Alternatives to hBlock

A POSIX shell script that builds a hosts file blocking ad, tracking and malware domains. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.

Replacements

Listings that take over the same core job as hBlock.

  • Maza

    A Bash script that blocks ads system-wide by filtering DNS through the hosts file or dnsmasq.

    FreeOpen sourcemacOSLinuxCommand line

    Maza is an open source Bash script blocking ads through the hosts file or dnsmasq on macOS, Linux, BSD and WSL, started and stopped with one command.

  • SwitchHosts

    A cross-platform desktop app for managing several hosts file profiles and switching between them.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    SwitchHosts is an open source desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux that manages hosts profiles and remote blocklists through a graphical interface.

  • Acrylic DNS Proxy

    A local caching DNS proxy for Windows that blocks unwanted domains with a custom hosts file.

    FreeOpen sourceWindows

    Acrylic DNS Proxy is an open source Windows caching proxy whose custom hosts file supports wildcards and regular expressions, running as a local service.

  • personalDNSfilter

    Lightweight Java DNS filter proxy that blocks ad and malware domains on Android and desktops.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinuxAndroid

    personalDNSfilter is a Java DNS filter proxy for desktops and Android that blocks ad and malware domains with encrypted DNS support.

  • dnscrypt-proxy

    Encrypts your DNS lookups so your internet provider cannot read or tamper with them, and blocks domains while it is there.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinuxCommand line

    dnscrypt-proxy runs as a resident local proxy that filters domains and also encrypts DNS, configured through a TOML file.

  • AdAway

    System-wide Android ad blocker using hosts files or a local VPN.

    FreeOpen sourceAndroid

    AdAway applies hosts-file blocking on Android, with a local VPN mode when root is unavailable, under a GPL-3.0 license.

Also worth comparing

These listings name hBlock as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.

  • Privoxy

    A non-caching web proxy that filters HTTP headers and page content to remove ads and trackers.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    hBlock builds a hosts file blocking ad and tracking domains on Unix systems, with no resident service but no header or content filtering and single-machine coverage.

Similar software

Related functionality, not a direct replacement.