Gblock review for blocking Gmail email tracking

Gblock overview

Gblock is a browser extension that blocks email tracking in Gmail. It stops spy pixels from reporting when and where you opened a message, strips tracking parameters from links, and routes link clicks through its own proxy so senders don't see your IP address. It's made by Jacopo Beschi, an independent developer based in Montichiari, Italy, and sold as a yearly subscription after a 30-day free trial. Prices checked 31 Oct 2026.

Who Gblock is for, and who should skip it

It suits anyone who reads a lot of sales, marketing or recruitment email in Gmail on a desktop browser and doesn't want the sender to know they opened it. The Chrome Web Store listing names journalists and lawyers protecting sources and clients, recruiters reviewing applications without sending an engagement signal, freelancers who don't want to give away their reading habits during negotiations, and teams trying to reduce third-party tracking.

Skip it if you mainly read Gmail in the phone app, use Outlook or Apple Mail, or use Firefox or Safari. Gblock runs only in Gmail on desktop Chromium browsers (Chrome, Edge, Brave and Arc, per the vendor). Skip it too if Gmail's own setting to ask before showing images is enough for you, since that keeps images (pixels included) from loading until you allow them, at the cost of not seeing images by default.

How Gblock works

Spy pixel blocking

A spy pixel is an invisible 1x1 image in an email. When it loads, it can tell the sender when you opened the message, how many times, roughly where you were and what device you used. Gblock detects these pixels and blocks them before they load. When it does, it shows a banner at the top of the thread, such as "Blocked spy pixel and cleaned tracking link in this thread", and you can expand it to see which tracker was involved (the store screenshots show a Mailtrack pixel being caught).

Link tracking protection

Marketing links often carry tracking parameters such as utm codes or pass through redirect servers. Gblock strips known tracking parameters and, when you click, follows the redirect chain through its proxy, showing a short "Gblock is anonymizing you" page before you reach the final destination. The proxy caches resolved links, so if another user has already opened the same tracking link, Gblock can send you straight to the destination. The vendor says this covers about 99% of cases. You can hold Shift and click to bypass the proxy for a single link.

Automated tracker detection

Instead of relying only on a static blocklist, Gblock looks for tracking patterns in emails as you view them. When it finds a new pixel, it shows an orange "detected a new spy pixel" notice, reports the tracker URL to its server and blocks it automatically for everyone from then on. The vendor says its list now covers 28,544 trackers, including Mailchimp, HubSpot, Salesforce, SendGrid, Mailgun, GMass, ConvertKit, Customer.io and Eventbrite. There's also a custom filters screen to block or allow specific trackers yourself, and you can report missed trackers by email.

Setup

You install the extension, sign in with Google, choose your country (which sets the proxy location) and open Gmail. After that it runs in the background with no setup. Proxies are in North America and Europe, and you can change the location in account settings or turn the proxy off entirely, though that also turns off link protection.

Gblock pricing

There's no permanent free plan. For one person, the annual plan costs $23.88 a year plus any sales tax or VAT, so the lifetime license pays for itself in a little over four years. The vendor doesn't publish team or business pricing, so each person needs their own subscription.

What users say

On the Chrome Web Store, Gblock has a 4.6 rating from 11 ratings and about 1,000 users, and carries the store's Featured badge (Oct 2026). On Microsoft Edge Add-ons it shows 48 users and a single rating. The Gumroad lifetime page has 2 ratings, both 5 stars. Store reviewers quoted on the vendor's site say it still works where an older pixel blocker stopped working after Chrome's Manifest V3 change, that it flags what it blocked at the top of each email, and that the developer answers support requests quickly. That's a small sample, so treat it as early feedback rather than proof at scale.

Privacy, platform and company facts

• Browsers: Chrome, Edge, Brave and Arc on desktop. Gmail on the web only.
• Version 0.4.2, updated 30 October 2026, 73.49 KiB, available in 6 languages (Chrome Web Store).
• Permissions: the vendor says the code runs locally with no remote code, that it doesn't request access to your email, and that it shows no ads.
• Data: the privacy policy (updated 19 May 2026) lists the Google sign-in details (email, name, avatar), server logs with IP address and request details, your country, Stripe subscription references, and the tracker URLs detected in your emails, which feed the shared blocklist. The extension itself stores only a local authentication token.
• Company: Jacopo Beschi, Via Don Lino Bonomelli 24, 25018 Montichiari (BS), Italy, VAT ID IT04318360981. Registered as an EU trader on the Chrome Web Store.
• Support: [email protected], with replies typically within 24 hours according to the vendor; tracker reports go to [email protected].
• Not published: a public API, SOC 2 or other certifications, or a team admin console.

What changed recently

The extension was updated to version 0.4.2 on 30 October 2026, and the privacy policy was last revised on 19 May 2026. The vendor doesn't publish a changelog, so there's no dated list of feature changes. Its articles section is very active (more than 1,200 posts on email tracking and privacy news), which is useful reading but not a product update log.

Limits and drawbacks

• Gmail on desktop Chromium browsers only, with no mobile app, Firefox, Safari or Outlook support.
• Link protection depends on Gblock's proxy, so you are trusting a single developer's server with your clicks (the vendor says it stores no personal data, and you can turn it off).
• Small user base and only a handful of public ratings so far.
• Blocking pixels can occasionally stop a legitimate image from loading; one store reviewer mentions contacting support about exactly that.

Gblock alternatives

• Ugly Email: a free, open source Gmail extension for Chrome and Firefox that flags and blocks tracking pixels. Pick it if you want no subscription and don't need link anonymization through a proxy.
• DuckDuckGo Email Protection: a free forwarding service that removes hidden trackers before mail reaches your inbox and gives you private addresses. Pick it if you also want protection on mobile and in any mail app.
• Proton Mail: an encrypted email service whose tracker protection removes spy pixels on web and mobile and cleans tracking links on the web app. Pick it if you're willing to move off Gmail entirely.
• Gmail's image setting: switching Gmail to ask before showing images keeps pixels from loading until you allow them, for free. Pick it if you don't mind clicking to load images and don't need link cleaning.

Verdict

Gblock does one narrow job well on paper: it blocks spy pixels, cleans tracking links and hides your IP address in Gmail, and it tells you what it blocked in each thread. At $23.88 a year it's cheap, and the 30-day trial needs no card. I would pick it if you live in Gmail on a desktop Chromium browser and want more than the free options give you, but the single-developer setup and small review base mean it's worth starting with the trial before considering the lifetime license.