AdGuard Home
FreeNetwork-wide ad blocking, with encrypted DNS thrown in
A self-hosted DNS-level ad and tracker blocker in the same category as Pi-hole, but with encrypted DNS (DoH, DoT, DoQ) built in both as client and server, a graphical setup interface included, and a single executable that runs without a separate web server.
Why we picked it
It does the same job as Pi-hole — sitting at the DNS layer and refusing to resolve ad and tracker domains — covering every device in the house at once, including TVs and phone apps where no extension can be installed.
Given the overlap, listing both is only useful because their trade-offs differ. AdGuard Home has 36,103 stars, GPL-3.0, built by the team behind the AdGuard ad blocker.
Practical differences from Pi-hole:
- Encrypted DNS is built in. It queries upstream over DoH, DoT or DoQ so your ISP cannot read your DNS requests, and it can act as an encrypted DNS server itself — so a phone on mobile data elsewhere can still use your home filtering over an encrypted connection. Pi-hole needs additional components for this.
- Installation is simpler: a single executable with a built-in web interface and a guided setup wizard, requiring no separate web server. It also runs comfortably on Windows and macOS, whereas Pi-hole is effectively Linux-only.
- Parental controls: enforced safe search, adult content filtering, per-device rules (a child's tablet on stricter filtering) and time-based schedules.
- Per-client configuration, assigning different filter rules and upstream servers to different devices, where Pi-hole's grouping is comparatively basic.
Pi-hole's advantages are community size, the volume of tutorials and third-party tooling, and being more single-purpose.
Running both is pointless — pick one. Roughly: want encrypted DNS, parental controls, or to install on Windows or macOS → AdGuard Home; running on a Raspberry Pi and want the most mature community support → Pi-hole.
To be clear about:
- It blocks domains, not content. Ads served from the same domain as the content still get through, so uBlock Origin in the browser remains complementary.
- False positives happen. An app may misbehave because a domain was blocked; the interface shows recent blocks and allows whitelisting.
- It is a single point of failure. If that machine goes down, nothing resolves DNS and the whole house appears offline. Configure a fallback DNS on the router.
- Distinguish the product lines. The AdGuard company also sells browser extensions, desktop clients and a DNS service. AdGuard Home, the self-hosted version, is entirely free and open source — do not confuse it with their paid products.