When comparing AdBlocker Ultimate vs AdAway, the Slant community recommends AdAway for most people. In the question“What are the best ad blockers?” AdAway is ranked 2nd while AdBlocker Ultimate is ranked 6th. The most important reason people chose AdAway is:
Use the hosts files to block ads, so it works for everything.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Completely free
Pro Best Youtube ad blocking
Pro Free and open source
Anyone can improve and audit the code.
Licensed with a gplv3 license.
Pro Supports most popular browsers
AdBlocker Ultimate works on Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Internet Explorer, Safari and Yandex.Browser.
Pro No acceptable ads
Unlike other adblockers, AdBlocker Ultimate doesn't have any whitelisted websites, ad networks or advertising agencies.
Pro Avoids awful looping problems on Firefox one sees with Adblock Plus and uBlock
Pro System wide blocking
Use the hosts files to block ads, so it works for everything.
Pro Doesn't consume CPU time or memory
The app updates the hosts file periodically but doesn't need to run in the background in order to block ads, which is especially convenient for older phones.
Pro Can use systemless host
Can be used without modifying the system if rooted with magisk.
Pro Can use custom host files
Lots of people and keep their own updated host files used for blocking ads and ad away supports loading them in or even adding their source for autoloading.
Cons
Con Just a browser addon
It is just a browser addon so it will only work with the supported browsers and you have to install it for all browsers separately.
Con Element hiding helper has occasional hiccups.
Con Memory hog that gets worse the longer it runs
Happened with 64-Bit Firefox 62.0.3 running on Desktop PC with 64-Bit Windows 10 Pro with 8GB of RAM.
Con Slow
Like any browser extension it slows down your browser.
Con Needs root (by design)
Needs root to update the hosts file.
Con Won't block same domain ads
Because the host file can only redirect domains, if the ad and content are on the same domain the ad will be displayed.