AdGuard Home

AdGuard Home is a free, open-source, network-wide ads & trackers blocking DNS server you self-host on a Raspberry Pi, NAS, or cheap VPS. We rate it 88/100 — it is the most polished modern alternative to Pi-hole, with native encrypted DNS, a clean dashboard, and zero monthly fees forever.

What is AdGuard Home?

AdGuard Home is a DNS sinkhole maintained by Cyprus-based AdGuard Software Limited (the same team behind the AdGuard browser/desktop ad blocker). It first hit GitHub in April 2018 and reached its v0.95 stable milestone in December 2018. As of May 2026 the official repository sits at 31,200+ stars and has been pulled from Docker Hub more than 100 million times.

It runs as a single Go binary (under 30 MB) that intercepts every DNS query on your network and silently drops anything that matches its blocklists — ads, trackers, malware domains, phishing, and analytics. Anything passing the filter is forwarded to your chosen upstream over plain DNS, DNS-over-HTTPS, DNS-over-TLS, DNS-over-QUIC, or DNSCrypt. There is no agent on each device — point your router at the server and every phone, smart TV, and IoT gadget on the LAN inherits the protection.

Key Features of AdGuard Home

• Built-in encrypted upstream DNS: Paste a DoH, DoT, DoQ, or DNSCrypt URL straight into the dashboard — no Cloudflared sidecar required. Pi-hole still ships without this out of the box.
• Per-client policies: Apply different blocklists, parental controls, and Safe Search rules to specific MAC addresses, IPs, or ClientIDs (great for "kids' iPad" vs. "office desktop").
• Custom filtering rules with AdGuard syntax: Supports full AdBlock Plus syntax, hosts files, RPZ rules, and custom regex — far broader than Pi-hole's domain-only matching.
• Built-in DHCP server: Optional, but means you can replace your router's leased DNS path entirely and avoid the "client X always shows as router" problem.
• HTTPS & admin auth out of the box: Generate or paste TLS certificates from the UI; admin login uses bcrypt-hashed credentials by default.
• Single binary, low footprint: Idles around 50 MB RAM and a few percent of a Pi 4 CPU at typical home query rates.

What Users Say About AdGuard Home

Sentiment in r/selfhosted and r/homelab has tilted firmly toward AdGuard Home over the past two years, with the most-upvoted recent thread arguing it is the "modernized replacement for Pi-hole." Users repeatedly praise the encrypted-DNS-without-fuss, the clean per-client UI, and the fact that the project ships pre-built binaries for ARM, FreeBSD, and OpenBSD — Pi-hole still requires Linux. On Hacker News, multiple commenters note that AdGuard Home's filter-syntax compatibility with browser AdGuard means a single subscription list can power both. Recurring complaints are real but minor: the official Docker image runs as root by default, group management is less granular than Pi-hole's, and a handful of advanced users miss conditional forwarding for split-horizon DNS at home.

AdGuard Home Pricing

AdGuard Home itself is completely free and open source (GPL-3.0). There is no paid tier, no upgrade prompts, and no telemetry. The only paid AdGuard products are the separate browser/desktop AdGuard Ad Blocker and the hosted AdGuard DNS service — both optional and unrelated to running AdGuard Home yourself.

Plan	Price	Key Limits
Self-hosted (AdGuard Home)	$0 forever	Unlimited devices, blocklists, and queries — limited only by your hardware.
Hosted AdGuard DNS Personal	$0 (free tier) / $1.99–$2.49/mo	Optional — only if you don't want to run a server. Free tier covers 300k queries/month.

Who Should Use AdGuard Home?

Best for: homelab users, privacy-conscious households, small offices, and anyone who already runs a Raspberry Pi, Synology NAS, or always-on mini-PC. Also a strong fit for OPNsense/pfSense users who want a friendlier UI than Unbound's config files.

Not ideal for: people who don't run any always-on machine on their LAN (a phone-only blocker is a better fit), enterprises that need split-horizon DNS with dozens of conditional forwards, or users who fundamentally don't trust Go binaries from a Cyprus-based vendor — review the source on GitHub if that is a concern.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Genuinely zero-cost — there is no upsell path, no paid tier, no quota.
• Encrypted upstream DNS works out of the box (just paste a DoH URL).
• Setup takes under five minutes via the official Docker image — multiple Reddit threads confirm this.
• Active development — releases roughly every 4–8 weeks, with a transparent CHANGELOG.
• Cross-platform binaries (Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Windows, ARM, MIPS).

Cons:

• Default Docker image runs as root — fine for a Pi, less ideal in shared infrastructure.
• Group management is shallower than Pi-hole's — per-client overrides exist, but global "Adults" vs "Kids" groups need workarounds.
• Mobile blocking still requires either a VPN profile or a private DNS hostname on Android — same trade-off as Pi-hole.
• Logs and statistics retention can balloon storage on busy networks unless you cap them.

Alternatives to AdGuard Home

The two main alternatives are Pi-hole — older, slightly more granular group/list management, but no native encrypted DNS — and Technitium DNS Server, which is more of a full-feature DNS suite with built-in resolver, DNSSEC validation, and conditional forwarding, but a heavier UI and Windows-first roots. NextDNS is the closest hosted equivalent if you don't want to self-host at all.

Verdict: Is AdGuard Home Worth It?

For any homelab in 2026, AdGuard Home is the default recommendation. The encrypted-DNS story alone — paste a DoH URL and you're done — beats every comparable free tool, and the per-client policy engine is more flexible than its reputation suggests. We rate it 88/100: a polished, actively maintained, completely free piece of infrastructure that has genuinely raised the bar for what a network-wide ad blocker should ship by default. Knock a few points off for the root-by-default container and the still-shallow group model, but for the vast majority of self-hosters, AdGuard Home is the easy pick.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is AdGuard Home free?

Yes. AdGuard Home is fully free and open source under the GPL-3.0 license, with no paid tier and no usage limits. Only the separate hosted AdGuard DNS service and the AdGuard browser/desktop blocker have paid plans.

What platforms does AdGuard Home support?

Linux (x86_64, ARM, MIPS), macOS, Windows, FreeBSD, and OpenBSD. There is also an official Docker image and a Snap Store package. The web UI runs in any modern browser.

How does AdGuard Home compare to Pi-hole?

Both block roughly the same ad/tracker domains. AdGuard Home wins on built-in encrypted upstream DNS (DoH/DoT/DoQ), modern UI, and broader OS support. Pi-hole has slightly richer group management and a larger community ecosystem. Performance is now indistinguishable in normal home use.

Is AdGuard Home open source?

Yes — full source is on GitHub under GPL-3.0. Anyone can self-host, audit, fork, or contribute.

Does AdGuard Home block YouTube ads?

Partially. DNS-level blocking cannot remove ads served from the same domain as the content (which is how YouTube delivers ads). For full YouTube ad blocking, pair AdGuard Home with a client-side blocker like uBlock Origin in the browser.