ads and trackers no matter which browser you use.
This means you need not go to the trouble of installing an ad-block extension in Chrome, Firefox, Cake, Opera – or whichever other browsers you use. By connecting to the VPN server, ad-blocking will automatically be enabled and adverts will always be prevented from reaching your devices.
Using a VPN ad-blockers on a router
VPNs that block ads and trackers are a useful tool that become even more effective if they are installed on a router. VPN-compatible routers allow you to install and connect to a VPN server at the router level. As a result of this, all the devices on that local area network are automatically protected by the VPN connection (including the ad-blocking feature).
If you want to get the privacy, freedom, and protection of a VPN without having to connect to the VPN software on each individual device in your home, a VPN router is the best option.
How to improve your security with an ad-block VPN
When you surf the internet, it is easy to stumble on websites that are crammed full of dodgy pop ups, malvertising, adware, spyware, and other dangerous exploits such as drive by malware.
These automatically-loading website scripts can deliver malevolent exploits onto your machine, allowing hackers to steal your data, take control of your device, and even to lock it up using ransomware. Ad and tracker blocking extensions and VPNs are an effective way of preventing these kinds of malicious scripts from loading on the websites you visit.
The added security you gain from using an ad-blockers is essential if you regularly use the internet. For this reason, it is important to ensure that you have some kind of script blocking enabled on your machine (whether that be an ad-block VPN or a standalone extension).
From $1.99/month
The best VPN ad-blocker. Its CleanWeb feature is excellent value, easy-to-use, and included in a 30-day money-back guarantee.
- ProPrivacy TrustScore:
- 10 out of 10
- Simultaneous connections
- Unlimited
- Server locations
- 140
- Free trial
- Yes
From $3.69/month
The best value ad-blocking VPN. It uses its CyberSec feature to block malicious domains to prevent malware, ads, and tracking.
- ProPrivacy TrustScore:
- 9.9 out of 10
- Simultaneous connections
- 10
- Free trial
- No
- Server locations
- 135
From $2.19/month
The best secure VPN with ad-blocker. PIA's MACE works through the VPN app so you don't need browser extensions.
- ProPrivacy TrustScore:
- 9.8 out of 10
- Simultaneous connections
- Unlimited
- Server locations
- 84
- Free trial
- No
From $8.95/month
The best all-round VPN with ad-block. It prevents ads with its TrackStop feature, which does a great job at blocking ads.
- ProPrivacy TrustScore:
- 9.7 out of 10
- Simultaneous connections
- 1000
- Server locations
- 25
- Free trial
- No
From $0.00/month
The best free ad-blocker VPN. It gets rid of ads and trackers with its ROBERT feature built into the app.
- ProPrivacy TrustScore:
- 9.6 out of 10
- Simultaneous connections
- Unlimited
- Server locations
- 63
- Free trial
- Yes