AdBlock Max is a great ad blocker designed to enhance your browsing experience by eliminating intrusive ads. With a user-friendly interface and powerful features, it stands out among competitors. | A Fine Start is a minimalistic new tab page extension for Chrome, offering a clean list of links, customizable themes, and optional syncing for a streamlined browsing experience. | |
Key Features A summary of the most important features offered by each extension. |
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Our Rating Tooltivity's expert review score for each extension, based on hands-on testing and research. | 8.6 | 8.7 Winner in this category |
Total users Total active users across all major browsers: Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari. | 200,000 Winner in this category | 1,602 |
Total ratings Total number of user ratings received across all supported browsers. | 8,247 Winner in this category | 52 |
Average rating Average user rating across all browsers, calculated from available store ratings. | 4.8 ⭐ Winner in this category | 4.3 ⭐ |
Entry Level Price The minimum price required to start using the extension. "Free" means a free tier is available. | Free | Free |
Chrome User rating and stats for the extension on Chrome browser. | ![]() 4.8 3.86 Average Chrome Web Store rating from the last 100 reviews 200.0K+Users | ![]() 4.9 4.94 Average Chrome Web Store rating from the last 100 reviews 1.0K+Users Winner in this category |
Edge User rating and stats for the extension on Edge browser. | - | ![]() 3.4 3.4 Average Microsoft Edge Store rating from the last 100 reviews 368Users Winner in this category |
Firefox User rating and stats for the extension on Firefox browser. | - | ![]() 4.6 4.65 Average Mozilla Firefox Add-ons Store rating from the last 100 reviews 234Users Winner in this category |
Safari User rating and stats for the extension on Safari browser. | - | - |
Features Tooltivity's expert score for the 'Features' aspect of each extension. | 9.0 AdBlock Max offers comprehensive functions for blocking advertising, including pop-ups, banners, and video ads. Ad blocker ![]()
These additional functions are hidden at the bottom of the settings and can be activated. There is also a website whitelist on which no advertising should be blocked. ![]() Privacy Security Winner in this category | 8.0 A Fine Start offers features for users looking for a minimalist approach to managing their new tab. Organizing links into groups and sorting them via drag-and-drop allows for a tidy and efficient workspace to stay focused. Some functions must first be activated in the settings. For example, groups can be collapsed to hide sections that are not needed at the moment. In addition, all pages from an entire group can be opened simultaneously with one click. ![]()
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Performance Tooltivity's expert score for the 'Performance' aspect of each extension. | 8.3 Basically, the extension runs smoothly without any performance problems. Page load times are shortened by blocking advertising. | 9.7 In terms of performance, we did not notice any problems during the test. No slow loading times or anything similar were detected, even when opening groups with a high number of bookmarks, these were always opened immediately. Overall, A Fine Start offered impressive performance here. Winner in this category |
Design Tooltivity's expert score for the 'Design' aspect of each extension. | 8.8 The user interface is clear and intuitive. In particular, the filter customization options are very clearly displayed in the extension pop-up. Winner in this category | 8.2 The design of A Fine Start is characterized by a clean and minimalist aesthetic that emphasizes focused work. The design is very intuitive and you can choose from basic themes, including dark mode. From our point of view, even though the design is meant to be minimalistic, it could be a little more customizable for the user. For example, it would be handy if you could move the groups around the website flexibly, as they can currently only be moved to certain predefined positions. A very rarely seen and positive aspect is a function in the settings. The extension offers the option of hiding the button for premium advertising and the footer on the New Tab page. ![]() |
Value for Money Tooltivity's expert score for the 'Value for Money' aspect of each extension. | 9.0 If you take a closer look at the extension in addition to the basic functions, you will see how many additional functions are available. As a free web extension, the price/performance ratio is very good. Winner in this category | 8.7 A Fine Start offers all functions in the free version, only the cross-device synchronization is an added value of the premium subscription. For most users, the price-performance ratio of the free version is therefore perfect. However, users for whom synchronization is important may wonder whether just this one function is worth the cost of the premium model. There is still potential here to include other minimalist functions such as those offered by competitors to offer even more added value. |
Ease of Use Tooltivity's expert score for the 'Ease of Use' aspect of each extension. | 8.0 The tool is uncomplicated and easy to install. Due to the well-designed method of a slider for the strength of the filter mode, preferences are easy to configure for everyone. | 8.3 A Fine Start offers a straightforward setup process. The drag-and-drop functionality for organizing links is intuitive, allowing users to quickly rearrange their bookmarks to suit their needs. Setting up the required bookmarks initially takes a little time, and a function for transferring bookmarks already in the browser could simplify the whole process. The additional functions that are initially somewhat hidden in the settings may also not be found directly by all users. ![]() Overall, the existing functions and the setup are easy to use, but there is still room for improvement. Winner in this category |
Security & Privacy Tooltivity's expert score for the 'Security & Privacy' aspect of each extension. | 8.5 AdBlock Max offers privacy protection through the additional function to prevent tracking. The extensions' data is protected by industry-standard measures. | 9.5 A Fine Start attaches great importance to security and data protection. The extension collects only minimal personal data and focuses only on what is necessary for the core functions. The privacy policy is transparent and makes it clear that data is not sold to third parties. The optional premium subscription requires an account, otherwise, not even an account is needed. Winner in this category |
Conclusion A summary of our findings and final thoughts for each extension. | AdBlock Max is a good tool for anyone who wants to block advertising quickly and easily. It also has additional features for those with a little more technical knowledge. Unfortunately, these are somewhat hidden for beginners and are described via external GitHub links.
| A Fine Start is a well-designed tool for anyone who just wants to have their bookmarks sorted on their new tab page. Its focus on privacy and user-friendly features makes it a perfect choice in this area. While the free version offers a wealth of features, the premium subscription adds little value. Overall, A Fine Start is a good choice for users who want to stay focused and have a New Tab page without a lot of distractions. |
Our Recommendation | In our comparison between AdBlock Max and A Fine Start, A Fine Start came out on top, scoring 8.7. AdBlock Max is the most widely used, with over 200k users and 8k+ reviews, but A Fine Start outperformed it in our review. User reviews for A Fine Start reflect our findings, while we rate AdBlock Max lower than users do. Notably, AdBlock Max has the highest user rating in the Chrome Web Store at 4.83, which is even higher than our rating of 8.6. In the end, the differences between these extensions are minimal, so your choice may come down to personal preference or specific features.
If you want a quick recommendation, A Fine Start is our top pick. But as always, the best choice depends on what matters most to you. |