head to head · open source
AdGuardHome vs docktail
AdGuardHome has 37,549 GitHub stars, 2,552 forks, 1,253 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. docktail has 1,287 stars, 49 forks, 5 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. AdGuardHome leads on adoption by 2,818% (37,549 vs 1,287 stars). AdGuardHome is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0; docktail is written in Go under AGPL-3.0. AdGuardHome has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, docktail 4%. AdGuardHome was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (golang), 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 | docktail | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 1.3K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-10-16 | 2026-10-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.6K | ⑂ 49 |
| 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 docktail if
- You want the docktail feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and docktail 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 docktail
🍸 DockTail Unleash your containers as Tailscale Services. DockTail watches Docker containers, reads docktail. labels, and exposes matching containers as Tailscale Services. App containers do not need published Docker ports by default; DockTail proxies directly to their Docker network IPs. Why DockTail? DockTail uses native Tailscale Services, not per container Tailscale devices. ¹ Depends on proxy and Docker network setup. ² Depends on the sidecar template and app network setup. ³ You configure how the service host reaches the backend yourself. ⁴ ScaleTail is template based, so each app usually starts from its…
read the full docktail overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AdGuardHome or docktail more popular?
AdGuardHome has 37,549 GitHub stars and docktail has 1,287. AdGuardHome has the larger community by that measure.
Are AdGuardHome and docktail free?
Both are open source. AdGuardHome is licensed under GPL-3.0 and docktail under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AdGuardHome and docktail?
AdGuardHome is written in TypeScript and docktail in Go. 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 docktail?
Choose AdGuardHome if you want the larger community (37,549 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose docktail if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.