Ka vs Roadblock
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Ka
This content blocker for Safari enhances your browsing experience by preventing ads and tracking scripts. It significantly improves page load times, reduces data usage, and conserves battery life by blocking intrusive elements.
- Content blocking for Safari
- Blocks ads and tracking scripts
- Improves page load speed
- Reduces data usage
- Conserves battery life
- Open source
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Ka-Block! is a content blocker for Safari that prevents ads and tracking scripts from slowing down web pages you visit. Many sites use third-party scripts to track your behavior across the web, causing pages to load slowly and draining your phone’s battery. Blocking these scripts dramatically improves page load time, data usage, and battery life. - Fast, curated filter list - Open source - Also available for Safari on Mac Protecting privacy and performance on the web is important. We hope you enjoy Ka-Block!
Roadblock
Take control of your online experience by blocking unwanted ads, trackers, and other web content. This app enhances privacy, security, and speeds up page loading while reducing data usage. Syncs seamlessly across Apple devices.
- Block ads and trackers
- Block social, chat, and AI widgets
- Block notification banners
- Customizable blocking rules
- Hide webpage elements
- iCloud Sync across devices
- Passcode lock
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Control your web browsing experience with Roadblock, a powerful and lightweight content blocker for Safari. Roadblock blocks unwanted content, protects your privacy and security, improves webpage load time, and reduces browsing data usage. Roadblock is available for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Profiles and settings sync seamlessly across all devices. Built-in Rules: • Block ads and trackers • Block social, chat, and AI widgets • Block privacy, newsletter, and notification banners Custom Rules: • Block or allow web resources and websites • Hide webpage elements • Strip cookies from web requests • Force the loading of websites and resources over a secure connection (https) • Specify filters using a simple and an intuitive format or using regular expressions • Search, import, and share custom rules Other features: • Block and hide content visually • Blocker profiles • iCloud Sync • Passcode lock • Built-in rules updates and improvements Please note that you can only enable the settings in the 'Block and Trackers' and 'Languages' sections. Upgrade to Premium and unlock access to all the features in Roadblock. Privacy Policy: https://www.obiedcorner.com/privacy/roadblock/ Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Ka at none against Roadblock's 3. Ka also leads on review sentiment (63% vs 54%) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). Roadblock's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 4 months). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Roadblock sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Ka asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.2 for Ka against 4.2 for Roadblock. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 217 and 268 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 63% of Ka's written reviews are positive against 54% of Roadblock's.
Ka ships an update every 4 months, Roadblock every 2 months. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.
| Parameter | Ka | Roadblock |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (217 ratings) | 4.2 (268 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 63.1% of reviews — better | 54.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 217 | 268 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 8 MB | 35 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | David Graham & Josh Peek | Obied Corner Software |
Customer experience
Ka
Roadblock
User reviews
Ka
From 217 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fast and lightweight performance
- 💰 Completely free with no in-app purchases
- 🔒 Open source with no data collection
- 👍 Simple and easy to set up
- ✅ Blocks most obtrusive ads effectively
Room to improve
- ❌ Inconsistent ad blocking performance across platforms
- 📱 Doesn't block ads on YouTube or Facebook
- 🐛 Causes blue filter overlay on some news sites
- ⚠️ Blocks some legitimate website content
- 🚫 Fails to block certain ad types (gifs, flash, pop-unders)
Roadblock
From 268 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎯 Effective ad and content blocking across devices
- ⚡ Lightweight with minimal resource usage
- 🎨 Clean and intuitive user interface
- 🔧 Powerful custom rule filtering capabilities
- 🔄 Cross-device synchronization
Room to improve
- 💳 Switched from one-time purchase to subscription model
- 🚫 Did not grandfather in legacy purchasers
- 🐛 Custom filters don't work for some users
- ⚠️ Misleading free vs paid feature presentation
- 🔗 Cannot block domains without blocking subdomains
Bugs and requests
Ka
Reported bugs
7 issues- Blue semi-opaque filter appearing on images on certain news sites
- Fails to block ads despite being enabled
- Creates unwanted popups instead of blocking them
- Breaks website functionality on some domains
- Doesn't work with subscription-based newspaper sites
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- Inconsistent performance across different websites
- Unable to activate extension on some devices
Requested features
7 requests- Whitelist/exclude option for websites to support
- Toggle to easily enable/disable the blocker
- Auto-update filter lists without app updates
- Block autoplay videos on news sites
- Display blocked tracker count for transparency
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- Better blocking for YouTube ads
- Facebook tracker blocking
Roadblock
Reported bugs
10 issues- Custom filters fail to block websites despite being enabled
- Hide Content feature doesn't allow adding filters
- Text deforms when resizing window horizontally
- VoiceOver cannot focus Add button in rule edit UI
- Settings disable after iPad restart
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- Cookie stripping only works on HTTPS, not HTTP
- App crashes on latest iOS versions
- Safari broken or severely degraded after updates
- Restore purchases functionality broken
- Block Trackers option breaks website browsing
Requested features
10 requests- Quick whitelist feature in Safari toolbar
- Support for WebSocket and ping content types
- Ability to block specific YouTube channels
- Local activity log
- IP address and port blocking
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- Granular video blocking (not all-or-nothing)
- Better documentation for custom rule selectors
- Adjustable sidebar width
- Domain blocking without subdomain blocking
- Better pre-purchase clarity on subscription model
In-app purchases
Ka
No in-app purchases
Roadblock
- Premium (1 Month)$0.991 Month
- Premium (1 Year)$5.991 Year
- Premium (Legacy)$1.99
Questions
Is Ka free?
Is Roadblock free?
Which has better reviews, Ka or Roadblock?
Do Ka or Roadblock have ads?
Which is updated more often, Ka or Roadblock?
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