PlainBlur and DataBlur
This page compares PlainBlur, as it works today, with DataBlur as described in DataBlur’s terms (effective 13 Oct 2026, covering DataBlur 3.9) and on datablur.app. It is a description of published features, not a ranking. Features change. Back to PlainBlur.
What does each product do?
Both are browser extensions that blur parts of a web page so a screen share or a recording is harder to read. Neither one deletes the data from the page. Neither one is a privacy or compliance guarantee.
PlainBlur blurs an element you click or an area you drag. On Pro and Team it also auto-blurs emails, phone numbers, API keys, amounts, and card-like numbers. The page is not uploaded.
How do the features compare?
| Topic | PlainBlur | DataBlur |
|---|---|---|
| Blur an element | Yes | Yes |
| Blur an area | Yes | Yes |
| Blur selected text | No. Click the element, or drag an area. | Yes. Their terms include selecting exact text. |
| Show or hide blurs | Yes. Popup, or Alt+Shift+B. | Yes. Their terms include peek (hold Alt) and remove all blurs. |
| Auto-blur | Pro and Team. Emails, phones, API keys, amounts, and card-like numbers. | Pro, with a wider category list. See below. |
| Keyword or regex list | No | Yes. Up to three terms on the free tier. More on Pro. |
| Blur style | Blur | Blur, redact, or transparent, plus intensity. |
| Browsers | Chrome | Chrome, Edge, and Firefox in their terms. |
| Free manual blur | $0. Kept for the first site. Other sites: that visit only. | Manual blur is free, and their terms do not limit it to one site. Free blurs show a “Blurred with DataBlur” badge. |
| Paid price | Pro $49 once, 1 seat. Team $99 once, 5 seats. No monthly plan. | Pro $4.99 per month, or $49 once. Their terms define that lifetime as the life of the product. |
| Page uploaded for blurring | No | Their terms say page content is not sent to them. |
How does auto-blur compare?
PlainBlur auto-blur is part of Pro and Team. It looks for emails, phone numbers, API keys, amounts, and card-like numbers. Each kind can be turned off in the popup. It does not look for names, national IDs, addresses, or dates of birth. You cover those by clicking or dragging.
DataBlur’s terms say auto-detect requires Pro since version 3.9.0. Free users who already had it on when they updated keep it while they leave it on. The categories they list are email, phone, credit card, SSN, passwords, secret keys (API keys, tokens, connection strings, and private keys), IBANs, crypto wallets, money amounts, addresses, dates of birth, and high-entropy strings. The first eight are on by default. Money amounts, addresses, dates of birth, and high-entropy strings are opt-in. They also describe a keyword list, including regular expressions.
PlainBlur has no keyword list. Its API-key category is narrower than the secret-key list in those terms. Amounts are included in PlainBlur’s auto-blur and can be switched off. DataBlur lists money amounts as opt-in.
What does free include?
PlainBlur free is $0. Manual blur is kept for the first site you blur. On another site, a manual blur lasts for that visit and is not kept. Auto-blur is not included. PlainBlur does not draw a “blurred with” label on the blur. The extension icon can show ON or OFF. That badge is the toolbar icon, not a mark on the page.
DataBlur’s terms say manual blurring is free, and they do not limit that free manual blur to one site. They also say every free blur carries a small “Blurred with DataBlur” badge, which Pro removes. The free keyword list holds up to three terms.
What do the paid plans cost?
PlainBlur Pro is $49, paid once, for one seat. Team is $99, paid once, for five seats. A seat is one browser. Remove it in the popup to free it. There is no subscription, no trial, and no team admin console. Checkout starts from the extension popup. This website does not take payment. Pro and Team add auto-blur and keep manual blur on every site.
DataBlur’s terms sell Pro as $4.99 per month or $49 once. They say “lifetime” means the lifetime of the DataBlur product, not the buyer’s lifetime. They say each licence has an activation limit, shown in the extension, and that the limit may be adjusted for new purchases. Those terms do not list a separate five-seat price. Pro there unlocks removal of the badge, auto-detect, a longer keyword list, demo mode, and saving a new blur profile. They also describe a 24-hour Pro trial that does not require a card.
Which browsers does each one support?
PlainBlur is a Chrome extension. There is no Firefox build. Install it from the Chrome Web Store.
DataBlur’s terms name Chrome, Edge, and Firefox. Their site also names Brave, Comet, and other Chromium browsers.
Does either one upload the page?
PlainBlur does not. Blurring happens in this browser. A licence check, when you activate a key or start checkout, does not include the page.
DataBlur’s terms say blurring runs in the browser, and that page content, URLs, and blur data are not sent to them. Their site says anonymous usage analytics can be turned off, and that buying Pro includes a licence check. This page is not a review of that analytics setting.
Where does DataBlur do more today?
These are in DataBlur’s terms or on datablur.app, and PlainBlur does not do them:
- Blur a text selection, blur similar elements, and blur the tab title.
- Peek by holding Alt, and remove all blurs from the page.
- Blur intensity, and styles other than blur (redact or transparent).
- A keyword or regular-expression list.
- Auto-detect categories beyond PlainBlur’s five: SSN, passwords, IBANs, crypto wallets, addresses, dates of birth, high-entropy strings, and secret keys described more broadly than API keys.
- Demo mode on Pro, which their terms say turns on when you share your screen from the browser and covers every open tab.
- Saved blur profiles. Saving a new profile requires Pro.
- Chrome, Edge, and Firefox, rather than Chrome only.
- Free manual blur that their terms do not limit to one site.
What is different about PlainBlur’s price?
PlainBlur publishes a Team plan at $99 once for five browser seats. It does not sell a monthly subscription. It does not put a label on the blur. Its free plan keeps manual blur for one site, which is narrower than the free manual blur DataBlur describes. Shortcuts for the three PlainBlur actions are Alt+Shift+E (element), Alt+Shift+A (area), and Alt+Shift+B (show or hide).
What does neither product guarantee?
PlainBlur can miss text, images, canvases, and iframes. It does not delete page data. A short flash of the unblurred page is possible before a blur is applied. It is not a privacy or compliance guarantee.
DataBlur’s terms say the same kind of limit in their own words: it is a visual aid, auto-detect can miss or misread, iframes are not covered, and using it does not satisfy a compliance regime. Read their section 3 for the full wording. PlainBlur makes no certification claim of its own.
How do you install PlainBlur?
Support is [email protected]. For the steps on a call, see blur a page before you share your screen. PlainBlur is sold by Desert Herders Collective LLC (New Mexico).