The short answer: the mainstream companion apps (Blitz, Porofessor, Mobalytics, OP.GG, U.GG and Hexgate) are not what gets League accounts banned. We found no verified case of a ban caused by an app that only uses Riot's APIs and the League client. The things that do get accounts suspended are scripts, bots, tools that reveal hidden information, and skin hacks. The rest of this page shows where that line is, quoting Riot directly, so you can judge any app yourself.
Disclosure: we build Hexgate, a League overlay. That gives us a stake in this question, which is why every rule below links to Riot's own words rather than our summary of them.
What Riot Says Is Allowed
Riot's support article on third-party applications lists the uses it is happy with: "onboarding newer players, tracking your stats, finding like-minded teammates, hosting/playing tournaments." It then lists what crosses the line, anything that gives a "measurable player advantage, such as:
- Exposing information that's intentionally obfuscated;
- Taking actions on your behalf (botting or scripting);
- Drawing conclusions for you during gameplay;
- Altering your field of intelligence (zoomhacks or global ult alerts)."
The League policies on Riot's developer portal are more specific, because they are written for the people who build apps:
- Products "must not use or incorporate information not present in the game client that would give players a competitive edge," with enemy ultimate cooldown tracking as the named example.
- Products "should not remove game decisions, but may highlight decisions that are important and give multiple choices."
- Products "cannot identify or analyze players who are deliberately hidden by the game."
- MMR and Elo calculators are not allowed.
- Overlays that show static data available before the game are an approved use case.
Riot also says plainly that it "can't provide a full list of which ones are safe to use," and that if an app "is approved and built using the official Riot API, players should rarely have an issue." There is no public whitelist, and no app can honestly claim to be on one.
How the Rules Changed Since 2025
| Date | Change | What it meant for apps |
|---|---|---|
| March 13, 2025 | Enemy ultimate timers banned | Apps had to remove ult tracking, automatic or manual, or risk losing their API key |
| May 29, 2025 | Third-party ads banned in game | No ads in overlays, loading screens or the Riot Client |
| October 7, 2025 | Streamer mode (patch 25.20) | "Hide My Name" hides your Riot ID in champ select, in game and in third-party apps |
| October 6, 2026 | Game memory access blocked for unknown apps | Apps must use official APIs; approved tools have until April 2027 |
One thing that is often listed as new is not: hidden names in Ranked Solo/Duo champion select date back to patch 12.22 in November 2022. Tools that unmask those names are exactly the "intentionally obfuscated" case above, and they are where the real ban stories come from (see below).
The October 6, 2026 Change: Game Memory Access
On September 29, 2026 Riot announced that game memory access is being removed for third-party apps: "Starting October 6, 2026, Riot will begin proactively preventing game memory access by default for all unknown third-party applications," across League, TFT and VALORANT. Riot's stated reason is that AI-assisted reverse engineering has made cheats and bot farms easier to build.
What it means for you as a player:
- It is not a ban wave. Riot's own FAQ asks "Will I get banned for using 3rd party tools after this update?" and answers "No. This change does not result in bans by itself."
- Known, approved tools get time. They have a grace period until April 2027 to switch to the official APIs.
- Some apps may lose features. Anything that read the game's memory to get data will have to find it through the official APIs instead, or drop it.
- API-only apps notice nothing. If an app already gets everything from Riot's official interfaces, the change does not touch it.
Is Blitz, Porofessor, Mobalytics, OP.GG or U.GG Safe?
Blitz: yes, as far as any public evidence goes. The famous "Blitz ban" headline from February 2025 was about Marvel Rivals, where its publisher NetEase classed the Blitz plugin as cheating because it showed things like enemy ultimate predictions; past users there were not punished. Riot's Chris "Auberaun" Roberts said at the time that Blitz works very differently with League. Reddit has a handful of "banned while using Blitz" posts, and none we found were confirmed as caused by the app.
Porofessor: yes. It shows lobby information, ranks and player tags through the same channels as other approved tools. Since December 5, 2025 it is available as a standalone app as well as on Overwolf, so "Porofessor needs Overwolf" is no longer true.
Mobalytics: yes. It is one of the longest-running League apps and runs on Overwolf.
OP.GG and U.GG: yes. Both desktop apps import runes and builds through the League client, which is the same mechanism almost every companion app uses.
Overwolf itself: Overwolf is a platform, not an app. It updated its in-game features for Vanguard in 2024, and Riot has never named it as a ban risk. Whether something on Overwolf is safe depends on what that app does, not where it runs.
The honest caveat: "safe" means the app stays within Riot's published rules, not that Riot has signed off on it. Riot publishes no allow list, and its Vanguard FAQ says there is no allow list for Vanguard either. What protects you is that the app only does what the rules permit.
What Actually Gets Accounts Banned
- Scripting and botting. Anything that presses buttons, dodges, orbwalks or plays for you. Riot's penalties "can vary in length," up to permanent "for consistent, blatant use," and can include losing that season's ranked rewards.
- Lobby-reveal tools. In May 2024 players were banned for tools that unmasked hidden names in ranked champion select, an ex-LEC pro among them. This is the textbook "information that's intentionally obfuscated" case.
- Zoom hacks and global ult alerts. Named directly in Riot's support article.
- Enemy ultimate timers. Banned for apps since March 2025. A reputable app will not offer them; one that does is breaking the rules.
- Skin hacks. Riot "reserve[s] the right to take action against applications that allow the use of our assets for free (often referred to as skin hacks)."
Vanguard is not the reason overlays are safe or unsafe. Riot's Vanguard FAQ says overlays and tools "using the API, game client, and in-game APIs should continue to function. External tools reading memory will no longer work." The one widely reported Vanguard ban incident, in June 2024, was a backend networking issue that Riot acknowledged and reversed, and it had nothing to do with overlays.
How to Judge Any LoL App in 30 Seconds
- Does it play for you? Any automation of in-game actions is a hard no.
- Does it show something the game hides? Hidden champ select names, enemy ult cooldowns, anything through fog of war. No.
- Does it unlock paid content? Free skins mean a skin hack. No.
- Does it promise to work around Vanguard or read game memory? After October 6, 2026 that stops working for unknown apps anyway, and it was never a good sign.
- Does it show ads inside your game? That has been against Riot's policy since May 2025.
- Does it give you choices or make the decision for you? Riot's policy allows highlighting important decisions and offering choices.
An app that passes all six is doing what the established apps do: reading data Riot exposes and presenting it to you.
Where Hexgate Stands
Hexgate reads the live game from Riot's Live Client Data API, which the game itself serves on your machine during a match, and champion select from the League client. It does not read game memory, inject into the game, modify game files or automate any input, so the October 6, 2026 memory change does not affect it. In ARAM Mayhem it reads the augment cards from your own screen with Windows' built-in text recognition, because Riot's APIs do not expose them.
What it shows is information your client already has, organized: it ranks the situational items that are viable for your champion against the five enemies you face and labels why (Healing, Heavy AD, Heavy CC and so on). You still choose what to buy. There are no ads anywhere, in game or out. Since Riot publishes no list of approved apps, we will not claim a stamp it does not hand out. What we can say is that Hexgate does nothing on the "not allowed" lists above.
If you are picking between apps for other reasons, such as RAM, ads or Overwolf, our best LoL overlays roundup and overlays without Overwolf cover those.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you get banned for using Blitz?
There is no verified case of a League account banned because of Blitz. Blitz reads Riot's APIs and the League client and does not script, automate or read hidden information. The widely shared "Blitz ban" story from February 2025 was about Marvel Rivals, a different game whose publisher classified the Blitz plugin as cheating there.
Is Porofessor bannable?
No verified case exists of a ban caused by Porofessor in League. It shows lobby and player information through the same channels other approved apps use. Since December 2025 it also exists as a standalone app, so it no longer requires Overwolf.
Is Overwolf safe for League of Legends?
Overwolf is a platform that hosts apps such as Mobalytics and the Overwolf version of Porofessor. It prepared its in-game features for Vanguard in 2024, and Riot has never named Overwolf as a ban risk. The risk, as with any app, depends on what the individual app does, not on the platform it runs on.
What changes for LoL apps on October 6, 2026?
Riot starts blocking game memory access by default for unknown third-party applications in League, TFT and VALORANT. Known, approved tools get a grace period until April 2027 to switch to the official APIs. Riot states the change does not result in bans by itself. Apps that only use Riot's APIs, such as Hexgate, are not affected.
Are enemy ultimate timers allowed?
No. Since March 13, 2025 Riot has banned tracking enemy ultimate cooldowns in third-party apps, whether automatic or entered manually, and its developer policy forbids using information not present in the game client for a competitive edge.
What actually gets League accounts banned?
Scripting and botting (software that takes actions for you), tools that expose deliberately hidden information such as the names in ranked champion select, zoom hacks and global ultimate alerts, and skin hacks that unlock paid skins for free. Riot can suspend for these, permanently for consistent blatant use, and can remove that season's ranked rewards.
Does Vanguard ban overlays?
No. Riot's Vanguard FAQ for developers says overlays and tools using the API, the game client and the in-game APIs continue to function, while external tools that read game memory stop working. Riot also says there is no allow list for Vanguard.
An Overlay That Only Uses Riot's APIs
Hexgate adapts your items to the enemy team live, imports runes and ranks ARAM Mayhem augments. No memory reading, no ads, no Overwolf. 3 free games per day.
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