Blocky

Judgement

What it is

Complete system

What it does

A DNS proxy and ad blocker for a local network that applies blocklists per client group and supports DoH, DoT and DoQ, caching and conditional forwarding, all from one YAML file.

Adopt it when

You want Pi-hole-style network ad blocking as a single stateless binary configured in code, without a built-in web UI.

Watch out

No admin interface out of the box; query logs and dashboards mean adding a database and Grafana or a third-party UI.

Ready for

Production-ready

Runs as

Self-hosted server

Built with

Go

How established

Established: started 7 years ago, latest release v0.35.0.

What the license allows

You can build it into a product you sell, as long as you keep its copyright notice.

Judged on 2026-11-03 from the project's README and GitHub data. The license and age lines are worked out directly.

Compare Blocky

Built from

Follow it down: Blocky → Go → runs on a microchip

How compilers were built, back to punched paper tape

Open-source alternatives to Blocky

1. 1
   AdGuardHome AdguardTeam

   Network-wide ads & trackers blocking DNS server

   Complete system Production-ready You want Pi-hole-style blocking with built-in DoH, DoT and DoQ in a single binary.

   ★ 38k GPL-3.0 TypeScript Active, pushed today
2. 2
   DnsServer TechnitiumSoftware

   Technitium DNS Server

   Complete system Production-ready You want a full DNS server for your home or office, including authoritative zones, not just a blocker.

   ★ 10k GPL-3.0 C# Active, pushed 9 days ago
3. 3
   Esp32-c3-adblock M-Abozaid

   Pi-hole-class DNS ad-blocker on a $2 ESP32-C3 (no PSRAM): 537k domains as 40-bit FNV-1a hashes in flash, binary-searched. UDP DNS sinkhole + web dashboard. https://youtube.com/shorts/RaxszOUMi8E?feature=share

   Complete system Experimental You want network ad blocking on a tiny, very low-cost device and enjoy flashing microcontrollers.

   ★ 3.5k MIT C++ Active, pushed 27 days ago
4. 4
   Blockads-android pass-with-high-score

   Block ads system-wide on Android using local VPN-based DNS filtering. No root needed. No data collection.

   Complete system Usable You want system-wide ad and tracker blocking on an unrooted Android phone from a free open-source app.

   ★ 2.6k GPL-3.0 Kotlin Active, pushed today
5. 5
   A-dove-is-dumb ignaciocastro

   Easily block Adobe telemetry checking domains. Continuously Updated. Useful for HostsMan / SwitchHosts / Pi-hole users ✨

   List, course or other material Usable You want to stop Adobe apps calling home from a machine or network you control.

   ★ 1.9k BSD-2-Clause Active, pushed 5 days ago
6. 6
   Pihole-updatelists jacklul

   Update Pi-hole's lists from remote sources easily

   Developer tool Usable You manage Pi-hole lists from curated remote collections such as Firebog and want them kept in step automatically.

   ★ 1.7k MIT PHP Active, pushed 11 days ago
7. 7
   Nebula-sync lovelaze

   Synchronize configuration of multiple Pi-hole v6.x instances.

   Developer tool Usable You run two or more Pi-hole v6 servers for redundancy and want their settings kept identical.

   ★ 1.7k MIT Go Active, pushed 2 days ago
8. 8
   Neodevhost neodevpro

   The Powerful Friendly Uptodate AD Blocking Hosts 最新强大而友善的去广告

   List, course or other material Usable You want a broad blocklist with good coverage of Chinese ad domains for Pi-hole, AdGuard or a router.

   ★ 1.4k MIT Adblock Filter List Active, pushed today

Commercial network ad blockers and DNS filters

1. 1
   Cisco Umbrella Cisco

   Cisco's enterprise network security provides advanced protection on a unified, cloud-delivered solution designed for the modern workplace.

   Complete system Production-ready A business or school wants a simple first layer of web filtering and threat blocking across all sites and devices.

   Commercial
2. 2
   NextDNS NextDNS

   NextDNS protects you from all kinds of security threats, blocks ads and trackers on websites and in apps and provides a safe and supervised Internet for kids — on all devices and on all networks.

   Complete system Production-ready You want network-wide blocking on phones and laptops wherever they go without running a Pi-hole.

   Commercial