BlockTube vs Remedy: block YouTube by keyword, or by topic

Pick BlockTube if you know the exact words and channels you want gone, and want something free that keeps everything on your computer. Pick Remedy if what you want gone is a topic that gets phrased a hundred ways, or you want the same filter on other sites too. We make Remedy, so we’ve tried to be fair about where BlockTube is the better choice, and there are a few.

Updated November 3, 2026

The short version

  • What it matches. BlockTube: the words, channel names and patterns you list. Remedy: what each video is about, judged against categories or your own description.
  • Where it works. BlockTube: YouTube only. Remedy: YouTube, X, Reddit, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and TikTok, plus any site you add.
  • Images. BlockTube reads text. Remedy’s Plus plan also checks thumbnails and video frames.
  • Privacy. BlockTube does everything on your computer. Remedy sends what it checks to AI models, with zero data retention.
  • Price. BlockTube is free and open source. Remedy has a free plan that checks text on one site, and paid plans: your first day checks everything, and Plus has a 5-day free trial.

What BlockTube does

BlockTube is a free, open-source YouTube blocker for Chrome and Firefox. You give it lists, and it hides whatever matches, everywhere on YouTube:

  • Videos by title keywords, channel name or channel ID, or video ID.
  • Comments from particular users, or containing particular words.
  • Whole parts of YouTube: Shorts, YouTube Movies, the Explore page and auto-generated playlists.
  • Videos by length, so you can, say, hide everything under a minute.

It supports regular expressions in all its filters, so one entry can match several spellings, and you can block a video or channel straight from YouTube’s menus. Advanced users can write their own filter in JavaScript. Its developer says it collects no data and doesn’t contact any outside server.

Where BlockTube is the better choice

  • You know exactly what you want gone. A channel, a creator’s name, a show’s title. BlockTube removes it every time, with no judgment calls.
  • You want Shorts gone completely. BlockTube can switch off Shorts as a format. Remedy only filters what’s in them by topic.
  • You want it free and local. Nothing leaves your computer, and it costs nothing.
  • You like precision tools. Regular expressions and length filters give you a level of control Remedy doesn’t try to offer.

Where Remedy is the better choice

  • The thing you want gone is a topic. To keep election coverage out with keywords, you’d list “election”, “vote”, “ballot”, “debate”, “polls” and every candidate’s name, and you’d still get “What happened last night?” over a photo of a podium. In Remedy, it’s one line: “no election coverage”.
  • It can’t be written as a word list. Rage-bait, spoilers, or “sad or depressing” aren’t words. Remedy has categories for these and understands descriptions like “nothing that spoils the finale”.
  • The giveaway is in the picture. On Plus, Remedy checks thumbnails and video frames, which keyword lists can’t see.
  • You want it beyond YouTube. The same filter works on X, Reddit, Instagram and the rest, so you write it once.

The trade-off is that a judgment can be wrong where an exact match can’t: Remedy may now and then remove a video you’d have kept. The popup lists everything it removed, so you can see what it took out.

Using both

They don’t have to compete. BlockTube is a good way to switch off Shorts and block the exact channels you never want, and Remedy can take care of the topics that keyword lists keep missing. For a wider look at extensions that clean up your feed, see the best Chrome extensions to clean up your feed, and for YouTube’s own controls, how to block keywords on YouTube.

Filter YouTube by what it’s about

Remedy is a Chrome extension that removes videos and comments by meaning. Write what you don’t want, like “no election coverage”, “no reaction videos” or “nothing from this channel”, or switch on categories like Rage-bait or Sad or depressing. It checks each video’s title and channel as it loads, and removes the matches from your Home page, search results, the sidebar, Shorts and comments.

Every AI check runs with zero data retention, and Remedy never sells data or shows ads. It works on a computer, in Chrome.

Add Remedy to ChromeYour first day is free, no account needed. Plans from $4.92 a month. On a computer, in Chrome.

Questions

Is BlockTube free?

Yes. BlockTube is free and open source, and its developer says it collects no data and makes no requests to outside servers. Your lists are stored on your computer.

Can BlockTube block videos by topic?

Only through the words and patterns you list. It hides videos whose titles or channel names match them, so a video on the topic that uses other words gets through.

Can I use BlockTube and Remedy together?

Yes. A common split is BlockTube for exact channels and for switching off Shorts, and Remedy for topics that are hard to pin down with keywords.