The Two Giants of Self-Hosted DNS Filtering
If you've decided to block ads and trackers at the network level, you've almost certainly encountered Pi-hole and AdGuard Home. Both are open-source, self-hosted DNS filtering servers. Both are free. And both do an excellent job of protecting your network — but they have meaningful differences that make one a better fit depending on your situation.
Feature Comparison at a Glance
| Feature | Pi-hole | AdGuard Home |
|---|---|---|
| Platform support | Linux only | Linux, Windows, macOS, Docker |
| Installation | One-line script (Linux) | Binary download or Docker |
| Web dashboard | Yes (older UI) | Yes (modern UI) |
| DoH / DoT upstream | Via Unbound or cloudflared add-on | Built-in, native support |
| DoH / DoT server | No | Yes (built-in) |
| Regex filtering | Yes | Yes |
| DNS rewrites | Via custom DNS records | Built-in DNS rewrites |
| Per-client rules | Limited (via groups) | Yes, per-client scheduling & rules |
| Safe Search enforcement | No (manual blocklists) | Yes (built-in toggle) |
| Parental controls | Via blocklists only | Built-in parental control mode |
| Community size | Very large | Large and growing |
Installation Experience
Pi-hole wins on simplicity for Linux users. A single command kicks off an interactive installer, and within minutes you have a working DNS server. It's battle-tested and widely documented.
AdGuard Home is nearly as simple and has the edge on cross-platform support. Download a binary, run it, open your browser — done. It also has excellent Docker support with a well-maintained official image.
Encrypted DNS: A Clear AdGuard Home Advantage
This is where AdGuard Home pulls ahead significantly. It supports DoH and DoT natively — both as an upstream resolver and as a server for your clients. Pi-hole requires additional software (like Unbound or cloudflared) to achieve the same result, which adds complexity and extra points of failure.
If encrypted DNS is important to you — and it should be — AdGuard Home is the easier path.
Dashboard and Usability
Pi-hole's dashboard is functional but dated in appearance. AdGuard Home features a cleaner, more modern interface that feels more polished. For first-time users, AdGuard Home's UI is generally more intuitive.
Blocklist Compatibility
Both tools support standard hosts-file format blocklists and are compatible with popular lists like OISD, Steven Black, and EasyList. AdGuard Home additionally supports its own AdGuard filter syntax, which allows more sophisticated cosmetic filtering rules — though those primarily apply to browser extensions rather than DNS-level blocking.
Per-Client Control
AdGuard Home offers genuine per-client configuration: different blocklists, different upstream DNS, different schedules, and usage stats broken out per device. Pi-hole has improved its group-based management in v5+, but AdGuard Home's per-client controls remain more granular and easier to configure.
Which Should You Choose?
- Choose Pi-hole if: You're a Linux user who wants the largest community, maximum documentation, and the most third-party integrations (e.g., Unbound, Gravity Sync for HA setups).
- Choose AdGuard Home if: You want encrypted DNS out of the box, a modern UI, per-client controls, built-in parental controls, and cross-platform support including Windows and Docker.
Can You Run Both?
Yes — some advanced users run Pi-hole as a DHCP server and forward queries upstream to AdGuard Home, or vice versa. But for most home users, one is more than enough. Start with AdGuard Home if you're new to DNS filtering; its all-in-one approach simplifies the setup considerably.