Choosing a blur tool, honestly.
Most blur extensions are good software. The real split in this category is manual vs automatic: whether you protect your screen by clicking things, or the tool finds sensitive data before you (or your audience) do. Here’s the difference in practice — including what the manual tools do well.
| Capability | Auto Blur | Manual-first tools |
|---|---|---|
| Finds sensitive data by itself | Yes — 9+ kinds detected automatically, live | No — you click each element yourself |
| New content after page updates | Caught as it appears (live scanning) | Unprotected until you notice and click |
| Screen-share trigger | Blurs every tab when a browser share starts | Rarely offered |
| Tab-switch & idle protection | Yes (Pro) | Rarely offered |
| Manual element blur | Yes (Pro) — persistent across visits | Yes — usually the core feature |
| Money / amount hiding | One toggle (Pro) | Click every figure yourself |
| Custom regex rules | Yes (Pro), validated & per-site | Rare |
| Where processing happens | 100% on your device | Varies — check each vendor |
Auto Blur vs Blurweb
Blurweb is the best-known name in the category and a solid manual tool: click an element, it blurs, one-time price. If your need is “hide these three fixed things on one dashboard forever”, it’s a fine choice.
The gap is everything you didn’t click: the email that loads into a support thread mid-call, the API key in a config you opened without thinking, the invoice that renders after you started sharing. Manual tools protect what you predicted; Auto Blur’s detectors protect what you didn’t. Auto Blur also includes a manual toolkit (element picker, blur boxes) in Pro — automation and manual aren’t either/or here.
Auto Blur vs ContextBlur
ContextBlur sits closer to us — it has detection features and a VS Code presence, and prices lower. Where we differ is depth and posture: Auto Blur’s detectors are checksum- and context-validated to keep false positives rare, the share/tab/idle triggers cover the moments of exposure rather than just the page, and everything runs verifiably on-device with unminified source and a public security page. Try both on your own screens — Auto Blur’s 7-day money-back guarantee makes the comparison risk-free.
When NOT to use Auto Blur
Honesty cuts both ways. If you need to blur native desktop apps, the Figma canvas, or recordings after the fact, no browser extension can help — look at OS-level tools (or wait for our desktop companion, which is on the roadmap). If you need true redaction — text removed from the document, not covered — you need a redaction tool, not a blur tool. And if your entire need is one static element on one page, a free manual blocker may be all you require.
The fair test: install it, open your own dashboard, and see what it catches that you forgot was there. Not convinced within 7 days? Full refund.
Try Auto Blur