Comparison

Ad vs Bare

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

Head to head
About

Ad

This privacy-focused content blocker for Safari removes ads, trackers, and unwanted pop-ups across your devices. It offers customizable filtering categories and shows you exactly what is being blocked on each page.

Highlights
  • Blocks ads, trackers, and analytics
  • Removes cookie banners and pop-ups
  • Customizable content categories
  • Shows blocked domains per page
  • Privacy-first, zero data collection
  • Works on iPhone and Mac
Features
Read full description

Ad Engine — Ad Blocker & Privacy Block ads, trackers, and malicious content in Safari. Fast, private, and completely free. Blocks everything that slows you down Ad Engine uses Safari's built-in content filter — no VPN, no proxy, no battery drain. Rules run on-device before a single request leaves your phone. One tap to choose your profile • Default — removes ads and trackers across the web • Family — adds adult content, drug, and gambling site filtering • Maximum — strictest blocking: all of the above plus P2P and extra annoyances European ad networks blocked Dedicated rule lists for German, French, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, and Polish ad networks — six languages, one toggle per region. Block anything from Safari See an ad-heavy site? Tap the Share button → Ad Engine → Block this domain. Done. The block applies immediately, no app switch required. Built-in privacy • No account, no sign-in, no iCloud sync • Zero analytics, zero telemetry • All filtering happens locally — nothing leaves your device Widget & Siri Add the home screen widget to see how many ads were blocked today and your lifetime total. Use Siri or Shortcuts to pause blocking for 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, or 2 hours — then it resumes automatically. Always free No subscription. No paywall. No "Pro" tier. Ad Engine is free to download and free forever.

About

Bare

This browser automatically blocks ads and trackers with no setup required. It offers a reader mode, private tabs, and customizable news feeds. All features are free, with an optional tipping feature.

Highlights
  • Automatic ad and tracker blocking
  • Reader mode with customizable text and backgrounds
  • Private tabs
  • Customizable news feed
  • Site-specific blocking exceptions
  • Desktop mode per site
Features
Read full description

Bare is a web browser with ad and tracker blocking built in and switched on from the first launch. Nothing to configure, nothing to buy first. WHAT IT BLOCKS Five filter lists ship inside the app — about 163,000 rules covering ads, trackers, regional ads, cookie notices and page annoyances. They refresh in the background every day. If an update fails, the previous rules stay in use, so you are never left unprotected without being told. Blocking applies to pages you open in Bare. It does not reach into other apps, and your connection still goes straight to the site. WHEN A SITE BREAKS Tap the shield in the address bar and blocking is off for that site. Tap it again to turn it back on. Every site you have switched it off for is listed in Settings, so you can find them again months later. WHAT IT COLLECTS Anonymous counts of how the app is used, with a switch in Settings that stops them. Never a page you visited, a search you typed, or a page title. No account, no ad ID, no crash reporting. Your history stays on this device and is never synced. Bookmarks sync through your own iCloud, which we cannot see. READING Reader mode strips a page down to the article, with four text sizes and a light, sepia or dark background. Pages with no dark mode of their own can be forced dark, per site. Text size is remembered per site too. THE REST OF A BROWSER Tabs with no limit. Private tabs that leave nothing behind when you close them. Five search engines. Find on page. Downloads that show up in the Files app. Desktop mode per site. Swipe from the edge to go back and forward. NEWS ON THE START PAGE Headlines in the language the app is set to. All 35 languages have their own publishers, 159 feeds altogether. A phone set to Danish gets Danish papers. The requests go out from your phone. Nothing passes through a server of ours. Tap a headline and it opens in a tab like any other link. Turn it off in Settings and the requests stop. 35 LANGUAGES Bare follows your phone's language. Settings has a list if you want a different one, and the change takes effect while you are still looking at the screen. You do not have to restart anything. Menus, error messages, the news, all of it. FREE, ALL OF IT Every feature, every filter list, every update. No paid tier, no account, nothing held back. There is a tip in Settings if you want to leave one, and it unlocks nothing. This app contains no ads and never will.

Screenshots

Ad4 screens
Bare4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Bare at 4.0 against Ad's 3.0. Bare also leads on update cadence (every 8 days vs every 2 months). Ad's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and device support (4 vs 1). On price, review sentiment, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Bare sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Ad asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Bare holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 2 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 0% and 0% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Ad ships an update every 2 months, Bare every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on September 1, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Ad versus Bare: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAdBare
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (2 ratings)4.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings22
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 8 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.4 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size163 MB27 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperHashim Abdul岚烜 吴

Customer experience

Ad

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Bare

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Ad

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Bare

One-time3
  • Small tip$0.99
  • Medium tip$29.99
  • Large tip$59.99

Questions

Is Ad free?
Ad is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Bare free?
Bare is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Ad or Bare?
Bare is rated higher. Ad averages 3.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Bare averages 4.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Ad or Bare have ads?
Neither Ad nor Bare shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Ad or Bare?
Ad ships an update every 2 months, and Bare every 8 days. Most recently, Ad was updated on September 1, 2026 and Bare on September 20, 2026.

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