Comparison

Unobstruct vs Banish

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Unobstruct

This app enhances your web browsing experience by automatically removing intrusive floating toolbars from various websites. It also offers an on-demand feature to hide any remaining obstructions, ensuring a cleaner and more focused reading environment on your mobile device.

Highlights
  • Automatic content blocking for Safari
  • Removes floating social media toolbars
  • On-demand hiding of page obstructions
  • Supports numerous popular websites
  • Action button integration in Safari
  • Option to reload pages with blockers disabled
Features
Read full description

You’re already reading web pages on a pretty small screen. Don’t let floating social media sharing toolbars and the like get in your way. Unobstruct includes a content blocker for Safari that will remove these bars automatically from several web pages. Just go into Safari’s settings and enable it under Content Blockers. If a page still has floating bars covering it which aren’t removed by Unobstruct’s content blocker, you can hide these on demand. Do so by tapping the Unobstruct Page item in the Action button in Safari’s toolbar (which can be enabled under the More icon). If you need to get these hidden bars back, simply reload the web page (or long-press reload to load the page with content blockers disabled if you want them all). Auto-blocking is available on many web sites, including: • Medium • TechCrunch • The Verge • Recode • Polygon • Vox and other Vox-run sites • Wired • Mashable • And many others — see the entire list in the in-app settings Note that on some sites, the top bar remains since removing it would make the site fail to function fully. But you can use the Unobstruct Page action to remove it.

About

Banish

This Safari extension blocks intrusive "Open in App" popups and other website annoyances on your iPhone and iPad. Enjoy a cleaner browsing experience without unwanted interruptions or dark patterns.

Highlights
  • Blocks 'Open in App' popups
  • Removes website dark patterns
  • One-time purchase
  • Private and data-free
  • Simple to enable
  • Fast and efficient
Features
Read full description

BANISH. The #1 Safari Extension to block annoying 'Open in App' popups & other dark patterns on the web. “Banish does one thing and does it well: it nukes dickpanels in Safari on iPhone and iPad” — John Gruber, Daring Fireball "The app proved incredibly useful. For instance, when on Quora, clicking a link to another Quora page would normally pop up a blocker that requires you to log in to continue navigating the website. With Banish, this pop-up was gone and you could use the site normally" — Sarah Perez, TechCrunch PRIVATE Banish does not collect or store any of your data - nothing leaves your device. BUY ONCE Just a one-time purchase and Banish is yours. No subscriptions, no in-app purchases, no ads, no nonsense. FAST The app performs the minimal, necessary changes to block popups and free up screen space. SIMPLE It's as easy as downloading the app and enabling it in Safari settings. No maintenance needed. MODERN Banish is written in Apple's latest programming paradigm Swift UI and Safari Extension functionality. --- NOTE: Even with Banish, Smart Banners can still appear at the top for apps you have installed. They can't be removed because they're built into Safari. Need Help? Contact us at BanishForSafari@gmail.com

Screenshots

Unobstruct4 screens
Banish4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Unobstruct at 85% against Banish's 39%. Unobstruct also leads on rating (4.8 vs 3.8) and price ($0.99 vs $2.99). Banish's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Unobstruct costs $0.99 and Banish $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Unobstruct holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 304 and 263 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 85% of Unobstruct's written reviews are positive against 39% of Banish's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Unobstruct ships an update every 2 months, Banish every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Unobstruct versus Banish: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUnobstructBanish
Price$0.99 — better$2.99
Rating4.8 (304 ratings) — better3.8 (263 ratings)
Positive reviews85.4% of reviews — better39.2% of reviews
Number of ratings304 — better263
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS10.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperInfinitAppsBig Pineapple LLC

Customer experience

Unobstruct

All ratings304 ratings
Positive95.1%
Neutral0.7%
Negative4.3%
Written reviews48 reviews
Positive85.4%
Neutral0.0%
Negative14.6%

Banish

All ratings262 ratings
Positive65.6%
Neutral5.0%
Negative29.4%
Written reviews212 reviews
Positive39.2%
Neutral9.9%
Negative50.9%

User reviews

Unobstruct

From 304 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Improves web browsing experience
  • 💰 Great value for money
  • ✨ Makes reading articles easier
  • 🚀 Efficiently removes annoyances
  • 👍 Essential everyday tool

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Doesn't always work
  • 🐛 Stopped working recently
  • 🐛 Requires manual activation
  • 🐛 No automatic blocking
  • 🐛 Not working on all sites

Banish

From 263 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Works great
  • 🚀 Blocks annoying popups
  • 💡 Useful for blocking 'open in app' prompts
  • 👍 Simple and effective

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Doesn't work on certain websites
  • 🐛 Breaks functionality on some sites
  • 🐛 Inconsistent performance
  • 🐛 Doesn't block all 'open in app' banners

Bugs and requests

Unobstruct

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Stopped showing in Safari share menu
  • No longer blocks top of page toolbars on certain sites
  • Floating social media icons not removed
  • Latest update fails on specific devices/OS

Requested features

5 requests
  • Remember choices/permanent rules for sites
  • Automatic removal of annoyances
  • Toggle for automatic blocking
  • Open source blacklist for community expansion
  • Notification to site owners when used

Banish

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Breaks Twitter functionality
  • Causes issues with Reddit and other sites
  • Doesn't work on YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn

Requested features

3 requests
  • More granular control/whitelisting
  • Statistics/logging feature
  • Improved compatibility with more websites

In-app purchases

None

Unobstruct

No in-app purchases

None

Banish

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Unobstruct free?
Unobstruct costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Banish free?
Banish costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Unobstruct or Banish?
Unobstruct is rated higher. Unobstruct averages 4.8 out of 5 from 304 ratings, while Banish averages 3.8 from 263 ratings.
Do Unobstruct or Banish have ads?
Neither Unobstruct nor Banish shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Unobstruct or Banish?
Unobstruct ships an update every 2 months, and Banish every 3 weeks. Most recently, Unobstruct was updated on October 13, 2026 and Banish on October 21, 2026.

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