head to head · open source
AdGuardHome vs pdns
AdGuardHome has 38,218 GitHub stars, 2,601 forks, 1,253 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. pdns has 4,514 stars, 1,036 forks, 932 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. AdGuardHome leads on adoption by 747% (38,218 vs 4,514 stars). AdGuardHome is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0; pdns is written in C++ under GPL-2.0. AdGuardHome has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, pdns 23%. pdns 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| AdGuardHome | pdns | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 4.5K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-05 | 2026-11-05 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.6K | ⑂ 1.0K |
| 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 pdns if
- You want the pdns feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and pdns 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 pdns
PowerDNS is copyright © by PowerDNS.COM BV and lots of contributors, using the GNU GPLv2 license (see NOTICE for the exact license and exception used). All documentation can be found on This file may lag behind at times. For most recent updates, always check Another good place to look for information is: To file bugs, head towards: But please check if the issue is already reported there first. DOCKER This README is mirrored from GitHub to dockerhub. For information about our Docker images, please refer to SOURCE CODE / GIT Source code is available on GitHub: This repository contains the sources for the PowerDNS…
More in Infrastructure & Operations
Related comparisons
More Networking & Connectivity projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Networking & Connectivity field.
Frequently asked questions
Is AdGuardHome or pdns more popular?
AdGuardHome has 38,218 GitHub stars and pdns has 4,514. AdGuardHome has the larger community by that measure.
Are AdGuardHome and pdns free?
Both are open source. AdGuardHome is licensed under GPL-3.0 and pdns under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AdGuardHome and pdns?
AdGuardHome is written in TypeScript and pdns 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 pdns?
Choose AdGuardHome if you want the larger community (38,218 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose pdns if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.