AdGuard for Android and NetCage compared

All comparisonsAdGuard Ad Blocker for Android and NetCageAn ad blocker for Android that filters ads and trackers in browsers and apps through a local VPN, sold as a yearly or lifetime licence.Last checked 7 November 2026Check AdGuard Ad Blocker for Android’s own pageYou can’t install NetCage todayIt has no store listing and no public download, so there’s no install link on this page and no price to quote. If you need something on your phone now, AdGuard Ad Blocker for Android is there to install and NetCage isn’t.Better served by AdGuard Ad Blocker for AndroidChoose AdGuard if you want ads and trackers filtered out of apps you keep using, across several devices on one licence.Better served by NetCageChoose NetCage if you want a chosen app refused outright rather than filtered, with no certificate installed and no licence to carry.Row by rowNetCage’s column comes from its code. AdGuard Ad Blocker for Android’s comes from the linked pages. “Not stated” means we didn’t find it there, not that it’s missing.

Feature

AdGuard Ad Blocker for Android

NetCage

Blocks one chosen app’s internet

Not stated on the pages we checked

Yes

Keeps blocking while the app is in the background

Not stated on the pages we checked

Yes

Needs no root

Yes adguard.com

Yes

Open source

Not stated on the pages we checked

No

Shows ads

Not stated on the pages we checked

Partly. Promotions for the developer’s own apps only. No ad network.

In-app purchases

Not stated on the pages we checked

No

What it costs

Free version: Free. The free version blocks ads in browsers; the site says it cannot filter apps adguard.com

Licence, lower tier shown: $2.49 a month. Billed annually, VAT may apply. The page sells a Personal licence (3 devices) and a Family licence (9 devices) and also lifetime licences; the tier label beside this figure was not legible in the text we read adguard.com

Licence, higher tier shown: $5.49 a month. Billed annually, VAT may apply, shown beside a crossed-out $7.47 /mo; tier label not legible in the text we read adguard.com

NetCage publishes no price.Where NetCage falls short

It takes Android’s one VPN slot. While NetCage is up you can’t run another VPN, and connecting one stops NetCage.

Apps that share an Android user ID are caged together, and there’s no way to separate them.

A caged app can still hand a link to a browser you haven’t caged, and that browser connects as normal.

It doesn’t work inside an app: no domain rules, no block lists, no traffic log. An app is caged or it isn’t.

NetCage isn’t open source, so you can’t read its code.

Every limit, in the documentationComing from AdGuard Ad Blocker for Android?The documentation has a page on how the two differ and which of its guides to read first. Read it on the documentation siteIf a row here is wrong, tell us and we’ll open the page again. Contact