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Learning Management · head to head

Pear Deck vs uBlock Origin

Pear Deck logo

Pear Deck

Learning Management

Interactive presentations that engage every student

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
uBlock Origin logo

uBlock Origin

Browser Extensions

Free, open-source ad content blocker

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Pear Deck the Teacher Dashboard, draggable and drawing responses and Reflect and Review require Teacher Premium at $149 per year; uBlock Origin cNAME uncloaking of third-party trackers disguised as first-party is only available on Firefox, because the required DNS API does not exist in Chromium
  • They diverge on capability: Pear Deck covers Interactive slides, uBlock Origin covers Ad blocking.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Pear Deck and uBlock Origin actually diverge.

Attributes where Pear Deck and uBlock Origin differ
AttributePear DeckuBlock Origin
Pricing modelfreemiumfree
PlatformsWeb, Chrome ExtensionChrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera
CategoryLearning ManagementBrowser Extensions

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), founded (2014).

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 Pear Deck

  • Interactive slides
  • Real-time responses
  • Formative assessment
  • Student-paced mode
  • Dashboard
  • Audio responses
  • Drawing
  • Vocabulary

Only in uBlock Origin

  • Ad blocking
  • Tracker blocking
  • Malware domain blocking
  • Custom filter lists
  • Chrome support
  • Firefox support
  • Edge support
  • Opera support

What people use each for

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

Pear Deck

  • Turning slide decks into interactive lessons with student responsesnot uBlock Origin
  • Running formative checks for understanding during classnot uBlock Origin
  • Student paced review activities and assessmentsnot uBlock Origin

uBlock Origin

  • Blocking advertisements and third-party trackers in the browsernot Pear Deck
  • Running a default-deny policy on third-party scripts and resourcesnot Pear Deck
  • Element picking and cosmetic filtering of unwanted page contentnot Pear Deck

Where each one falls short

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

Pear Deck

  • The Teacher Dashboard, draggable and drawing responses and Reflect and Review require Teacher Premium at $149 per year
  • Pear Assessment Premium is a separate $125 per year purchase from Pear Deck Premium
  • Standards aligned content, district library and efficacy reports are only in the Schools and Districts plan
  • SIS and LMS integration is only in the Schools and Districts plan
  • School and district pricing is by quote with no published rate

uBlock Origin

  • CNAME uncloaking of third-party trackers disguised as first-party is only available on Firefox, because the required DNS API does not exist in Chromium
  • HTML filtering of response bodies requires the webRequest.filterResponseData API, which is only available in Firefox
  • On Chromium-based browsers uBO is not reliably ready at browser launch, so tracker and advertisement payloads can reach already-open tabs before filtering starts
  • Pre-fetch blocking is not reliable on Chromium-based browsers because they give websites precedence over user settings
  • The Chromium build does not use the WebAssembly filtering code paths, because the extra manifest permission would create friction publishing to the Chrome Web Store
  • LZ4 storage compression is Firefox only, and on Chromium in incognito mode IndexedDB resets, so uBO launches with out-of-date filter lists

Pricing, plan by plan

Pear Deck

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 5 question types
    • Real-time responses
    • Student-paced mode
  • Premium$149.99/month
    • All question types
    • Audio responses
    • Flashcard factory
  • School/District$undefined/month
    • All Premium
    • Admin dashboard
    • Rostering

uBlock Origin

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Ad blocking
    • Tracker blocking
    • Custom filter lists

Which should you pick?

Choose Pear Deck if

  • You need interactive slides.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Chrome Extension.
  • You also want real-time responses.
Pear Deck review

Choose uBlock Origin if

  • You need ad blocking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera.
  • You also want tracker blocking.
uBlock Origin review

Questions people ask

Is Pear Deck or uBlock Origin better?
Neither clearly leads. Pear Deck starts at Free and uBlock Origin at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Pear Deck or uBlock Origin?
Pear Deck starts at Free and uBlock Origin at Free.
Does Pear Deck or uBlock Origin run on more platforms?
Pear Deck runs on Web, Chrome Extension. uBlock Origin runs on Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera.
Can I use Pear Deck for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Pear Deck best used for?
Pear Deck is most often used for turning slide decks into interactive lessons with student responses, running formative checks for understanding during class, student paced review activities and assessments. Of those, turning slide decks into interactive lessons with student responses and running formative checks for understanding during class are not what uBlock Origin is typically brought in for.
What can Pear Deck do that uBlock Origin cannot?
Pear Deck covers Interactive slides, Real-time responses, Formative assessment, Student-paced mode. uBlock Origin covers Ad blocking, Tracker blocking, Malware domain blocking, Custom filter lists.
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