head to head · open source
AdGuardHome vs pivpn
AdGuardHome has 38,121 GitHub stars, 2,594 forks, 1,253 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. pivpn has 8,063 stars, 683 forks, 14 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. AdGuardHome leads on adoption by 373% (38,121 vs 8,063 stars). AdGuardHome is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0; pivpn is written in Shell under MIT. AdGuardHome has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, pivpn 8%. 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 | pivpn | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 8.1K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-08-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.6K | ⑂ 683 |
| 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 pivpn if
- You want the pivpn feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and pivpn 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 pivpn
[!WARNING] PiVPN is maintained on a best effort basis, please read more about it here. Previous announcement is here. PIVPN.IO DOCUMENTATION PiVPN is a set of shell scripts developed to easily turn your Raspberry Pi (TM) into a VPN server using two free, open source protocols: WireGuard OpenVPN This script's primary mission in life is to allow a user to have as cost effective as possible VPN at home without being a technical wizard, hence the design of PiVPN to work on a Raspberry Pi ($35) with a one command installer followed by easy management of the VPN with the 'pivpn' command. That being said... PiVPN…
read the full pivpn overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AdGuardHome or pivpn more popular?
AdGuardHome has 38,121 GitHub stars and pivpn has 8,063. AdGuardHome has the larger community by that measure.
Are AdGuardHome and pivpn free?
Both are open source. AdGuardHome is licensed under GPL-3.0 and pivpn under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AdGuardHome and pivpn?
AdGuardHome is written in TypeScript and pivpn in Shell. 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 pivpn?
Choose AdGuardHome if you want the larger community (38,121 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose pivpn if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.