Comparison
Smart Blur vs DataBlur: which blur extension to use
Smart Blur and DataBlur are the two blur extensions that try hardest to do the work for you. Both find personal data on a page by themselves, both let you add your own rules, and both can switch on when you start sharing your screen from the browser. The differences are in what’s free, how you write your own rules, and whether there’s AI to catch what rules can’t.
We make Smart Blur. Everything below about DataBlur comes from its website and Chrome Web Store listing as of 26 October 2026, and we’ve tried to be fair about where it’s the better choice.
The short version
Smart Blur gives you more on the free plan: automatic detection of emails, phone numbers, cards and other formats, unlimited keywords to hide, and unlimited custom patterns you can write in plain words or as a regex. Its Pro plan adds on-device Local AI for names and addresses, Share Shield, and a Screenshot button.
DataBlur has more users and reviews, more blur styles, including solid black boxes, a Firefox version, and some detection categories Smart Blur doesn’t have. Its automatic detection and Demo mode are on the Pro plan.
What Smart Blur does differently
Automatic detection is free
Smart Blur’s Patterns blur email addresses, phone numbers, card numbers, US Social Security numbers and IP and MAC addresses as soon as a page loads, and as new content appears. API keys and IBANs are there too, once you switch them on. That’s on the free plan. In DataBlur, automatic detection is part of Pro.
Custom patterns, in plain words or regex, with no limit
Your own identifiers, such as order numbers, policy numbers or patient IDs, are the details no built-in detector knows. Smart Blur lets you add as many custom patterns as you need, free. You can describe one in plain words (“starts with ORD-, then 6 to 8 digits”) or write a regular expression, and a test box shows exactly what would be hidden before you add it. Each pattern can be limited to the sites where it belongs.
DataBlur also accepts regex, in its keyword list. On its free plan that list holds three terms; Pro lifts the limit. It doesn’t offer a plain-words option or describe a test box.
More: blur your own ID formats with custom patterns.
Keywords to hide, unlimited
Names you never want on screen, like other clients or a confidential project, go in Keywords to hide. Smart Blur has no limit on how many, on any plan.
Local AI finds what patterns can’t (Pro)
Patterns catch things with a fixed shape. Names and street addresses written in ordinary sentences don’t have one. Local AI in Smart Blur Pro reads the text on the page and blurs names, addresses and account numbers. It runs entirely on your computer after a one-time model download (about 810 MB), so nothing you see is sent anywhere. It needs a browser and graphics card with WebGPU, and works best on English text.
DataBlur says plainly that it uses no AI.
Share Shield turns everything on when you share (Pro)
Share Shield switches Smart Blur on in every tab the moment you start sharing from the browser, in Google Meet, Zoom on the web or Teams on the web, hides tab names, and switches off when you stop. Pages you open during the share stay covered until they’ve been checked. You choose whether it turns on Patterns only or Patterns + Local AI.
DataBlur Pro has a similar Demo mode that can switch on when you share from the browser. Neither extension can detect a share started in a desktop app such as the Zoom or Teams app.
Screenshot with the blur in it (Pro)
Smart Blur Pro has a Screenshot button that captures the visible area or a region you choose, already blurred, and copies it to your clipboard. DataBlur offers separate web tools for blurring images, but its listing doesn’t describe a capture tool in the extension.
Where DataBlur is the better choice
- Solid redaction boxes. DataBlur can cover data with solid black boxes or hide it while keeping the layout. Smart Blur only blurs.
- Firefox. DataBlur has a Firefox version. Smart Blur runs on Chrome, Edge and other Chromium browsers.
- More detection categories. DataBlur’s listing includes JWTs, private keys, database connection strings and crypto wallet addresses, which Smart Blur’s built-in patterns don’t cover. In Smart Blur you’d add those as custom patterns.
- Blur similar items at once and saved profiles per site.
- A larger user base: about 3,000 users and a 4.9 rating from 41 reviews, against Smart Blur’s 4.8 from 12.
Side by side
| Smart Blur | DataBlur | |
|---|---|---|
| Click, area and text blur | Free | Free |
| Hide tab titles | Free | Free |
| Finds emails, cards and more by itself | Free | Pro |
| Keywords to hide | Free, unlimited | 3 free, unlimited on Pro |
| Regex patterns | Free, unlimited | Within the keyword list |
| Patterns in plain words, with a test box | Free | Not stated |
| On-device AI for names and addresses | Local AI (Pro) | No AI |
| Turns on when you share from the browser | Share Shield (Pro) | Demo mode (Pro) |
| Screenshot with the blur in it | Pro | Not in the extension |
| Solid redaction boxes | No | Yes |
| Badge on free blurs | No | ”Blurred with DataBlur” |
| Firefox | No | Yes |
| Price model | Free, or Pro yearly or one-time | Free, or Pro monthly or one-time |
Which to choose
Choose Smart Blur if you want automatic detection without paying, need custom patterns for your own ID formats, want AI to catch names and addresses on your own computer, or want a blurred screenshot in one click.
Choose DataBlur if you need solid black boxes rather than blur, use Firefox, or need its extra detection categories out of the box.
Both are easy to try. Whichever you pick, test it on the pages you actually share. For how Smart Blur compares with the other popular blur extensions, see Smart Blur compared.
Checked on 26 October 2026 against DataBlur’s website and Chrome Web Store listing. If something has changed, email support@smartbuildlabs.com and we’ll correct it.