Do you use Pie Adblock on your blogs to avoid self-clicking or to curb some unnecessary distractions while surfing the internet?
One thing you know is that Pie Adblock gave us a clean browsing experience when we used it. It’s not the strongest privacy tool, because it only protects against trackers, but we found that it blocked nearly all the ads we encountered out in the wild, including advertising on YouTube. We also appreciate the idea of profit-sharing from the advertisements that you choose to watch.
If what you’re after is effortless browsing as opposed to complete privacy from online trackers, Pie Adblock’s deployment and architecture might make it worth the wait. You’re rewarded for watching ads or shopping, financially, and who couldn’t use a bit of additional cash in this economy, right?
We discuss our experience with Pie, the types of tests we ran it through and what its online ad-blocking capabilities were like, below. And we suggest our favourite ad blocker if you’re worried about being tracked on the internet.
- Pays you for watching ads
- Blocks YouTube ads
- Gives a clean browsing experience
- Doesn’t have an extension for Safari desktop (mobile only)
- Doesn’t do a great job at blocking trackers.
Pie Adblock Overview
| Ads blocked on Forbes | Unknown — no ad counter |
| AdBlock Tester score | 63/100 (desktop) 52/100 (mobile) |
| Cover Your Tracks score | 1/3 |
| Can You Block It score | 2/3 |
| Does it block YouTube ads? | Yes |
| Allowlisting available | Yes |
| Blacklisting available | Yes |
| Compatibility | Chrome, Edge, Opera, Brave, Safari iOS |
| Paid version | Free |
How We Test Ad Blockers and Privacy Extensions
Every ad blocker we test endures a Batteries-of-Cool KABOOM! test, the better to stress each app’s limits. This may involve extensive third-party testing with sites such as AdBlock-Testers. com, coveryourtracks. eff. org, and canyoublockit.com. We also check out popular websites to see how the ad blocker performs day to day, like watching YouTube videos and reading Forbes.
After the testing is done, we tally our editorial ratings, taking into account features that you’d expect from a good product. For each ad blocker we review, we rate that mode along five metrics, then we average them together using that same weighted average to get a final score (out of a possible 5 stars): price, off- and on-test scores, features, browser support and editorial score.
Our Experience
Pie Adblock, on the other hand, is quite user-friendly and efficient. We tested it on both our MacBook Pro and our iPhone.
On our MacBook, we needed to use spare Blink to Chrome Pie, as it doesn’t yet work with Safari on macOS, but integrating with iOS was flawless. Installing on both Chrome and Safari on iOS was simple, and the ad blocker performed in the way they said it would.
After we got Pie Adblock installed, we found it was a breeze to use. It was effortless — I didn’t have to do anything — and the off/on switch toggled on both Chrome and Safari in iOS. One small item we wished for was an ad-block counter.
Not a deal-breaker to not have one, but it is weird, as most other ad blockers show you how many ads and trackers they’re blocking.
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There are some complaints that Pie is a scam and never actually pays you. Ryan Hudson is co-founder of the browser extension Honey through The People’s Internet Experiment (pie.org), a start-up company. He is also one of the people who help make Pie Adblock, and he’s posted in multiple Reddit threads about how extensions like Honey and Pie work.
He even did his own AMA on the platform himself, so people can be assured about taking Pie Adblock for a spin. We’re fans of transparency, and this action made Pie have a little more credibility in our eyes.
Honestly, Pie surprised us. It was a breeze to set up and use, and while we haven’t made much from it so far, we like that it’s sharing revenue with the little guy. Having to watch ads is annoying, and well, it’s come to this.
Main Features of Pie Adblock
Even though Pie Adblock doesn’t need a lot of effort to use, you still have the option to enable the white- and blacklisting of sites. You can also choose to use only the ad blocker and not participate in the incentive program.
1. Whitelisting
Whitelisting allows you to choose sites where ads will always be allowed. Whether you want to support a specific creator or think that the ad revenue from these sites is worth your time, the whitelisting feature gives you the option to choose.
2. Blacklisting
On the opposite end, blacklisting gives you the option to block specific sites from ever running ads. You may find them too spammy, or you are tired of being bombarded with ads from that page. Whatever your reason, you can set that site to always be blocked.
3. Rewards Program
If you’re after an ad blocker to clean up your online experience but don’t want the option to collect rewards, you can toggle this feature off. The nice thing about Pie is that you don’t have to participate if you don’t want to.
Pie Adblock’s Test Results
Pie Adblock fared well in testing. AdBlock Tester shows a selection of ad codes to test whether ad block can block them. Pie did okay on Chrome with a slightly worse performance on Safari for iOS, scoring on average in the middle of the pack.
Cover Your Tracks: How well does your ad blocker protect you from trackers or from being profiled? Pie fared the worst in this test, but even top-of-the-line ad blockers generally score only 2 out of 3 here.
/images/2025/04/07/pie_adblocker_test_coveryourtracks_score.png)
We also ran Pie through Can You Block It, which gives a variety of ads, including banner ads and interstitial ads. Pie did a little better on average here than the other two tests, but still let through more than most quality ad blockers.
Pie Adblock scores
| AdBlock Tester | Cover Your Tracks | Can You Block It? | |
| Pie Adblock score | 63/100 (desktop) 52/100 (mobile) |
1/3 | 2/3 |
What Browsers and Software is it Compatible with?
Pie did not mention specific operating systems, but it does tell you it isn’t available yet for Safari on macOS or PC.
It can be added to Chrome, Edge, Opera, Brave, and Safari for iOS. We tested it on Chrome and Safari for iOS and found it worked perfectly on both.
How to Use Pie Adblock
- Go to Pie’s website and download the extension for your browser.
- Enable the extension and allow it to disable your other ad blockers.
- Manually disable your other ad blockers.
- Browse the web.
- Touch your extension to toggle ad blocking off and on.
/images/2025/04/07/pie_adblocker_test_setup_welcome.png)
The Verdict: Is Pie Adblock Legit or Not?
Whoever it is, we do believe Pie Adblock is legit, since the app is pretty forthright about how it works and what information it might be collecting.
There are obviously some problems with ad and tracker blocking, based on our testing, but once you’re happy with its limitations, you should have no trouble using it as intended.
We expected it to be awful, but it was a respectable ad blocker. I love that Pie shares ad revenue–it’s something no one else does.
It is worth noting that an ad blocker won’t be very effective in helping you to remain anonymous online if it doesn’t come equipped with tracker protection. Pie is lacking there, so if you’re security-oriented, one of the best ad blockers may be a better choice.
