Compared
Pi-hole, AdGuard Home, NextDNS and AdHole, side by side.
Four ways to block ads beyond a single browser. What each one is, what it asks of you and what it can’t do, including where AdHole does less.
- As of September 2026
- A source for every fact
- Checked 2026-09-14
The four
What each one is.
- Pi-hole
- Describes itself as “a DNS sinkhole that protects your devices from unwanted content, without installing any client-side software”. You install it on a Linux machine of your own, or run it in a container; your network then uses it as its DNS server. Free, open source, supported by donations. [1] [2] [3]
- AdGuard Home
- “A network-wide software for blocking ads and tracking”, published by AdGuard. You run it on a machine of your own: official builds exist for Windows, Linux (Raspberry Pi included), Mac, FreeBSD and OpenBSD, plus Docker and Snap packages. Free and open source. [5] [6]
- NextDNS
- A DNS service run in NextDNS’s cloud: you point your devices, or your router, to its servers, and the filtering happens there, “on all devices and on all networks”. Free up to 300,000 queries a month; beyond that, it keeps answering like a DNS that doesn’t block. NextDNS Pro costs €1.99 a month or €19.90 a year. [8] [9]
- AdHole
- A DNS filter for this computer and the devices whose DNS you point to it, plus an HTTPS filter that looks inside web pages, in this computer’s browsers and in those of an Android phone with the app. One program, for Windows (64-bit) and Linux, and an Android app. Free, and proprietary: its source code is not published.
Side by side
The same questions, four answers.
Numbers in brackets point to the sources at the foot of the page. The rows where AdHole does less stay in.
| Question | Pi-hole | AdGuard Home | NextDNS | AdHole |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | A DNS filter you host yourself [1] | A DNS filter you host yourself [5] | A DNS filter hosted by NextDNS [8] | A DNS filter, plus an HTTPS filter for this computer’s browsers and an Android phone’s |
| Where it runs | Linux (Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Raspberry Pi OS, Alpine…), or in a container [2] [3] | Windows, Linux, Mac, FreeBSD, OpenBSD; Docker, Snap [6] | NextDNS’s servers; your devices or your router point to them [8] | Windows (64-bit); Linux with systemd, on a PC or a Raspberry Pi 4 or 5; Android 8.0 or newer for the phone app. Not on Mac. |
| What it needs | A Linux machine with a fixed address, 512 MB of RAM and at least 2 GB of disk [2] | A machine of your own, on one of the systems above [6] | An internet connection. Nothing to run at home [8] | This computer, and administrator rights to install. It must stay on for the devices pointed at it. |
| Account | None [3] | None [5] | Not to try it; an account saves your settings [8] | None |
| Price | Free; donations accepted [3] | Free [5] | Free up to 300,000 queries a month, then no blocking. Pro: €1.99 a month or €19.90 a year [9] | Free, every feature |
| What it blocks | Ad and tracking domains, for every device that uses it as its DNS, apps and smart TVs included [3] | Ad and tracking domains, for every device that uses it as its DNS [5] | Ads and trackers on websites and in apps, for every device set to use it [8] | Ad and tracking domains for this computer and the devices pointed at it; in this computer’s browsers and an Android phone’s, ad requests and ad slots inside pages too |
| YouTube video ads in the browser | No: it filters domain names only [1] | No, says its README [5] | No, says its help centre [10] | Yes, in this computer’s browsers and an Android phone’s. Not in TV, console or phone apps. |
| Filtering inside web pages (HTTPS) | No: DNS only, nothing to install on your devices [1] | No: DNS only [5] | No: DNS only [8] | Yes: on this computer, and in an Android phone’s browsers, through a root certificate created on the device |
| Source code | Open source (EUPL 1.2) [4] | Open source (GPL 3.0) [7] | Service: not published. Command-line client: open source (MIT) [11] | Not published: free, but proprietary |
Pi-hole, AdGuard Home, NextDNS: their publishers’ own websites and documentation, read on 2026-09-14. AdHole: the program itself, version 1.5.8.
What AdHole adds
Filtering inside pages, on this computer and on an Android phone.
- Ad requests are blocked inside web pages and the ad slots are hidden, in the browsers of the computer where AdHole is installed.
- YouTube videos start without ads in the browser, and usually without the waiting screen YouTube shows when it can’t play an ad.
- When a cookie banner offers to reject all, AdHole clicks it for you.
- If AdHole stops, this computer’s pages still open, unfiltered, and your router answers its DNS in its place. Devices pointed at it lose internet access until AdHole is back.
Limit
The page filter works on the computer where AdHole is installed, through a root certificate created there — and on an Android phone with the app, in its browsers, once you install the certificate it creates on the phone. Your TV and your console only get the DNS filter, as with the other three: YouTube ads stay in their apps, and so do the ads inside the phone’s own apps.
What they do that AdHole doesn’t
Where the others go further.
- Pi-hole and AdGuard Home are open source: anyone can read and check their code. AdHole’s code is not published. [4] [7]
- AdGuard Home runs on Mac, FreeBSD and OpenBSD, and in Docker or Snap. AdHole’s whole-home filter runs on Windows and Linux; its Android app filters the device it is installed on. [6]
- NextDNS needs nothing running at home and works on every network your devices join. AdHole only answers devices on your local network — its Android app, on the other hand, follows the phone anywhere — and the computer it runs on has to stay on. [8]
- None of the three installs a certificate on your devices: they filter DNS only. AdHole’s page filter needs one on every device where it cleans pages: on the computer, and on an Android phone, where you install it yourself and where uninstalling the app doesn’t remove it. On Linux, you can install the DNS filter alone; an update then adds the certificate. [1] [5] [8]
On a Raspberry Pi
AdHole runs on a Raspberry Pi too.
AdHole has a Linux archive for Raspberry Pi 4 and 5 and other 64-bit ARM boards. It needs a distribution with systemd, such as Raspberry Pi OS.
Devices pointed at the computer running AdHole lose internet access when it’s off or asleep: an always-on Raspberry Pi suits that role well.
On a Pi, the page filter only covers the Pi’s own browsers. Your other devices get the DNS filter, as they would from Pi-hole or AdGuard Home — except an Android phone with the app, which then cleans the pages of its own browsers.
Sources
Every fact, its source.
Read on 14 September 2026, on the publishers’ own websites and documentation. Products change: check the source before you decide.
- 1 Pi-hole documentation, home page docs.pi-hole.net/
- 2 Pi-hole documentation, Prerequisites docs.pi-hole.net/main/prerequisites/
- 3 Pi-hole website pi-hole.net/
- 4 Pi-hole repository, licence file github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/blob/master/LICENSE
- 5 AdGuard Home repository, README github.com/AdguardTeam/AdGuardHome
- 6 AdGuard Home knowledge base, Getting started adguard-dns.io/kb/adguard-home/getting-started/
- 7 AdGuard Home repository, licence file github.com/AdguardTeam/AdGuardHome/blob/master/LICENSE.txt
- 8 NextDNS website nextdns.io/
- 9 NextDNS pricing nextdns.io/pricing
- 10 NextDNS help centre, “Why can’t YouTube ads be blocked?” help.nextdns.io/t/g9hmvcq/why-cant-youtube-ads-be-blocked
- 11 NextDNS command-line tool, repository github.com/nextdns/nextdns
About this comparison
It compares objective, verifiable features only, as French consumer law requires (Consumer Code, art. L122-1 and following) and the EU directive on comparative advertising (2006/114/EC). Pi-hole, AdGuard Home and NextDNS are trademarks of their owners, cited to identify their products. AdHole is not affiliated with them; it does use open-source libraries and public filter lists published by AdGuard, listed in its third-party licences. A fact here has changed? Write to contact@antoinemoury.fr.