Open source alternative to NextDNS, Control D, AdGuard DNS and OpenDNS
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Secure every device on your home network from ads and trackers with a self-hosted DNS sinkhole that requires no client software on any device.
Pi-hole protects every device on your home network, including smart TVs, game consoles, and IoT hardware, without installing anything on those devices. One setup covers the whole household automatically when your router DHCP points to Pi-hole.
Your only concern is browser ads on a PC or Mac. A browser extension blocks ads more precisely on those devices with no server to maintain.
Pi-hole runs as a single Docker container on a home server, NAS, or existing VM and integrates with home-automation tools through its REST API. Its app-password authentication and group management fit naturally into an already-managed home network.
You have no existing server or Raspberry Pi and are not interested in running any self-hosted services. A cloud DNS service requires no hardware.
Pi-hole's group management lets you apply stricter blocklists to specific devices or clients without touching each device individually. The query log shows exactly what domains each client requests, giving visibility into household network activity from one dashboard.
You need parental controls beyond DNS blocking, such as time limits, app restrictions, or SafeSearch enforcement. Pi-hole blocks domains but cannot restrict access to specific content on otherwise-allowed domains.
Pi-hole processes all DNS queries locally and logs them in a local database that never leaves your hardware. This eliminates the DNS-query visibility that cloud resolvers, ISP DNS servers, and commercial filtering services have over your browsing habits.
You need DNS protection on devices outside your home network. Pi-hole only covers devices connected to your LAN; devices on mobile data are unprotected without a separate VPN setup.
Browser-based ad blockers only protect the browser they run in. Ads and trackers in mobile apps, smart TV interfaces, game consoles, and IoT devices flow through unaffected because those devices either do not support extensions or run entirely different software stacks. A household with ten devices might have protection on two or three of them.
Configuring per-device DNS settings is the manual workaround, but it breaks whenever a device reconnects, gets replaced, or joins from a guest account. Network-wide filtering via DNS catches every request to known ad and tracker domains before the connection is made, covering every device without touching any of them individually.
Intercepts DNS queries for ad and tracker domains before devices can connect, working on every device on the network: phones, tablets, smart TVs, game consoles, and IoT hardware, with no software installed on any of them. Blocklists update automatically through Pi-hole's Gravity system.
A web-based dashboard shows total queries, blocked queries, the most-blocked and most-requested domains, per-client activity, query types, and long-term statistics over user-defined time ranges. The dashboard is included with Pi-hole and needs no separate web server.
Pi-hole can serve as your network's DHCP server, assigning IP addresses alongside DNS settings. This covers networks where the router does not support custom DNS, and optionally includes IPv6 support. It keeps DNS and address assignment in one place.
Assign clients to groups and give each group its own blocklists and allow rules. Stricter filtering for the kids' tablets, lighter settings for a work laptop, and no filtering for a server all run from the same Pi-hole interface without separate instances.
Every action available through the web interface can be automated via Pi-hole's REST API. Interactive API documentation is served from each Pi-hole instance, and app passwords let scripts, home-automation tools, and third-party integrations connect securely.
Logs every domain queried on the network, the client that asked, and what Pi-hole did with the request. Queries are stored in a local database, and the query log supports filtering by time range, client, domain, and query status for ad-hoc network analysis.
Both tools offer DNS-level blocking with customizable blocklists, but they take different deployment approaches. Pi-hole runs on hardware you control; NextDNS is a subscription-based cloud service with no self-hosting option.
| Feature | Pi-hole | NextDNS |
|---|---|---|
| License | EUPL-1.2 | Proprietary |
| Self-hosting | Yes, required | No (cloud-only) |
| DNS query storage | Local only | NextDNS servers |
| Off-network coverage | Requires VPN | Native (no VPN needed) |
| Blocklist updates | Manual or scheduled | Automatic |
| Cost | Free (hardware only) | Free up to 300K queries/month, then paid |
Pi-hole is the better choice when privacy and data ownership matter most. Every DNS query stays on your hardware and never reaches a third-party server. NextDNS is the better fit when you need protection on mobile data and public Wi-Fi without maintaining a VPN, or when you want zero hardware to manage.
AdGuard DNS is the cloud-managed tier of AdGuard's products, offering DNS-based filtering through their servers. Like NextDNS, it requires no hardware but routes your queries through AdGuard's infrastructure.
| Feature | Pi-hole | AdGuard DNS |
|---|---|---|
| Self-hosting | Yes | No |
| Data residency | Your hardware | AdGuard servers |
| License | EUPL-1.2 | Proprietary |
| Free tier | Unlimited (self-hosted) | Limited queries per day |
Pi-hole wins on data ownership and no ongoing costs. AdGuard DNS is a reasonable choice for users who do not want to maintain self-hosted hardware, particularly on mobile devices where Pi-hole has no native off-network coverage.
Install Pi-hole on any supported Linux distribution with the official automated installer.
```bash
curl -sSL https://install.pi-hole.net | bash
```Pi-hole runs on any supported Linux distribution and needs minimal hardware. A Raspberry Pi 2 or later, an old PC or laptop, a VM, a NAS, or a Docker container all work. The official documentation lists specific prerequisites, but most Linux single-board computers with a few hundred megabytes of RAM are sufficient for a home network. The website specifically notes that a Raspberry Pi, an old PC, a VM, and a NAS all work well as hosts.
No. Pi-hole only filters DNS queries from devices connected to your home network. A phone or laptop on mobile data, public Wi-Fi, or a different network bypasses Pi-hole entirely. The official website documents pairing Pi-hole with a VPN such as WireGuard as a way to extend protection to mobile devices, but that requires setting up and maintaining a VPN server in addition to Pi-hole.
Yes. The most common setup points your router's existing DHCP server at Pi-hole for DNS, with no changes to how IP addresses are assigned. Pi-hole's built-in DHCP server is optional and only needed when your router does not support custom DNS settings. If you use Pi-hole's DHCP server, you disable the router's DHCP first to avoid conflicts.
EUPL-1.2 (European Union Public Licence 1.2) is a copyleft licence. For self-hosters the terms are straightforward: you may freely run, use, and deploy Pi-hole for any purpose, including commercial internal use, with no restrictions. The copyleft requirement applies to distribution: if you distribute Pi-hole or a modified version to others, you must provide the source code and license your distribution under EUPL-1.2 or a compatible licence listed in its appendix. Running Pi-hole on your own network for your household or organization requires nothing beyond the download.
Pi-hole downloads and merges blocklists through its Gravity system, which pulls from any URL-based list you configure, including community lists with millions of entries. You can subscribe to external blocklists and schedule automatic updates via the web interface or the pihole -g command. Pi-hole also supports allow and deny rules at the domain level, and regex patterns for more precise control over what is blocked or permitted.
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