I've never found gutter guards to work very well for the reasons you describe. Stuff either gets stuck in the holes, sits on top or clogs the lip such that the gutters are useless for water diversion. I switched to just hiring someone to clean them though at our lake place they can all be reached from the ground/deck with a Stihl blower and gutter cleaning attachment. So DH cleans those.

We and by we I mean DH went up on a ladder or climbed out the second story window, then used a step ladder to get up on the top roof, a few times a season, and the gutters were full. One day we finally met a backyard neighbor when he came trotting across the yard waving a business card and exhorting us to “get off that roof and call this guy!”

We are very happy with them, just wish the one over the front porch worked as well as the others. It’s a trick of the roof layout. Fortunately, that one section is easy to clear off. We check them all just twice a year now, because they work so well for us.

We have gutter guards at both places but I have no idea which ones they are. They don't have little holes so the pine needles don't get stuck. Our place in PA has a steep roof with a deep valley and during a heavy downpour the water would cascade down the roof and shoot over the gutters. Our roofer came back and installed oversize gutters in that section. It hasn't eliminated the problem but it has helped.

Maybe it depends on the sort of debris your trees shed but here in the woods none of them are worth half what you have to pay for them. They all get clogged.

I've used this stuff with great success:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/GutterFoam-Original-Foam-K-Style-Pair-Left-Right-5-in-x-4-ft-Gutter-Guard/5013767285?cm_mmc=shp--c--prd--bdm--ggl--LIA_BDM_103_Roofing-Gutters--5013767285--local--0-_-0&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwzN-vBhAkEiwAYiO7oHccus7Q6Sl4sgQEg1D_uR8hkOL-5D7fRd9Le9f131-eezp5WU2cQxoCqk8QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

We have maples and box elders so the leaves are larger. I would like to get them, but if they really don't work, that stinks.

We removed our gutter guards. Pine needles just sat on top and clogged them.

Here in the Palm Springs area, no one has gutters (we get 5" of rain a year) and most of the trees are palms, and yet we get constant ads on TV for gutter guards! I think they are wasting their time and money advertising for something that cannot even be used here.

In Los Angeles, we do not get very much rain, but we did put new metal gutters on our house about 12 years ago. We've never even checked to see if anything has been in the gutters, as we do not have any trees close to the house that could drop leaves on the roof. We get about 15" of rain a year in L.A., and so gutters are needed, but they have never been clogged and we do not have covers and have never cleaned them in the 15 years that we have lived there. I'm not going up there to look at them, but they function as they should.

We had a very nice unexpected rain yesterday in Cathedral City, and it did a good job of cleaning the solar panels. The dust that collects on them (which is mostly sand) drains onto our patio, but the gardener cleans that every two weeks.

We do have leaves falling into our pool, but the pool maintenance guy takes care of those.

I haven't seen any gutter guards advertised that I thought would work well, and if I had gutters that got clogged, I think I would just hire someone to clean them rather than install guards.

Our gutter guards work quite well. Our house is L-shapped (oversize/long garage-workshop which extends out back of house) and there is a deep corner at the L junction. My husband says he does occasionally brush that corner out (broom) or uses the blower on it. The debris is on top of the guard, does not clog and does not affect the flow of water, it's just if it builds up enough, you see it. We (he) is much happier with gutter guards than without. I'm sorry, but I don't know the brand. Maybe get a couple or so come diagnose your needs? I agree with others that what type leaves, etc. you have may affect how well (or what type) the guards would work. Our roof is steep and I am thrilled no one has to get on top to clean gutters!

The ones that have worked best for me in the past (and I also deal with locust leaves, along with maple flowers and seeds) are the kind that have mesh netting adhered to the solid vinyl. Cheap at the hardware store and just put in place by me.

I had Leaf Relief at one time, but they were improperly installed so that they tilted back toward the roof, not in the correct downward slope away. You can imagine the issues with that!

When I had to replace the roof and gutters a couple of years ago, the contractor installed covers that had metal points from the perforations - facing UP - just perfect for catching everything! He insisted that that was the way they are suppose to be! and wouldn't change or replace them. So I am back to climbing out a second story window, onto the porch roof, then up to the upper roof to clear them off 3 times a year.

I suspect that installation issues with both contractors were the result of unskilled day labor.

I will be watching this thread to see if any brand gets a solid recommendation.

We live in Minnesota and get plenty of all the things. We got a quote for gutter guards at our last house. The cost of cleaning them 2-3 times a year would've taken us about 20 years to equal the cost of gutter guards. It was unlikely we'd stay that long in our house so we opted to just pay for cleaning. We lived next to an enormous silver maple that dropped everything you can imagine. We figured that a gutter guard might end up causing more problems than it solved. And then, we ended up only staying there for 5 years so we're glad we didn't do it. ymmv.

We have several large Fir and Cedar trees that are constantly droping junk on the roof and clogging the gutters/downspouts. The solution for us that helped the most was to have large mouth downspouts (we used LeafDrop) installed that allowed the junk to flow down to a leaf filter. During those times where there is heavy shedding, I use a plastic mirror attach to an extention pole to inspect the gutters from the ground. You can buy those on Amazon but I made my own for very little money based on a YouTube video. If I find stuff in the gutters. I use the extention pole and this device to clean the debris. They both work great and a couple of my neighbors adopted the same tools to clean their gutters. I still hire someone to clean the roof (if needed) and wash the gutters every two years or so. Sorry, I had links for the products but Houzz does not allow them to be posted for some reason.

The only up side of paying for the insane price of the products where they come and customize them to your home--they are guaranteed so I dream of calling them up every time they are clogged or leak but first one has to find the arm and a leg they cost!!!