head to head · open source
AdGuardHome vs acme-dns
AdGuardHome has 38,266 GitHub stars, 2,604 forks, 1,253 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. acme-dns has 2,874 stars, 307 forks, 192 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. AdGuardHome leads on adoption by 1,231% (38,266 vs 2,874 stars). AdGuardHome is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0; acme-dns is written in Go under MIT. AdGuardHome has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, acme-dns 11%. AdGuardHome was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| AdGuardHome | acme-dns | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 2.9K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-05 | 2026-06-08 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.6K | ⑂ 307 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick AdGuardHome if
- You weight community size — 38K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick acme-dns if
- You want the acme-dns feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and acme-dns fits your workflow better
About AdGuardHome
Privacy protection center for you and your devices Free and open source, powerful network wide ads & trackers blocking DNS server. AdGuard.com Wiki Reddit Twitter Telegram AdGuard Home is a network wide software for blocking ads and tracking. After you set it up, it'll cover ALL your home devices, and you don't need any client side software for that. It operates as a DNS server that re routes tracking domains to a “black hole”, thus preventing your devices from connecting to those servers. It's based on software we use for our public [AdGuard DNS] servers, and both share a lot of code. [AdGuard DNS]: Getting…
read the full AdGuardHome overview →
About acme-dns
acme dns A simplified DNS server with a RESTful HTTP API to provide a simple way to automate ACME DNS challenges. Why? Many DNS servers do not provide an API to enable automation for the ACME DNS challenges. Those which do, give the keys way too much power. Leaving the keys laying around your random boxes is too often a requirement to have a meaningful process automation. Acme dns provides a simple API exclusively for TXT record updates and should be used with ACME magic "\ acme challenge" subdomain CNAME records. This way, in the unfortunate exposure of API keys, the effects are limited to the subdomain TXT…
read the full acme-dns overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AdGuardHome or acme-dns more popular?
AdGuardHome has 38,266 GitHub stars and acme-dns has 2,874. AdGuardHome has the larger community by that measure.
Are AdGuardHome and acme-dns free?
Both are open source. AdGuardHome is licensed under GPL-3.0 and acme-dns under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AdGuardHome and acme-dns?
AdGuardHome is written in TypeScript and acme-dns in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, AdGuardHome or acme-dns?
Choose AdGuardHome if you want the larger community (38,266 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose acme-dns if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.