# Alternatives to NextDNS Cloud Pi-hole with per-device profiles. NextDNS ranks #4 of 6 in Network ad blockers, with an Alt Score of 85. It is proprietary, freemium from €1.99/month and available on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android and Web. 9 of 9 checklist rows are verified against a public source. Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/nextdns/ Category: Network ad blockers ## Overview - **Who it's for**: Individuals and families who want ad, tracker, and malware blocking with parental controls across all their devices, as well as organizations needing centralized DNS-level protection and analytics for many devices. - **What you get**: A cloud DNS firewall that blocks ads, trackers, malware, and phishing domains using real-time threat feeds. Parental controls filter adult, violent, and piracy content, enforce SafeSearch and YouTube Restricted Mode, and support time-based access limits. You get real-time query logs and analytics with configurable retention and data residency, plus unlimited custom profiles with your own allow/deny lists. - **How it works**: You point your devices, router, or network at NextDNS's encrypted DNS resolvers (DNS-over-HTTPS or DNS-over-TLS), which run on servers embedded in carrier networks worldwide for low latency. Each DNS query is filtered against your configured profile before resolving, blocking unwanted domains with no client-side software or added device overhead. ## Profile - **License**: Proprietary (verified 2026-07-08) - **Pricing model**: Freemium (verified 2026-07-08) - **Starts at**: €1.99/month (verified 2026-07-08) - **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web - **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-08) ## Ranked alternatives | # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms | |---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------| | 1 | [AdGuard Home](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/adguard-home.md) | 100 | GPL-3.0 | Linux, Windows, macOS | | 2 | [Blocky](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/blocky.md) | 90 | Apache-2.0 | Linux, Windows, macOS | | 3 | [ControlD](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/controld.md) | 85 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | | 4 | [Pi-hole](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/pi-hole.md) | 85 | EUPL-1.2 | Linux | | 5 | [Technitium](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/technitium.md) | 85 | GPL-3.0 | Windows, Linux, macOS | Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/ ## Feature comparison Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified). | Network ad blockers checklist | NextDNS | AdGuard Home | Blocky | ControlD | Pi-hole | Technitium | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Pricing model | Freemium | Free | Free | Freemium | Donationware | Donationware | | Starts at | €1.99/month | Free | Free | ? | Free | Free | | License | Proprietary | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 | Proprietary | EUPL-1.2 | GPL-3.0 | | Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web | Linux, Windows, macOS | Linux, Windows, macOS | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web | Linux | Windows, Linux, macOS | | DNS-level blocking | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Self-hostable | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | | Blocklist management | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Per-device policies | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | | DoH / DoT support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | | Query logging & dashboard | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Whitelisting UX | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Parental controls | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | ? | ? | | Open source | Partial | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | ## Sources Sources for NextDNS. Each alternative is sourced on its own page. - **Pricing model**: Freemium — (verified 2026-07-08) - Quote: “300,000 queries/month … When exceeding the free monthly quota, NextDNS will continue to answer DNS queries like a classic non-blocking DNS service.” - **Starts at**: €1.99/month — (verified 2026-07-08) - Quote: “€1.99/month … or €19.90/year” - **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web — (verified 2026-07-08) - Quote: “Natively supported on all major platforms — it only takes a few seconds to set up.” - **License**: Proprietary — (verified 2026-07-08) - Note: Service proprietary; the CLI client is MIT. - Quote: “MIT License … Copyright (c) 2019 NextDNS Inc.” - **Status**: active — (verified 2026-07-08) - Quote: “Use the most popular ads & trackers blocklists — millions of domains all updated in real-time.” - **DNS-level blocking**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-08) - Quote: “it's all done at the DNS level, not on your device.” - **Self-hostable**: No — (verified 2026-07-08) - Note: Hosted cloud service; no self-hosting. - Quote: “Natively supported on all major platforms” - **Blocklist management**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-08) - Quote: “Use the most popular ads & trackers blocklists — millions of domains all updated in real-time.” - **Per-device policies**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-08) - Quote: “Unlimited Configurations — Create as many different configurations as you want in your account — each with their own settings.” - **DoH / DoT support**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-08) - Quote: “NextDNS supports all 4 protocols … DoT (DNS over TLS) … DoH (DNS over HTTPS)” - **Query logging & dashboard**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-08) - Quote: “See what's happening on your devices with in-depth analytics and real-time logs.” - **Whitelisting UX**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-08) - Quote: “Custom Denylist/Allowlist — Manually block or allow an unlimited amount of domains.” - **Parental controls**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-08) - Quote: “Parental Control — Protect your kids and control what they can access online, and when.” - **Open source**: Partial — (verified 2026-07-08) - Note: CLI client MIT; backend service proprietary. - Quote: “MIT License … Copyright (c) 2019 NextDNS Inc.” --- Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/