head to head · open source
AdGuardHome vs acme-dns
AdGuardHome has 37,060 GitHub stars, 2,523 forks, 1,253 open issues and last shipped yesterday. acme-dns has 2,832 stars, 304 forks, 192 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. AdGuardHome leads on adoption by 1,209% (37,060 vs 2,832 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 | ★ 37K | ★ 2.8K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-24 | 2026-06-08 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 304 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick AdGuardHome if
- You weight community size — 37K 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
AdGuard Home is a free and open source, network wide DNS server that blocks ads and trackers for every device on a network, aimed at self hosters, homelab operators, and network administrators who want filtering without installing client side software on each device.
read the full AdGuardHome overview →
About acme-dns
acme dns is a limited, self hosted DNS server written in Go that exposes a RESTful HTTP API for updating TXT records, letting operators automate ACME DNS 01 challenges without handing broad DNS control to their automation.
read the full acme-dns overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AdGuardHome or acme-dns more popular?
AdGuardHome has 37,060 GitHub stars and acme-dns has 2,832. 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 (37,060 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.