head to head · open source
AdGuardHome vs meridian
AdGuardHome has 38,180 GitHub stars, 2,598 forks, 1,253 open issues and last shipped yesterday. meridian has 500 stars, 27 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped yesterday. AdGuardHome leads on adoption by 7,536% (38,180 vs 500 stars). AdGuardHome is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0; meridian is written in Python under MIT. AdGuardHome has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, meridian 5%. meridian 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 | meridian | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 500 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-05 | 2026-11-05 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.6K | ⑂ 27 |
| 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 meridian if
- You want the meridian feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and meridian 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 meridian
Meridian Deploy it right. Share it easily. One command turns a fresh VPS into a hardened self hosted VPN server, with a built in web panel and a connection page for each person. A VPN that connects can still give itself away: an open admin port, a self signed certificate, a container that skips the firewall. Meridian sets up every layer on a fresh Debian or Ubuntu VPS, tests the server with real traffic, and gives you two interfaces: a connection page for each person who connects and a web panel to manage people and servers from any browser. When an address gets blocked, add a relay, turn on domain mode, or move…
read the full meridian overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AdGuardHome or meridian more popular?
AdGuardHome has 38,180 GitHub stars and meridian has 500. AdGuardHome has the larger community by that measure.
Are AdGuardHome and meridian free?
Both are open source. AdGuardHome is licensed under GPL-3.0 and meridian under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AdGuardHome and meridian?
AdGuardHome is written in TypeScript and meridian in Python. 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 meridian?
Choose AdGuardHome if you want the larger community (38,180 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose meridian if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.