AdGuard Home and Pi-hole do the same job: they run on your network as a DNS server and block ads and trackers for every device that uses them, with no browser extensions required. I’ve run both on my own network, and this comparison comes from using them, not from reading spec sheets.
If you just want the answer: I’d go with Pi-hole for most people, and that hasn’t changed since I first wrote this comparison. But both tools have changed a lot. Pi-hole v6 rewrote the entire application in early 2025, and a change on Cloudflare’s side in 2026 made encrypted DNS on Pi-hole harder to set up, which strengthens AdGuard Home’s biggest advantage. This article covers the current state of both.
Deployment is identical either way: run one of them on a device that’s always on, then point your router’s DNS at it. Every device that gets its settings through DHCP will automatically start using it.
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What is a DNS Sinkhole?
In the simplest terms, a DNS sinkhole is a method used to reroute or drop traffic on a network based on the domain being requested. Whether you use AdGuard Home or Pi-hole, both are designed to answer DNS queries and refuse to resolve the domains on your blocklists.
There are two main reasons to run one. The first is security: if a known-malicious domain is on a blocklist, any device on your network that tries to reach it gets nothing back. The second is ad blocking, and it’s the reason most people are here. Because the blocking happens at the DNS level, it works for every device on the network, including phones, TVs, and other devices where you can’t install an ad blocker.
What Changed in 2025 and 2026
This comparison has been around for a while, so it is worth being clear about what’s current. Three things have changed since the early versions of this article:
Pi-hole v6 shipped in February 2025, and it was the largest release in the project’s history. The old lighttpd web server and PHP are gone, replaced by a web server and REST API built directly into Pi-hole itself. Configuration now lives in a single file, the interface got an overhaul with Basic and Expert modes, and the admin page finally supports HTTPS natively. Development is active, with new releases as recently as July 2026.
AdGuard Home kept maturing its per-client controls. You can give every device on your network its own rules: parental controls on the kids’ devices, a different upstream DNS server for one machine, or blocking specific services like TikTok on a single phone while leaving the rest of the network alone.
The easy Pi-hole encrypted DNS setup died. For years, the standard way to get DNS-over-HTTPS on Pi-hole was Cloudflare’s cloudflared tool. Cloudflare deprecated that feature in late 2025 and removed it from new releases in February 2026, so the setup most older guides describe no longer works going forward. I’ll cover what that means below.
Device Compatibility with AdGuard Home and Pi-hole
AdGuard / AdGuard Home
While you can set up AdGuard Home and Pi-hole as network-wide ad blockers (and that’s the way to do it, since it covers all devices), AdGuard is unique in that it also sells apps for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS (called AdGuard) that block ads on a single device.
This is an important point because AdGuard is not the same product as AdGuard Home. If you only want to block ads in one browser or on one device, there are plenty of products for that. AdGuard Home is the one we’re comparing here: a self-hosted DNS server for your whole network.
Various devices can run AdGuard Home, with some of my favorites being a Synology NAS, Raspberry Pi, or OpenMediaVault.
Pi-hole
Pi-hole does not offer standalone apps. If you’re interested in using Pi-hole, you install it on one of the supported operating systems, and that is the product.
The easiest way to install Pi-hole is with Docker, and support there is broad: a Synology NAS, OpenMediaVault, or really any device that runs Docker. If you’d rather skip Docker, it installs directly on Proxmox or a Raspberry Pi.
If you don’t already own a device that can run one of them 24/7, I cover what I’d buy in the hardware section near the end of this article.
Differences Between AdGuard Home and Pi-hole Ad Blockers
The main difference between AdGuard Home and Pi-hole is how they handle privacy features. AdGuard Home has native support for encrypted DNS (DNS-over-HTTPS, DNS-over-TLS, and DNS-over-QUIC) and per-device parental controls, while Pi-hole needs extra tools for encrypted DNS but has a larger community and, in my opinion, a more logical interface.
Before getting into the details, one thing worth stating: the setup process for these two is very similar, and one is not easier than the other. Both are a one-time setup. Here’s a quick chart of the key differences as of 2026, with the in-depth comparisons below.
| Feature | AdGuard Home | Pi-hole |
|---|---|---|
| Platform Support | Windows, macOS, Linux, Raspberry Pi, Docker | Linux, Raspberry Pi, Docker |
| Encrypted DNS (DoH/DoT/DoQ) | Built-in support | Requires unbound or dnscrypt-proxy (the old cloudflared method was retired in 2026) |
| Per-Device Rules | Built-in: parental controls, service blocking, custom upstreams per client | Group-based filtering; more manual, no parental control features |
| Local DNS Records | Handled through custom filtering rules | Dedicated Local DNS section, much cleaner |
| Web Interface | Modern, navigation takes getting used to | Overhauled in v6 with Basic and Expert modes, native HTTPS |
| Updates | Update button in the web interface | One command, or pull the new Docker image |
| Performance | Comparable | Comparable |
| Community Support | Growing community | Larger, well-established community |
Default Ad-Blocking: AdGuard Home vs. Pi-hole
When you configure AdGuard Home or Pi-hole, default blocking lists are used, and the out-of-the-box experience is extremely similar. In my testing, both block roughly the same number of ads with their default lists, and both miss a lot with their default lists. Customizing the blocklists is where the real blocking power comes from on either platform.
In AdGuard Home, you can customize this by selecting Filters, then DNS blocklists. From here, you can add or remove blocklists.
In Pi-hole, select Lists (this section was called Adlists before v6), then add or remove blocklists. Pi-hole v6 also added support for subscribed allowlists, so you can pull in a maintained list of domains that should never be blocked, which is handy for fixing common false positives.
Add the same lists to both and the overall blocking ability is practically indistinguishable. This category is a tie, and it shouldn’t be the thing that decides for you.
Local DNS Server for AdGuard Home or Pi-hole
Both can act as your local DNS server, but Pi-hole’s implementation is significantly cleaner. Pi-hole actually looks like it manages DNS, while AdGuard Home handles it through custom filtering rules.
That doesn’t make Pi-hole better at resolving names, it’s just more logical, and I’d bet a lot of AdGuard Home users do not realize local DNS is possible because of how it’s implemented.
To create DNS records in AdGuard Home, select Filters, then Custom Filtering Rules, then add the local IP address with the hostname directly next to it. You can do this for as many devices as you’d like.
In Pi-hole, select Local DNS, then add the hostname and IP address. At the bottom, you’ll see all of the active local DNS entries.
Speed & Performance: AdGuard Home vs. Pi-hole
There are two areas to compare here: the load on the server running the application, and the speed of DNS resolution for your devices. DNS speed matters for browsing because the faster a query is answered, the sooner the page starts loading.
Server Performance: practically the same. Pi-hole used slightly more memory in my testing (roughly 30MB more than AdGuard Home with a basic configuration), and v6 slimmed Pi-hole down further by dropping the separate web server and PHP. Either way, the difference will not be noticeable on any device you’d realistically use.
Website DNS Speeds: there wasn’t a noticeable or even measurable difference between the two in my testing, which makes sense once you look at what they’re actually doing. Your upstream DNS server and your location matter far more than which of these tools sits in the middle.
You can set up Unbound as a recursive resolver with either one, which cuts out third-party upstream DNS entirely and generally gives the best performance once its cache warms up.
DNS-over-TLS, DNS-over-HTTPS, DNS-over-QUIC (Encrypted DNS)
This is the biggest functional difference between the two, and it got bigger in 2026.
AdGuard Home can use DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH), DNS-over-TLS (DoT), or DNS-over-QUIC (DoQ) right out of the box. Select Settings, then Encryption Settings, and while there are additional steps to complete, the entire feature is native. Nothing extra to install, nothing extra to maintain.
Pi-hole still has no native support for encrypted upstream DNS, and the situation got worse recently. The standard workaround for years was Cloudflare’s cloudflared tool, and that’s the setup most older tutorials (including the official docs for a long time) walk you through. Cloudflare deprecated that feature in late 2025 and removed it from new releases in February 2026, so it’s a dead end for new setups.
The current options for Pi-hole are running Unbound alongside Pi-hole (either as a full recursive resolver, or forwarding over TLS) or using dnscrypt-proxy. Both work well, but both are a second service you have to set up and maintain.
The takeaway is simple: if encrypted DNS matters to you and you want it without running extra containers or services, AdGuard Home wins this category outright.
Per-Device Rules and Parental Controls
AdGuard Home’s other standout feature is per-client configuration. Every device on your network can get its own rules: parental controls and safe search on the kids’ devices, specific services like TikTok or Twitch blocked on one phone, or a different upstream DNS server for a single machine. It’s all built into the interface.
Pi-hole can do per-device filtering through its groups feature, where you assign clients to groups and give each group different blocklists. It works, and it is useful, but it’s more manual, and there’s no equivalent of the one-click parental control or service blocking that AdGuard Home offers. If managing kids’ devices is a main reason you’re setting this up, that’s a real point for AdGuard Home.
User Interface: AdGuard Home vs. Pi-hole
Both interfaces are reasonably easy to work with, but I find Pi-hole’s to be more logical.
AdGuard Home is navigated from a top menu bar, and my issue is navigational: some of the headings are confusing, and I regularly click through a few sections before finding what I’m looking for (the local DNS placement under custom filtering rules is a perfect example).
Pi-hole keeps everything in a left-side menu, and the v6 overhaul made it better without changing that basic layout. Settings pages now have a Basic and an Expert mode, so the everyday options aren’t buried in a wall of toggles, and the admin interface finally supports HTTPS natively.
I admit this is extremely subjective, and others may find AdGuard Home more logical. It won’t be the deciding factor for most people, but you’ll be in this interface every time something needs a whitelist entry, so it isn’t nothing either.
Support – AdGuard Home vs. Pi-hole
Plan for the inevitable: at some point you’ll hit an issue and go searching for answers. One of the things I like to look at with any two products is their overall search volume, because it’s a decent proxy for how easy it will be to find someone who already solved your problem.
Comparing AdGuard Home vs. Pi-hole, it isn’t even close. Pi-hole is significantly more popular, and that’s been consistent for years. Between the official forums, Reddit, and a decade of tutorials, almost any Pi-hole problem you hit has been hit and documented by someone else first.
What Should You Run It On?
Either tool is light enough to run on almost anything, so the first choice is free: if you already have a NAS or a home server, install it there with the guides linked earlier and you’re done.
If you don’t have an always-on device, you have two good options. The classic route is a Raspberry Pi, which sips power and runs either tool without breaking a sweat. It’s how millions of people run Pi-hole, and it’s still a fine choice.
The route I’d take today is a small mini PC like the Beelink EQ14. It costs about the same as a Pi kit once you add a case, power supply, and storage, and in my testing it pulled around 10W while running three virtual machines, so a DNS server barely registers. The difference is headroom: a box like that will happily run your ad blocker plus Home Assistant, a Docker stack, and whatever else you pick up next, and with two network ports it can do all of that while keeping DNS on its own NIC. I compared my favorites in my mini PC guide if you want options.
Pi-hole vs. AdGuard Home Verdict: Go with Pi-hole
The two applications are extremely similar and both do the core job well, but Pi-hole is still the better choice for most people in 2026. It’s extremely easy to work with, the v6 rewrite made it leaner and nicer to use without breaking what worked, and the community around it is so large that support is never far away. The interface is also laid out more logically (just look at the local DNS section).
The exception is if you want encrypted DNS or per-device parental controls. AdGuard Home handles DNS-over-HTTPS, DNS-over-TLS, and DNS-over-QUIC natively, while Pi-hole now requires a second service for that since the old cloudflared method was retired. And AdGuard Home’s per-client controls have no real Pi-hole equivalent. If either of those is a priority for you, flip my verdict: AdGuard Home is your pick, and it’s a good one.
Both also share more than they differ: DHCP server functionality, Home Assistant integrations, and active development. Whichever you choose, put it on hardware that’s always on, add a few good blocklists, and it’ll quietly do its job for years. We have tutorials for installing both on most devices if you need them.
