Add to Chrome
Add to Edge
Add to Firefox
Add to Opera
Add to Brave
Add to SafariWhen comparing uBlock Origin vs Pi-hole, the Slant community recommends uBlock Origin for most people. In the question“What are the best ad blockers?” uBlock Origin is ranked 1st while Pi-hole is ranked 5th.
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Open source
Pro Light weight
Pro Promised to remain commercial interest free
uBlock will remain free from any commercial as stated by the creator. uBlock is meant to be strictly for the users and completely free.
Pro Lots of advanced features
For example, you can add more items to your HOST files like disable social tracking.
Pro Thoughtful UI
Its non-invasive design shows you how many times something's been blocked on a given web page – that number quickly jumps to the double- if not triple-digits in some cases.
Pro Can be used on Firefox Mobile
Pro Detects skimming
Skimming means replacing links so that they are rerouted, this is mostly a more friendly way to make money than showing ads.
Pro Edge version
Also available for Microsoft Edge browser.
Pro You can select a DNS like 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8 and others
Pro Does not need a Pi
You can install this on any posix device that can run bash scripts eg your linux or unix server it also can run on windows with the subsystem for linux or with a docker container.
Pro Blocks ads for all network devices and browsers
No need to install blockers at the browser or OS level. Pi-hole works at the DNS (network) level so you only have to maintain and manage one authority.
Pro Frequent updates are easily applied
It takes one mouse-click to keep pi-hole updated and current with new blocked-site lists.
Pro Low-cost deployment
Installs on a $35 Raspberry PI SBC. Open-source software (donations accepted).
Pro Can whitelist blocked sites on the fly
If a blocked site comes up and pihole is set to display the block page, you can add it to the whitelist there and then.
Pro Can be used with a vpn from anywhere in the world
Pro Easy installer
It includes an easy shell installer.
Pro Regex blocking
Supports now regex blocking.
Cons
Con Requires some advanced devOps skills
The tutorial and installation is pretty straight-forward but requires some technical chops to install. You should be comfortable with the Linux command line.
Con Can inadvertantly block sites that are required for other web-based services
For example, using pi-hole for websites that rely on 3rd-party sites can be broken by pi-hole if the 3P site references black-listed sites.
Con Unreliable because of Pi architecture
If you use it with a Pi, however, Pi-hole can run on any POSix device that can run curses like: Any Unix/Linux server, Windows servers with the Linux subsystem, routers, even toasters if they run on Linux.
Con Setup horror
Con Pages
It blocks the ads but doesn't delete the location of an ad.
