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.
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.
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.
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.
Why people leave Technitium
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Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
Feature comparison
Rows come from the Network ad blockers checklist (13 rows). Human-verified cells only. ? means the value has not been verified.
| Network ad blockers checklist | Technitium | AdGuard Home | Blocky | ControlD | NextDNS | Pi-hole |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ||||||
| Starts at | ||||||
| License | ||||||
| Platforms | ||||||
| DNS-level blocking | ||||||
| Self-hostable | ||||||
| Blocklist management | ||||||
| Per-device policies | ||||||
| DoH / DoT support | ||||||
| Query logging & dashboard | ||||||
| Whitelisting UX | ||||||
| Parental controls | ||||||
| Open source |
Every fact and feature listed for Technitium is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
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Pricing model Donationware verified 2026-07-08
Make a contribution to Technitium and help making new software, updates, and features possible. Donate Now!
https://technitium.com/dns/ -
License GPL-3.0 verified 2026-07-08
Source code available under GNU GPLv3 Licence on GitHub.
https://technitium.com/dns/ -
Starts at Free verified 2026-07-08
Download Now!
https://technitium.com/dns/ -
Platforms Windows, Linux, macOS verified 2026-07-08
Open source cross-platform .NET 10 implementation hosted on GitHub
https://github.com/TechnitiumSoftware/DnsServer/blob/master/README.md -
Status active verified 2026-07-08
v15 released 2026; actively developed.
Open source cross-platform .NET 10 implementation hosted on GitHub
https://github.com/TechnitiumSoftware/DnsServer/blob/master/README.md -
DNS-level blocking Yes verified 2026-07-08
Block ads & malware at DNS level for your entire network!
https://technitium.com/dns/ -
Self-hostable Yes verified 2026-07-08
Self host a DNS server for privacy & security
https://technitium.com/dns/ -
Blocklist management Yes verified 2026-07-08
Block ads & malware using one or more block list URLs
https://github.com/TechnitiumSoftware/DnsServer/blob/master/README.md -
Per-device policies Partial verified 2026-07-08
Via the Advanced Blocking DNS App (separate install).
Create client-based groups with different blocking policies based on IP address, subnet, or local endpoint
https://github.com/TechnitiumSoftware/DnsServer/blob/master/Apps/AdvancedBlockingApp/README.md -
DoH / DoT support Yes verified 2026-07-08
Self host DNS-over-TLS, DNS-over-HTTPS, and DNS-over-QUIC DNS services on your network
https://technitium.com/dns/ -
Query logging & dashboard Yes verified 2026-07-08
The server supports optional query logging feature that will log query and response data into a daily log file
https://technitium.com/dns/help.html -
Whitelisting UX Yes verified 2026-07-08
Allowed zones allows to add exception to unblock domain names listed in blocked zones
https://technitium.com/dns/help.html -
Open source Yes verified 2026-07-08
Source code available under GNU GPLv3 Licence on GitHub
https://technitium.com/dns/
FAQ
Yes. AdGuard Home, Blocky and ControlD have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.
AdGuard Home, Blocky and Pi-hole — every license claim links its source.