Pi-hole

Self-hosted DNS sinkhole that blocks ads and trackers for your whole network, often on a Raspberry Pi.

Open sourceSelf-hostableAd and tracker blockers

Verified facts: 4 of 4
Alternatives ranked: 5
Approved reviews: 0
Visits sent from here: 0

About Pi-hole

Pi-hole is the project that made network-wide ad blocking popular. It is a DNS sinkhole you run on your own hardware: once your router hands out its address, every device on the network, from laptops to smart TVs, has ad and tracker domains blocked without installing anything. It runs on a Raspberry Pi, an old PC, a virtual machine or a NAS, either through an automated installer on supported Linux distributions or in Docker. A web dashboard shows queries, blocked domains and per-client statistics, and it can optionally act as your DHCP server. Pairing it with a VPN extends protection to phones away from home. Pi-hole is free and open source and is funded by donations. Like other DNS blockers, it cannot remove ads served from the same domain as content, such as most YouTube ads, and some sites break until you allowlist a domain.

Best for: Tinkerers who want ad blocking for every device on their home network.

What works

Covers every device on the network
Huge community, guides and blocklists
Runs on cheap hardware like a Raspberry Pi

Why people leave

Can't block same-domain ads like YouTube's
Needs a device running around the clock
Occasional allowlisting needed when sites break

Top Pi-hole alternatives

See all 5

1
AdGuard Home
Same approach with built-in encrypted DNS and a single-binary install.
66.5
2
Technitium DNS Server
Full DNS server with blocking, for people who want a real resolver too.
62.6
3
Blocky
Stateless Go DNS proxy configured in YAML, easy to run in containers.
59.6
4
NextDNS
Hosted DNS filtering with no hardware to maintain, and protection away from home.
57.2
5
StevenBlack hosts
The unified hosts lists many Pi-hole users already rely on, usable without a server.
55.3

Why people left Pi-hole

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Pi-hole: common questions

Is Pi-hole free?

Yes. Pi-hole is free, open-source software that you can host yourself.

Is Pi-hole open source?

Yes. The source code is on GitHub at pi-hole/pi-hole. You can also run it on your own server.

What platforms does Pi-hole run on?

Pi-hole is available for Self-hosted and Linux.

What are the best alternatives to Pi-hole?

The highest-ranked Pi-hole alternatives right now are AdGuard Home, Technitium DNS Server and Blocky. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.

See all 5 Pi-hole alternatives

Pi-hole facts

4 of 4 verified

Install options: Docker or supported Linux; Checked Oct 25, 2026pi-hole.net(opens source in a new tab); “Choose where to run it Run Pi-hole in a Docker container, or install it directly on a supported Linux distribution with our automated installer.”
Hardware: Raspberry Pi, PC, VM or NAS; Checked Oct 25, 2026pi-hole.net(opens source in a new tab); “A Raspberry Pi, an old PC, a VM or a NAS all work well.”
DHCP server: Optional; Checked Oct 25, 2026docs.pi-hole.net(opens source in a new tab); “can optionally function as a DHCP server”
Method: DNS sinkhole; Checked Oct 25, 2026docs.pi-hole.net(opens source in a new tab); “The Pi-hole ® is a DNS sinkhole that protects your devices from unwanted content, without installing any client-side software.”