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.

What it is

AdGuard Home is a network-wide DNS server that re-routes tracking domains to a "black hole," preventing devices from ever connecting to those servers. Once it is set up, it covers all home devices, and no client-side software is required on any of them. It is based on the software used for the public AdGuard DNS servers, and the two share a lot of code. The registry records the project under the Infrastructure & Operations / Networking & Connectivity category, licensed GPL-3.0, with its language listed as TypeScript and golang appearing among its topics.

The concrete problem it solves is per-device ad blocking. Instead of installing an extension in every browser and an app on every phone and tablet, the filtering happens at the DNS layer, so every device on the network is covered the moment it points at the server. The README frames the alternative explicitly: running a personal instance is a different level from a public DNS server, because the operator chooses exactly what the server blocks and permits, monitors network activity, and adds custom filtering rules. The README states the point directly: it is your own server, and you are the only one in control.

Key capabilities

• DNS sinkholing of ad and tracking domains, the same method described in the README's comparison with Pi-Hole.
• Encrypted DNS transports drawn from the topic list: dns-over-https, dns-over-quic, dns-over-tls, and dnscrypt.
• Custom filtering rules, letting the operator choose what the server blocks and permits.
• Network activity monitoring for the traffic passing through the resolver.
• A REST API, with the specification held in the repository's openapi/ directory for integrations.
• A Python client published as adguardhome on PyPI, which can be used to build the AdGuard Home Assistant integration.
• An automated installer at scripts/install.sh, runnable through curl, wget, or fetch, with the flags -c (channel), -r (reinstall), -u (uninstall), and -v (verbose); -r and -u are mutually exclusive.

Who uses it and how

• Households that want every device covered at once, since no client-side software is needed after setup.
• Self-hosters who want their own resolver rather than a public DNS service, because control over blocks, permits, and monitoring stays local.
• Home Assistant users, through the integration built on the Python client.
• Operators integrating programmatically, using the REST API described in the openapi/ directory.
• Linux users who prefer a packaged install from the Snap Store, and Docker users who run the official adguard/adguardhome image.

Getting started

The documented automated install runs curl -s -S -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AdguardTeam/AdGuardHome/master/scripts/install.sh | sh -s -- -v, with wget and fetch variants given as alternatives. Other supported routes are the official adguard/adguardhome Docker image, the Snap Store, or manual installation following the Getting Started article on the project Wiki.

How it compares

Pi-Hole is the closest named alternative: the README says the two share a lot at this point, both using DNS sinkholing to block ads and trackers and both allowing customization of what is filtered. Against the public AdGuard DNS servers, a self-hosted instance is a different proposition entirely, because the operator picks the block and allow sets, monitors activity, writes custom rules, and holds sole control of the server.

When to use it — and when not to

A self-hoster must operate their own resolver on an always-on host and point the network's devices at it, which is the real cost of the approach. Anyone unwilling to run that host, or to redirect DNS for a whole network, should not pick it. The README excerpt's Pi-Hole comparison trails off mid-sentence, the tracker carries 1253 open issues, and the registry's TypeScript language field sits oddly beside the golang topic, so those are worth verifying before adoption.

curl -s -S -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AdguardTeam/AdGuardHome/master/scripts/install.sh | sh -s -- -v

wget --no-verbose -O - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AdguardTeam/AdGuardHome/master/scripts/install.sh | sh -s -- -v

fetch -o - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AdguardTeam/AdGuardHome/master/scripts/install.sh | sh -s -- -v