# Alternatives to Technitium
Full authoritative + blocking DNS server.
Technitium ranks #6 of 6 in Network ad blockers, with an Alt Score of 85. It is licensed under GPL-3.0, donationware from Free and available on Windows, Linux and macOS. 8 of 9 checklist rows are verified against a public source.
Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/technitium/
Category: Network ad blockers
## Overview
- **Who it's for**: Home network owners, self-hosters, and IT admins in small-to-medium organizations who want to run their own DNS resolver for network-wide ad-blocking, privacy, and control instead of relying on their ISP or a third-party DNS provider.
- **What you get**: A free, open-source authoritative and recursive DNS server with a web-based admin console and REST API. It includes network-wide ad/malware blocking via configurable block lists, DNSSEC validation, encrypted DNS support (DNS-over-TLS, DNS-over-HTTPS, DNS-over-QUIC), an optional built-in DHCP server, query logs and statistics, and multi-user role-based access with optional 2FA.
- **How it works**: You install it as a standalone service (Windows installer, cross-platform .NET app, Linux install script, or Docker image) on a server or device on your network, point client devices' DNS settings at it, and manage zones, block lists, and settings through its web console or HTTP API; its async IO engine resolves and caches queries recursively or serves authoritative zones directly.
## Profile
- **License**: GPL-3.0 (verified 2026-07-08)
- **Pricing model**: Donationware (verified 2026-07-08)
- **Starts at**: Free (verified 2026-07-08)
- **Platforms**: Windows, Linux, macOS
- **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 | [NextDNS](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/nextdns.md) | 85 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS |
| 5 | [Pi-hole](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/pi-hole.md) | 85 | EUPL-1.2 | Linux |
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 | Technitium | AdGuard Home | Blocky | ControlD | NextDNS | Pi-hole |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Donationware | Free | Free | Freemium | Freemium | Donationware |
| Starts at | Free | Free | Free | ? | €1.99/month | Free |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 | Proprietary | Proprietary | EUPL-1.2 |
| Platforms | Windows, Linux, macOS | Linux, Windows, macOS | Linux, Windows, macOS | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web | Linux |
| DNS-level blocking | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Blocklist management | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Per-device policies | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| DoH / DoT support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| Query logging & dashboard | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Whitelisting UX | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Parental controls | ? | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Open source | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Partial | Yes |
## Sources
Sources for Technitium. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
- **Pricing model**: Donationware — (verified 2026-07-08)
- Quote: “Make a contribution to Technitium and help making new software, updates, and features possible. Donate Now!”
- **License**: GPL-3.0 — (verified 2026-07-08)
- Quote: “Source code available under GNU GPLv3 Licence on GitHub.”
- **Starts at**: Free — (verified 2026-07-08)
- Quote: “Download Now!”
- **Platforms**: Windows, Linux, macOS — (verified 2026-07-08)
- Quote: “Open source cross-platform .NET 10 implementation hosted on GitHub”
- **Status**: active — (verified 2026-07-08)
- Note: v15 released 2026; actively developed.
- Quote: “Open source cross-platform .NET 10 implementation hosted on GitHub”
- **DNS-level blocking**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-08)
- Quote: “Block ads & malware at DNS level for your entire network!”
- **Self-hostable**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-08)
- Quote: “Self host a DNS server for privacy & security”
- **Blocklist management**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-08)
- Quote: “Block ads & malware using one or more block list URLs”
- **Per-device policies**: Partial — (verified 2026-07-08)
- Note: Via the Advanced Blocking DNS App (separate install).
- Quote: “Create client-based groups with different blocking policies based on IP address, subnet, or local endpoint”
- **DoH / DoT support**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-08)
- Quote: “Self host DNS-over-TLS, DNS-over-HTTPS, and DNS-over-QUIC DNS services on your network”
- **Query logging & dashboard**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-08)
- Quote: “The server supports optional query logging feature that will log query and response data into a daily log file”
- **Whitelisting UX**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-08)
- Quote: “Allowed zones allows to add exception to unblock domain names listed in blocked zones”
- **Open source**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-08)
- Quote: “Source code available under GNU GPLv3 Licence on GitHub”
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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/