Zen Ad-Blocker icon
Zen Ad-Blocker icon

Zen Ad-Blocker

 12 likes

Zen is an open-source system-wide ad-blocker and privacy guard for Windows, MacOS, and Linux. It works by setting up a proxy that intercepts HTTP requests from all applications, and blocks those serving ads, tracking scripts that monitor your behavior, malware, and other...

Zen Ad-Blocker screenshot 1
Zen Ad-Blocker screenshot 2

License model

  • Free • Open Source

Application types

Platforms

  • Mac
  • Linux
  • Windows
Alternatives  
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4 / 5 Avg rating (2)
12 likes
1comment
55 alternatives
0 news articles

Features

Suggest and vote on features

Properties

  1.  Privacy focused

Features

  1.  Ad-free
  2.  No Tracking
  3.  No registration required
  4.  Block Trackers
  5.  Dark Mode
  6.  Portable

Zen Ad-Blocker News & Activities

Highlights • All activities

Recent News

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Recent activities

  • App icon
    amorehumandev added Zen Ad-Blocker as alternative to aiBlock
    •3 months ago
  • App icon
    POX added Zen Ad-Blocker as alternative to wBlock
    •3 months ago
  • App icon
    PrivacyByDesign added Zen Ad-Blocker as alternative to keweonDNS
    •3 months ago
  • nesterchuk_com and niksavc liked Zen Ad-Blocker
    •3 months ago
  • jdakfkj333 reviewed Zen Ad-Blocker  
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    •7 months ago

    Great, system-wide ad-blocker. You can use this rather than having something like uBlock on all your browsers, and it protects in other apps as well.

    However, when tested, it's not quite as good as uBlock or Brave Shields. While it blocks the ads, often there is just an empty gray box that says advertisement where using only Zen, while with uBlock and Brave Shields, they remove that element to make the page look more clean.

    It's also only useful as a stupid simple GUI. You can just add...

  • nomarnoodles liked Zen Ad-Blocker
    •7 months ago
  • App icon
    RemovedUser added Zen Ad-Blocker as alternative to Firewalla
    •8 months ago
  • App icon
    chromeextdeveloper added Zen Ad-Blocker as alternative to Adblock.mx
    •10 months ago
  • NEOcortex liked Zen Ad-Blocker
    •12 months ago
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Zen Ad-Blocker information

  • Developed by

    Ansar Smagulov

  • Licensing

    Open Source (MIT) and Free product.

  • Written in

  • Rating

    Average rating of 4

  • Alternatives

    55 alternatives listed

  • Supported Languages

    • English

AlternativeTo Categories

Web Browsers, Security & Privacy

GitHub repository

  •  2,494 Stars
  •  65 Forks
  •  41 Open Issues
  •   Updated Jan 10, 2025 
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Popular alternatives

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Our users have written 1 comments and reviews about Zen Ad-Blocker, and it has gotten 12 likes

Zen Ad-Blocker was added to AlternativeTo by Paul on Dec 6, 2023 and this page was last updated Dec 6, 2023.

Comments and Reviews

   
 Post comment/review
Sam Lander
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Top positive comment •
Pending approval • Edited Jun 26, 2024

Great, system-wide ad-blocker. You can use this rather than having something like uBlock on all your browsers, and it protects in other apps as well.

However, when tested, it's not quite as good as uBlock or Brave Shields. While it blocks the ads, often there is just an empty gray box that says advertisement where using only Zen, while with uBlock and Brave Shields, they remove that element to make the page look more clean.

It's also only useful as a stupid simple GUI. You can just add blocklists to DNSCrypt. Having this is redundant.

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What is Zen Ad-Blocker?

Zen is an open-source system-wide ad-blocker and privacy guard for Windows, MacOS, and Linux. It works by setting up a proxy that intercepts HTTP requests from all applications, and blocks those serving ads, tracking scripts that monitor your behavior, malware, and other unwanted content. By operating at the system level, Zen can protect against threats that browser extensions cannot, such as trackers embedded in desktop applications and operating system components. Zen comes with many pre-installed filters, but also allows you to easily add hosts files and EasyList-style filters, enabling you to tailor your protection to your specific needs.

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