AdGuard vs Blokada for Android: Which Blocks Where It Counts

Blokada 5 is not a smaller version of Blokada 6. They are different engines. I keep both on this phone and score them like a bout.

It is 2 a.m. on MTN data, and two blocklists are working it out on my phone. AdGuard on a local VPN, Blokada on the other side. Blokada 5 runs on the phone. Blokada 6 moves the filter to the cloud. Browser yes, in-app no, DNS cannot. I test on this my phone, so every figure here is checked against a bundle that costs real money.

Two blocklists, one my phone

AdGuard runs a local VPN on the phone and filters traffic on-device. Its overview states it blocks ads and trackers across all browsers, games, and other apps. It needs no root. Google does not allow it on the Play Store, so it comes by APK from adguard.com.

Blokada splits in two. Blokada 5 filters on the device itself using Android's VPN feature. It sends no traffic to a VPN server, needs no account, and is free. Blokada 6 filters in the cloud and needs a subscription. Only Blokada 6 is on Google Play. Blokada 5 is APK only from blokada.org.

A third path costs nothing and installs nothing: Android's Private DNS setting, pointed at a DNS provider. It blocks domains and supports DNS-over-TLS only on Android. Private DNS uses little battery in practice, but I have no lab numbers for a phone. DNS blocks domains only. It cannot stop YouTube in-app ads: browser yes, in-app no, DNS cannot. For the full picture on that split, see my ad blocker guide.

Android hands out one local VPN slot at a time. The two of them take turns by design, which is a funny way to meet a roommate.

Getting them onto the phone

The install paths differ more here than the names suggest.

App	Where to get it	Free or paid	Notes
Blokada 5	blokada.org/download/ (APK)	Free	On-device, no account, not on Google Play.
Blokada 6	Google Play	Subscription	Cloud filtering. Price shown in the store or web dashboard before you pay.
AdGuard for Android	adguard.com/apk (APK)	Free limited, premium for full app filtering	Full system-wide filtering via local VPN. Not on Google Play.
AdGuard DNS	Google Play	Free/Paid by plan	DNS client app, not the full system-wide blocker.
AdGuard Content Blocker	Google Play	Free	Browser-only for Yandex Browser and Samsung Internet.

Installing an APK takes one permission, and Blokada spells out the steps on its download page. Download the file, then open it from your browser's downloads or the Files app. Android asks whether that app may install apps. Tap Settings, turn on Allow from this source, and go back. Tap Install, then Open. On most phones that permission screen sits under Settings, Apps, Special app access, Install unknown apps.

What each one does well

AdGuard gives more control. Its filter lists, rules, and settings cover more cases. The full app blocks across browsers, games, and other apps. Personal licences cover 3 devices at $29.88/yr or $79.99 lifetime. Multi-device licences cover 9 devices at $65.88/yr or $169.99 lifetime. List prices, read off the vendor pages on 26 October 2026.

Control round goes to AdGuard.

Blokada 5 gives a free, open source path with no account. It runs on-device, does not send traffic to a server, and keeps blocking local to the phone. Blokada 6 trades that for cloud filtering and covers devices through a subscription. Blokada does not publish its prices. The Play Store or the Blokada web dashboard shows the exact price before you pay.

Free, no-account round goes to Blokada 5.

The limits that matter

YouTube in-app video ads cannot be reliably blocked. AdGuard's own article states DNS filtering can block some domains but cannot reliably remove in-video ads. The same holds for local VPN filters in practice: browser yes, in-app no, DNS cannot.

Android's system Private DNS only supports DNS-over-TLS, not arbitrary DoH in that setting. A DNS-only path is light, but it stops at domains and misses server-side ad insertion on streaming apps.

If you use an APK, you install outside the Play Store. Google blocks these apps there for policy reasons, which both vendors state. That is a trust decision, not a fault.

Limits round: a tie. Both engines hit the same YouTube wall.

Battery and false positives

Running a local VPN can show up high in battery stats. AdGuard's own support page notes the system often attributes other apps' traffic to the VPN app. Moving to Private DNS helped some users.

Android Police and MakeUseOf both report that switch improved battery. I read both on 26 October 2026. GitHub issue #6059 was closed as cannot reproduce after AdGuard reviewed logs. No lab has measured battery use on a named phone with a named method and sample size. Treat this as direction, not a number.

No published lab gives false-positive rates for either app. Both support allowlists. You can block a list, then allow a site or app if something breaks. That is the practical way to handle it.

Battery round goes to Private DNS, on direction, not on numbers.

Which to pick

Pick Blokada 5 if you want free, open source, no account, and on-device blocking. Accept the APK install and the same in-app limits.

Pick Blokada 6 if you want cloud blocking from the Play Store and do not mind a subscription whose price appears at checkout.

Pick AdGuard for Android if you want more control and filters. You accept the APK install plus a licence for full system-wide filtering.

Pick Private DNS if you want nothing to install, least overhead, and you accept that it will not stop YouTube in-app ads.

The tie-breaker here is the install path, not the price. When both apps can do the job, the one you can install wins.

Blokada 5 and AdGuard for Android come as app files (APKs) that you install outside the Play Store. Blokada 6 comes from Google Play and Private DNS needs no install.

If you need help with related Android issues, see Android problems and fixes.

The plain verdict

For free and no account, Blokada 5 wins. For most control and the broadest on-device filtering, AdGuard for Android wins. For cloud blocking with nothing to install outside the Play Store, Blokada 6 is an option if its price fits. None of them will strip YouTube in-app ads. Pick by install path and limits, not by price alone.