How to Watch YouTube without Ads

We found four ways to watch YouTube without ads. We’ve focused mainly on methods that bypass non-skippable video ads, but these tools will also block skippable in-stream ads, bumper ads, and masthead ads.

None of them will remove the sponsor segments creators read out inside their own videos. To skip these, there’s a separate free tool (SponsorBlock), which we cover below.

Out of the four methods we’ll cover, the only one that violates YouTube’s Terms of Service is using a modded YouTube app, like NewPipe. However, NewPipe doesn’t let you log in to your YouTube account, so YouTube can’t ban you for using it.

In the table below, you can compare each method side-by-side:

Table comparing the four ways to block YouTube ads.

Method	Reliability	Price	Supported Devices	Requires a VPN	Setup Difficulty
VPN Server in an Ad-Free Region	Very Reliable	Affordable	Every Device	Yes	Easy
Ad Blocker Browser Extension	Reliable	100% Free	Desktop Only	No	Easy
Pi-hole	Unreliable	$15.00 One-Time Payment	Every Device	No	Difficult
Modded YouTube App	Unreliable	100% Free	Android Only	No	Moderate

In the sections below, we’ll evaluate each method in detail so you can decide which is best for you. We’ll also show you how to set up and use each option.

Table listing the pros and cons of using a VPN to block YouTube ads.

Pros	Cons
Blocks all types of YouTube ads	Requires a VPN with servers in a compatible country
Easy to set up	Potentially lower video quality due to internet speed loss
Works on every device that supports VPN apps	Need to connect to VPN every time using YouTube
Counters YouTube data profiling	Doesn’t block ads on other websites

We discovered that you can watch YouTube videos without ads by connecting to a VPN server in Albania, Moldova, or Myanmar.

How to Use a VPN to Block YouTube Ads

In the video below, see us connect to a VPN server in Albania to bypass an unskippable YouTube advert:

Our highest-rated VPNs that offer IP addresses from Albania, Moldova, or Myanmar are ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark, and Proton VPN.

As YouTube doesn’t run an advertising program in these countries, it won’t show you any type of ad if it thinks you’re located there.

By getting an IP address in one of these countries, you won’t see any non-skippable in-stream ads, bumper ads, or overlay ads.

If you were planning on using a free VPN, TunnelBear is the only secure service with free servers in one of the three ad-free countries (Moldova).

The problem is that its 2GB data cap won’t last very long. In our tests, we ran out of free data in just 60 minutes!

Table listing the pros and cons of using an ad blocker to block YouTube ads.

Pros	Cons
100% free	Only works on desktop
Simple to install	Most ad blockers don’t work with YouTube
Blocks ads on other websites	Few options for Chrome & Safari
Also blocks trackers

Ad blockers are browser extensions that prevent ads from displaying on websites, including YouTube. They’re easy to use and can block all types of YouTube ads, including non-skippable ones.

Our tests found that the most effective ad blocker is uBlock Origin, but it no longer works with Chrome. You’ll only be able to use the full extension with Firefox, Brave, Edge, and Opera.

Other ad blockers, like AdGuard and AdBlock, failed to block ads 50% of the time, and most VPN ad blockers didn’t work at all.

Moreover, uBlock Origin will only work on desktop, and won’t block ads in the YouTube app.

You could also use a private browser with built-in ad blocking, like Brave. You can then pair it with SponsorBlock to also skip in-video sponsorships that ad blockers can’t block.

Table listing the pros and cons of using pi-hole to block YouTube ads.

Pros	Cons
Works on every device, including Smart TVs	Rarely blocks video YouTube ads
Effectively blocks ad trackers	Only works on your home network
	Requires a Raspberry Pi device
	Difficult to set up

For network-wide ad and tracker blocking, you can set up Pi-hole on a Raspberry Pi.

Pi-hole will set up a DNS server on your home network that’ll automatically prevent your device from connecting to domains that serve advertisements.

However, our most recent tests have found that Pi-hole often fails to block YouTube video ads. It still works for hiding bumper and masthead adverts, though.

Sadly, it’s unlikely this will be fixed because of the way DNS-based ad blockers work. YouTube now delivers adverts from the same domain as its videos, so Pi-hole can’t know what to block and what to bypass.

As the DNS server is set up on your home network, you’ll still see ads whenever you’re on a different network. To bypass ads on cellular or different WiFi networks, you’ll have to change your IP address to Albania, Moldova, or Myanmar.

Pi-hole is also difficult to set up and not recommended for beginners. It took us over 30 minutes to configure and we had to troubleshoot many of the commands before it worked correctly.

Table listing the pros and cons of using modded apps to block YouTube ads.

Pros	Cons
Blocks all types of YouTube ads	Works intermittently
Safe & open-source application	Only available on Android
Free	Requires sideloading
Other benefits, like background playback	Violates YouTube’s Terms of Service

Modded YouTube apps differ from the official app as they block all types of ads by default. The best modded YouTube app we’ve used is NewPipe, which is free and open-source.

It’s only available on Android devices, though. You’ll also have to use the NewPipe client, which has fewer features and is more difficult to use than the official YouTube app.

The NewPipe app doesn’t allow you to log in to your YouTube account, so you won’t have access to your likes and video history. This is actually a blessing in disguise as you won’t put your Google account at risk of being banned.

Video resolution on NewPipe also defaults to 720p, so you’ll have to manually toggle it to 1080p every time you want to watch a video in full HD.

As NewPipe is an unofficial third-party client, YouTube often intentionally breaks its functionality. When this happened, we had to wait for NewPipe to release updates to fix the issues, which sometimes took over a week.

Still, NewPipe is by far the best third-party YouTube app we’ve used.

You may have seen ReVanced recommended elsewhere. We don’t recommend using it as it requires you to provide your Google account login.

If you must use it, use a throwaway account so that your other Google services (Gmail, Photos, etc.) are not at risk.

The four methods above block the ads YouTube serves, but none of them remove the sponsor segments creators read out inside their own videos.

To avoid these segments, you’ll want to use SponsorBlock. It’s a free, open-source browser extension that skips these segments automatically.

You can choose exactly which types of segment to skip, from sponsorships to self-promotion and intros.

It’s available on Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari (including iOS), and Android, and comes built into NewPipe. Unlike uBlock Origin, it’s unaffected by Chrome’s extension policy changes.

The best way to block YouTube ads depends on the device you’re using. For example, modded YouTube apps are only available on Android, and you can’t download a VPN app on Roku.

Here’s our recommended method to stream YouTube with no ads on every device: