head to head · open source
AdGuardHome vs bind9
AdGuardHome has 37,226 GitHub stars, 2,534 forks, 1,253 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. bind9 has 779 stars, 186 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped today. AdGuardHome leads on adoption by 4,679% (37,226 vs 779 stars). AdGuardHome is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0; bind9 is written in C under MPL-2.0. AdGuardHome has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, bind9 24%. bind9 was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (dns), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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 | bind9 | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 779 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C |
| Last push | 2026-10-02 | 2026-10-05 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 186 |
| 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 bind9 if
- You want the bind9 feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and bind9 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 bind9
BIND 9 is a complete, highly portable open source implementation of the Domain Name System protocol, written in C, for operators and organisations that need to run authoritative, recursive, or forwarding DNS infrastructure themselves.
read the full bind9 overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AdGuardHome or bind9 more popular?
AdGuardHome has 37,226 GitHub stars and bind9 has 779. AdGuardHome has the larger community by that measure.
Are AdGuardHome and bind9 free?
Both are open source. AdGuardHome is licensed under GPL-3.0 and bind9 under MPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AdGuardHome and bind9?
AdGuardHome is written in TypeScript and bind9 in C. 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 bind9?
Choose AdGuardHome if you want the larger community (37,226 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose bind9 if its feature set, stack or MPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.