AdGuard Home vs Pi-hole
Updated October 2026 · AppBreakup editorial
AdGuard Home
Free, open-source DNS server that blocks ads and trackers for every device on your network.
Pi-hole
Self-hosted DNS sinkhole that blocks ads and trackers for your whole network, often on a Raspberry Pi.
The short answer
Pi-hole suits tinkerers who want the best-known network-wide blocker, with a huge community and plenty of guides. AdGuard Home suits home-lab users who want a more polished dashboard and encrypted DNS built in without extra setup. Both are free, open-source DNS sinkholes that cover every device on your network; the biggest practical difference is AdGuard Home's built-in encrypted DNS and single-binary install versus Pi-hole's larger community.
AdGuard Home or Pi-hole: our take
Both work the same way. You run them on an always-on device, point your router's DNS at them, and every device on the network, including smart TVs, consoles and phones, has ad and tracker domains blocked without installing anything on it. Both offer a web dashboard with query logs and per-client statistics, and both can optionally act as your DHCP server. Both are free and open source; Pi-hole is funded by donations.
AdGuard Home's strengths are polish and built-in features. It supports encrypted DNS out of the box, both as a client and as a server, and adds per-client settings, parental controls and safe search enforcement. It ships as a single binary for Linux, Windows, macOS, FreeBSD and Raspberry Pi, through an official Docker image or the Snap Store. Pi-hole is the project that popularised network-wide blocking. It runs on a Raspberry Pi, a PC, a virtual machine or a NAS, installed with an automated script on supported Linux distributions or in Docker, and its large community means more guides, blocklists and troubleshooting threads.
The limits are shared. DNS blocking cannot remove ads served from the same domain as the content, such as most YouTube ads, and some sites break until you allowlist a domain. Protection also stops when devices leave home unless you route them back through a VPN or expose the server.
Pick Pi-hole if you enjoy tinkering on Linux, want the most community help, or already run a Raspberry Pi. Pick AdGuard Home if you want encrypted DNS without add-ons, run Windows or macOS for your server, or prefer per-client parental controls in one dashboard. Either is a good choice, and switching later is easy because the router setting is the same.
Which should you pick?
Choose AdGuard Home if…
- Home-lab users who want network-wide blocking with a polished dashboard
- You need Windows and macOS, which Pi-hole doesn't list
- Covers every device on the network, including smart TVs
- Encrypted DNS support built in
Choose Pi-hole if…
- Tinkerers who want ad blocking for every device on their home network
- Covers every device on the network
- Huge community, guides and blocklists
About each app
What is AdGuard Home?
AdGuard Home is a self-hosted DNS server that blocks ads and tracking for everything on your network, including smart TVs, consoles and phones, without installing anything on each device. Point your router's DNS at it and it filters requests using standard blocklists, with per-client settings, parental controls, safe search enforcement, query logs and statistics in a clean web dashboard. It supports encrypted DNS out of the box, both as a client and as a server, and can act as a DHCP server. It runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, FreeBSD and Raspberry Pi as a single binary, through the official Docker image or the Snap Store. AdGuard Home is free and open source. Like Pi-hole, it uses DNS sinkholing, so it cannot remove ads served from the same domain as content, such as YouTube video ads.
What is 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.
Side by side
| Attribute | AdGuard Home | Pi-hole |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Open source | Open source |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Platforms | Self-hosted, Linux, Windows, macOS | Self-hosted, Linux |
| Best for | Home-lab users who want network-wide blocking with a polished dashboard | Tinkerers who want ad blocking for every device on their home network |
| Status | Active | Active |
Verified facts, compared
Facts both apps publish, checked on each vendor's own site.
| Fact | AdGuard Home | Pi-hole |
|---|---|---|
| Method | DNS sinkholing | DNS sinkhole |
AdGuard Home vs Pi-hole pricing
AdGuard Home: open source
We couldn't verify AdGuard Home's plan details on its own site yet, so we don't list them.
Pi-hole: open source
We couldn't verify Pi-hole's plan details on its own site yet, so we don't list them.
Platforms
| Platform | AdGuard Home | Pi-hole |
|---|---|---|
| Windows | ||
| macOS | ||
| Linux | ||
| Self-hosted |
AdGuard Home facts
3 of 3 verified- Open source
- Yes, free
- Checked Oct 25, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)
- “Free and open source, powerful network-wide ads & trackers blocking DNS server.”
- Docker
- Official image
- Checked Oct 25, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)
- “Docker You can use our official Docker image on Docker Hub .”
- Method
- DNS sinkholing
- Checked Oct 25, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)
- “Both block ads and trackers using the so-called “DNS sinkholing” method and both allow customizing what's blocked.”
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.”
Pros and cons of AdGuard Home
- Covers every device on the network, including smart TVs
- Encrypted DNS support built in
- Single binary or Docker image, easy to set up
- Can't block ads served from the same domain as content
- Needs an always-on device on your network
- Protection stops when devices leave home unless you expose it
Pros and cons of Pi-hole
- Covers every device on the network
- Huge community, guides and blocklists
- Runs on cheap hardware like a Raspberry Pi
- Can't block same-domain ads like YouTube's
- Needs a device running around the clock
- Occasional allowlisting needed when sites break
Other apps to consider
Technitium DNS ServerInstead of AdGuard Home
A full authoritative and recursive DNS server with ad blocking, for more DNS control.
NextDNSInstead of Pi-hole
Hosted DNS filtering with no hardware to maintain, and protection away from home.
StevenBlack hostsInstead of Pi-hole
The unified hosts lists many Pi-hole users already rely on, usable without a server.
AdGuard Home vs Pi-hole: common questions
Is AdGuard Home better than Pi-hole?
Pi-hole suits tinkerers who want the best-known network-wide blocker, with a huge community and plenty of guides. AdGuard Home suits home-lab users who want a more polished dashboard and encrypted DNS built in without extra setup. Both are free, open-source DNS sinkholes that cover every device on your network; the biggest practical difference is AdGuard Home's built-in encrypted DNS and single-binary install versus Pi-hole's larger community.
Is AdGuard Home free?
Yes. AdGuard Home is free, open-source software you can host yourself.
Is Pi-hole free?
Yes. Pi-hole is free, open-source software you can host yourself.
Is AdGuard Home or Pi-hole open source?
Both are open source.
Which platforms do AdGuard Home and Pi-hole support?
AdGuard Home: Self-hosted, Linux, Windows and macOS. Pi-hole: Self-hosted and Linux.