Compare Weava and AdBlock Max: Which Extension is the Best?

Weava Highlighter was once a popular choice, but now it’s filled with ads and has a poor user experience. Better options like Web Highlights do the job better without the hassle.
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.
Key Features
  • Web & PDF Highlighting: Easily highlight text on web pages and PDFs using various colors.
  • Annotations: Add detailed notes to your highlights for better reference and organization.
  • Cloud Syncing: Seamlessly access your highlights and notes across multiple devices.
  • Organize with Folders: Structure your highlights with folders and sub-folders for easy retrieval.
  • Citation Creation: Automatically generate citations for your highlighted text, simplifying your research process.
  • Comprehensive Ad Blocking: Blocks pop-ups, banners, and video ads.
  • Customizable Filters: Allows users to tailor their ad-blocking preferences.
  • Enhanced Browsing Speed: Reduces page load times by eliminating ads.
  • Privacy Protection: Prevents tracking and protects user data.
  • User-Friendly Interface: Easy to navigate and configure.
Our Rating
7.0
8.6
Total users
200,000
200,000
Total ratings
2,728
8,247
Average rating
4.1 ⭐
4.8 ⭐
Entry Level PriceFreeFree
Chrome
Chrome Web Store logo
4.1
3.01
2.7K+ ratings
200.0K+Users
Chrome Web Store logo
4.8
3.86
8.2K+ ratings
200.0K+Users
Edge
-
-
Firefox
-
-
Safari
-
-
Features
8.5

Weava offers basic but functional features like web and PDF highlighting, annotations, and folder organization.

The basic functionalities work great but the lack of innovative or advanced functionalities, especially compared to competitors, limits its appeal.

Top 3 Features of Weava Highlighter

1. Highlight Websites and PDFs

Highlighting text with Weava

Similar to our favorite highlighter Web Highlights, you can highlight text on any website or PDF. Choose different colors to customize your highlights and make important information stand out.

2. Organize Research into Folders

Organize in folders

Weava lets you save your highlights and organize them into folders, making it simple to keep your research organized and find what you need fast.

3. Collaborate with Your Team

Share folders with your co-workers

Weava allows you to share folders with your team, making collaboration on research projects easy. Everyone can add and view highlights and notes all in one place.

9.0

AdBlock Max offers comprehensive functions for blocking advertising, including pop-ups, banners, and video ads.

Ad blocker
A slider can be used to set how thoroughly websites should be searched for advertisements, etc., to block them. Depending on the filter method, the extension must be granted more permissions.

Filter


In addition to these basic functions, there are other functions such as blocking cookie notifications or increasing Internet security through tracking protection.

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.

additional settings

Privacy Security
Privacy protection functions automatically prevent tracking and protect user data.

Performance
7.0

Weava performs adequately when it comes to basic highlighting and syncing. However, the overall performance is marred by the intrusive ads and occasional bugs that make the experience less smooth than it should be.

8.3

Basically, the extension runs smoothly without any performance problems. Page load times are shortened by blocking advertising.
Only during installation in Chrome did the browser crash once after the end of installation.

Design
6.0

The design is where Weava really struggles. The interface is cluttered with ads, making it not only visually unappealing but also frustrating to use.

Here's a screenshot showing one of their ads taking up nearly half the height of their sidebar:

Ads are covering half of the sidebar

The overall design feels outdated and lacks the intuitive flow found in other tools. This poor design significantly hampers the user experience.

8.8

The user interface is clear and intuitive. In particular, the filter customization options are very clearly displayed in the extension pop-up.

Value for Money
6.8

The free version of Weava offers basic features, and their premium plan at $3.99/month is priced similarly to competitors.

However, given the ads in the free version and the overall user experience, you can find better value in alternatives that provide more features and a cleaner interface for the same or even lower cost.

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.

Ease of Use
6.5

Weava’s basic highlighting functionality is straightforward, but the poor design and mandatory account creation add unnecessary friction. The ads make navigation cumbersome, and while it’s not difficult to learn, using the tool effectively can be a challenge due to these barriers.

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.
The other functions are easy to activate, but some users may find it difficult to understand which function does what. For each function, there is a description with the corresponding filter code on GitHub.

Security & Privacy
7.0

Weava does take steps to protect user data, and their privacy policy is clear about not selling personal information. However, the requirement to create an account and the potential for data collection through ads could be a concern for privacy-conscious users.

8.5

AdBlock Max offers privacy protection through the additional function to prevent tracking. The extensions' data is protected by industry-standard measures.

Conclusion

Weava Highlighter may still be a popular choice, but its current state leaves much to be desired. The overwhelming presence of ads and a clunky design significantly detract from the user experience, making it hard to justify its use when other tools offer a more polished and ad-free environment.

If you’re serious about your productivity, it’s worth exploring alternatives like Web Highlights, which delivers all the benefits of Weava without the downsides.

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.


However, the extension scores well for beginners with the well-designed slider for adjusting the filter method. This is also useful for people who only want to extend a few permissions for tracking, as this authorization must first be assigned if better blocking is desired.

Our Recommendation

In our comparison between Weava and AdBlock Max, AdBlock Max came out on top, scoring 8.6.

Weava and AdBlock Max are the most widely used, each with a large user base. We rate Weava and 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.

There are big differences between these extensions, so it's important to look at the details below to find the best fit for your needs.


  • Looking for the richest feature set? AdBlock Max stands out with a rating of 9. On the other hand, Weava lags behind in this area with a rating of 8.5.
  • Need top performance? AdBlock Max stands out with a rating of 8.3. On the other hand, Weava lags behind in this area with a rating of 7.
  • Design lovers, take note: AdBlock Max stands out with a rating of 8.8. On the other hand, Weava lags behind in this area with a rating of 6.
  • Want to get the most for your money? AdBlock Max stands out with a rating of 9. On the other hand, Weava lags behind in this area with a rating of 6.8.
  • If you hate complicated tools, AdBlock Max stands out with a rating of 8. On the other hand, Weava lags behind in this area with a rating of 6.5.
  • With privacy and security becoming ever more important, AdBlock Max stands out with a rating of 8.5. On the other hand, Weava lags behind in this area with a rating of 7.

If you want a quick recommendation, AdBlock Max is our top pick. But as always, the best choice depends on what matters most to you.