AdGuardHome vs NextDNS
AdGuardHome and NextDNS are both network ad blocking software. AdGuardHome is open source under GPL-3.0, with 38k GitHub stars. NextDNS is a commercial product from NextDNS.
Which to pick
- Pick AdGuardHome when
- You want Pi-hole-style blocking with built-in DoH, DoT and DoQ in a single binary.
- Pick NextDNS when
- You want network-wide blocking on phones and laptops wherever they go without running a Pi-hole.
Side by side
A network-wide DNS server that blocks ads and trackers, with encrypted DNS support, per-client settings and a web dashboard.
A hosted DNS resolver that blocks ads, trackers and malicious domains on every device and network, with parental controls and query logs.
DNS blocking cannot stop ads served from the same domains as content.
A small company, the service has gone quiet on development at times, and logs go to a third party unless disabled.
Production-ready (both)
Self-hosted server
Cloud service
Go, TypeScript and React
Not published
Open source, GPL-3.0 (strong copyleft)
Closed source, sold by NextDNS
Use inside your business is unrestricted, but anything you distribute that includes it must be released under the same license.
Closed source: you use it under the maker's terms and cannot change or resell the code.
38k GitHub stars
No Wikipedia article of its own
Established: started 10 years ago, latest release v0.107.79.
Not known
Other comparisons
More network ad blockers and DNS filters
Both sides were judged on 2026-11-03 from makers' descriptions, Wikipedia, READMEs and GitHub data. License, age and popularity lines are worked out directly.