AdBlock Pro for Safari vs Ghostery

AdBlock Pro for Safari is a freemium Safari blocker for iOS and macOS, covering desktop and mobile devices. Its free plan costs nothing and includes ad blocking for Safari. The listed controls block ads, tracking scripts, social buttons, crypto mining, and adult sites; hide cookie prompts and article comments; support safe browsing; and can force HTTPS, though that may break outdated sites. Users can allowlist pages, use enhanced regional blocking and parental controls, and receive background filter updates. Settings sync through iCloud. Family Sharing supports six family members with 10 devices each, while the device limit is 10. Bypassing anti-adblock detection is experimental. The privacy policy says no personal information is collected, and an optional video extension is limited to video sites.

Ghostery is a free, open-source browser extension combining ad blocking, tracker protection, cookie-consent handling, and tracker information tools. It blocks banners, video ads, pop-ups, and sponsored content. The Tracker Panel displays trackers it identifies and neutralizes, while WhoTracks.Me provides information about tracking activity and companies. Ghostery says its protection replaces personal identifiers with random values. Never-Consent rejects tracking cookies and sends opt-out signals on supported sites. Supported browsers include Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera, Safari, and Brave, and users can install the extension on as many devices as they like. On iOS and iPadOS, it offers Safari protection; on Android, it supports Edge and Firefox. Chrome on Android is unavailable because Chrome does not allow extensions there. Ghostery says extension telemetry is non-personal, with additional telemetry sent if users opt in. For phishing and malware protection, it says it sends a partial URL checksum to its backend rather than the full URL. Private Search is in closed beta.