head to head · open source
AdGuardHome vs gdnsd
AdGuardHome has 37,346 GitHub stars, 2,539 forks, 1,253 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. gdnsd has 560 stars, 70 forks, 14 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. AdGuardHome leads on adoption by 6,569% (37,346 vs 560 stars). AdGuardHome is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0; gdnsd is written in C under GPL-3.0. AdGuardHome has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, gdnsd 13%. AdGuardHome 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 | gdnsd | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 560 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C |
| Last push | 2026-10-08 | 2026-05-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 70 |
| 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 gdnsd if
- You want the gdnsd feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and gdnsd 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 gdnsd
gdnsd is an authoritative only DNS server written in C, intended for operators who need high performance name service with geographic balancing and failover rather than caching or recursion.
read the full gdnsd overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AdGuardHome or gdnsd more popular?
AdGuardHome has 37,346 GitHub stars and gdnsd has 560. AdGuardHome has the larger community by that measure.
Are AdGuardHome and gdnsd free?
Both are open source. AdGuardHome is licensed under GPL-3.0 and gdnsd under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AdGuardHome and gdnsd?
AdGuardHome is written in TypeScript and gdnsd 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 gdnsd?
Choose AdGuardHome if you want the larger community (37,346 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose gdnsd if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.