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Browser Extensions · head to head

AdBlock Plus vs Umami

AdBlock Plus logo

AdBlock Plus

Browser Extensions

The world's most popular ad blocker

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Umami logo

Umami

Marketing

Open source, cookie-free web analytics you can self-host for the cost of a database

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: AdBlock Plus acceptable Ads allowlist model generates controversy over ad filtering conflicts of interest; Umami there is no cohort analysis, retention curve, session replay or multi-touch attribution, so a marketing team that needs to justify channel spend will still buy a second tool and Umami becomes a supplementary dashboard.
  • They diverge on capability: AdBlock Plus covers Ad blocking, Umami covers Cookie-free tracking.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which AdBlock Plus and Umami actually diverge.

Attributes where AdBlock Plus and Umami differ
AttributeAdBlock PlusUmami
Pricing modelfreePer month by event count
PlatformsChrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, Safari, Yandex BrowserWeb, Linux
CategoryBrowser ExtensionsMarketing
Founded2006Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in AdBlock Plus

  • Ad blocking
  • Acceptable Ads
  • Custom filters
  • Social media blocking
  • Chrome support
  • Firefox support
  • Edge support
  • Safari support

Only in Umami

  • Cookie-free tracking
  • Self-hosting
  • Small tracking script
  • Custom events
  • Funnels and goals
  • Multi-site and teams
  • Public dashboards
  • API access

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

AdBlock Plus

  • Ad blocking for display ads, video advertisements including YouTube pre-roll/mid-roll/post-roll, pop-ups, flashing banners, and overlay adsnot Umami
  • Performance enhancement by eliminating ad content to accelerate page load times and reduce data and battery consumption on mobile devicesnot Umami
  • Security and privacy protection by blocking malware-infected ads (malvertising), preventing tracking by companies monitoring user behavior, and stopping access to malware-distributing sitesnot Umami
  • Supports web browsers including Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera, and Safari, as well as iOS Safari and Android devicesnot Umami

Umami

  • A developer who wants traffic numbers on a personal or client site without adding a consent bannernot AdBlock Plus
  • An organisation whose legal or procurement team has ruled out sending visitor data to a US advertising companynot AdBlock Plus
  • A high-traffic site where hosted analytics priced by pageview band has become expensive and self-hosting removes the ceiling entirelynot AdBlock Plus
  • A team that wants analytics data in a database they already control so they can query and join it themselvesnot AdBlock Plus

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

AdBlock Plus

  • Acceptable Ads allowlist model generates controversy over ad filtering conflicts of interest
  • Smaller feature set compared to open-source alternatives like uBlock Origin
  • Less customization and dynamic filtering compared to uBlock Origin
  • Mobile version less comprehensive than desktop extension
  • Chrome version increasingly limited due to Manifest V3 migration

Umami

  • There is no cohort analysis, retention curve, session replay or multi-touch attribution, so a marketing team that needs to justify channel spend will still buy a second tool and Umami becomes a supplementary dashboard.
  • Self-hosting is only free in licence terms; you own the database, the upgrades, the backups and the query performance at scale, and a busy site's events table grows quickly enough to need real attention.
  • Because it stores no persistent identifier, it cannot follow a user across devices or sessions in any meaningful way, which makes returning-visitor and lifetime-value questions unanswerable by design rather than by omission.
  • Cloud overage is billed per event beyond the plan allowance, so a traffic spike or a badly instrumented custom event can produce a bill materially above the $20 or $200 headline before anyone notices.
  • It is maintained by a small team, so the pace of new capability is modest and enterprise expectations such as SSO, granular role permissions and formal support agreements are limited compared with commercial analytics vendors.

Pricing, plan by plan

AdBlock Plus

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Ad blocking
    • Acceptable Ads option
    • Custom filters

Umami

Free
  • Self-hostedFree
    • MIT licensed, no licence fee
    • No event limit imposed by the software
    • Unlimited websites and users
  • Cloud HobbyFree
    • Up to 100,000 events per month
    • 3 websites
    • 6 months data retention
  • Cloud Pro$20/month
    • Up to 1,000,000 events per month
    • Unlimited websites
    • Unlimited team members
  • Cloud Business$200/month
    • Up to 10,000,000 events per month
    • All Pro features
    • Higher volume overage rate

Which should you pick?

Choose AdBlock Plus if

  • You need ad blocking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, Safari, Yandex Browser.
  • You also want acceptable ads.
AdBlock Plus review

Choose Umami if

  • You need cookie-free tracking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux.
  • You also want self-hosting.
Umami review

Questions people ask

Is AdBlock Plus or Umami better?
Neither clearly leads. AdBlock Plus starts at Free and Umami at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, AdBlock Plus or Umami?
AdBlock Plus starts at Free and Umami at Free.
Does AdBlock Plus or Umami run on more platforms?
AdBlock Plus runs on Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, Safari, Yandex Browser. Umami runs on Web, Linux.
Can I use AdBlock Plus for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is AdBlock Plus best used for?
AdBlock Plus is most often used for ad blocking for display ads, video advertisements including youtube pre-roll/mid-roll/post-roll, pop-ups, flashing banners, and overlay ads, performance enhancement by eliminating ad content to accelerate page load times and reduce data and battery consumption on mobile devices, security and privacy protection by blocking malware-infected ads (malvertising), preventing tracking by companies monitoring user behavior, and stopping access to malware-distributing sites, supports web browsers including chrome, firefox, edge, opera, and safari, as well as ios safari and android devices. Of those, ad blocking for display ads, video advertisements including youtube pre-roll/mid-roll/post-roll, pop-ups, flashing banners, and overlay ads and performance enhancement by eliminating ad content to accelerate page load times and reduce data and battery consumption on mobile devices are not what Umami is typically brought in for.
What can AdBlock Plus do that Umami cannot?
AdBlock Plus covers Ad blocking, Acceptable Ads, Custom filters, Social media blocking. Umami covers Cookie-free tracking, Self-hosting, Small tracking script, Custom events.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

AdBlock Plus: What does Adblock Plus block?

Adblock Plus blocks banner ads, pre-roll and mid-roll video ads on YouTube, pop-ups, sidebar ads, and most standard display formats. With Acceptable Ads disabled and EasyPrivacy enabled, it achieved a 100/100 score on AdBlock Tester in April 2026.

Source
Umami: Is Umami really free?

Self-hosted, yes; it is MIT licensed with no event cap. You pay for the server and database. Umami Cloud has a free tier at 100,000 events a month and paid tiers from $20.

AdBlock Plus: What browsers does Adblock Plus support?

Adblock Plus is available for Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, Safari, and Yandex Browser.

Source
Umami: Do I need a cookie consent banner?

For Umami analytics specifically, generally no, because it sets no cookies and stores no personal data. Other tags on your site may still require one.

AdBlock Plus: Is there a premium version of Adblock Plus?

Yes. Adblock Plus Premium costs $40 annually or $4 per month and allows users to block cookie consent pop-ups, while the free version includes core ad blocking.

Source
Umami: Can it replace Google Analytics?

For traffic, referrers and event counts, yes. For attribution modelling, audiences and advertising integration, no.

AdBlock Plus: What is Acceptable Ads?

Acceptable Ads is an opt-in setting that allows advertising Adblock Plus deems unobtrusive to display on websites; it is disabled by default but can be toggled in Settings.

Umami: What does it need to run?

A container and a PostgreSQL or MySQL database. Most people deploy it on infrastructure they already pay for.

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