Both block ads. Both run on your home network. Both are free. So why does the adguard home vs pi-hole question still come up in every homelab forum, every week, without a definitive answer? Because they’re genuinely different tools that happen to solve the same surface-level problem — and which one is right for you depends almost entirely on what you want from a DNS-level blocker.
I’ve run both. Pi-hole for two years, then AdGuard Home for eight months, and I can tell you exactly what I noticed switching between them. This isn’t a spec sheet comparison — it’s what the difference actually feels like to use day to day, and when each one makes more sense.
| Feature | Pi-hole | AdGuard Home |
|---|---|---|
| Install | v6 rewrote internals, embedded web server | Single binary, running in ~3 minutes |
| Encrypted DNS (DoH/DoT/DoQ) | Needs separate setup | Native, built into the UI |
| Per-device filtering | Functional but inelegant (custom groups) | Three clicks |
| Service blocking (YouTube, TikTok, etc.) | Not built-in | Built-in toggle |
| Community & ecosystem | Massive, broadest blocklist ecosystem | Smaller, fewer third-party integrations |
AdGuard Home vs Pi-hole: The Fundamental Difference
The adguard home vs pi-hole comparison starts at the architecture level. Pi-hole is a DNS sinkhole — it intercepts DNS queries and blocks the ones matching your blocklists. AdGuard Home does the same thing, but it’s also a full DNS server with encrypted DNS support (DoH, DoT, DoQ) baked in natively, per-device filtering built into the UI, and a service-blocking feature that lets you toggle off entire platforms (TikTok, Discord, YouTube) with a single switch.
Pi-hole is older, has a massive community, and integrates with everything. AdGuard Home is newer, more modern in its architecture, and does more out of the box. Neither is objectively better — they’re optimized for different homelab philosophies.
Pi-hole: The Community Standard
If you’ve run Pi-hole before, you know the appeal. It’s been the default homelab DNS blocker for years, which means the community around it is enormous. There are blocklists for everything, integrations with every router firmware, Docker images that have been battle-tested by thousands of people, and a forum where almost every problem you’ll encounter has already been solved by someone else.
Pi-hole v6 (released in 2025) completely rewrote the internals — removed the old PHP/lighttpd dependencies, embedded a new web server directly into the FTL binary, and added a native REST API. It’s significantly lighter and easier to maintain than earlier versions. The web UI is functional, though it feels dated compared to AdGuard’s interface.
Where Pi-hole shines: blocklist management, custom DNS rules, and the depth of community support. If something breaks, someone has already fixed it. If you want a specific integration, there’s probably a script for it.
AdGuard Home: The Modern Challenger
The adguard home vs pi-hole gap is most obvious at install time. AdGuard Home ships as a single binary — no web server to configure separately, no PHP dependencies, just download, run, and it’s working in about three minutes. Native DoH, DoT, and DoQ support means you can set encrypted upstream DNS resolvers directly in the UI without touching a config file. That’s a meaningful quality-of-life difference if you care about DNS privacy.
The killer feature is per-client filtering. You can set different blocklists for different devices — your kids’ iPad gets a strict content filter while your work laptop gets minimal blocking. In Pi-hole, this requires custom group management that’s functional but inelegant. In AdGuard Home, it’s three clicks.
The service blocker is also genuinely useful: toggle a switch to block all traffic to YouTube, TikTok, WhatsApp, or Discord at the DNS level — great for parental controls or for giving yourself a distraction-free work mode.
What to Run Them On
Both tools run happily on nearly anything — a Raspberry Pi, a spare laptop, a VM inside Proxmox, or a Docker Compose stack. For a dedicated DNS server with low power draw, the Beelink MINI S13 is overkill in the best way: it handles DNS blocking plus ten other services with capacity to spare. If you want a true dedicated single-purpose device, a Beelink MINI S12 at this task barely uses any of its capacity.
Both tools have official Docker images and run identically well in containers. If you’re already running Pi-hole in Docker, switching to AdGuard Home is just a different image name in your Compose file.
Beelink MINI S13
Overkill for DNS blocking on purpose — it stays half-idle with ten other services running beside it.
- Runs the blocker plus a stack of other services and still coasts
- Low enough draw to leave on around the clock
- Official Docker image, exactly as Pi-hole ships one
- Trade-off: more machine than a single-purpose DNS box needs — the MINI S12 covers that job on its own.
Current price and availability shown on Amazon.
Beelink MINI S12
Enough for a box that does one job, which is exactly what a DNS blocker is.
- Barely taxed by DNS blocking on its own
- The pick if you want one device doing one thing
- Either blocker drops straight in as a container
- Trade-off: little headroom left over if you later want ten other services on the same box.
Current price and availability shown on Amazon.
AdGuard Home vs Pi-hole: Which Should You Pick?
Here’s the adguard home vs pi-hole decision framework that saves you from second-guessing later:
Pick Pi-hole if: you want the broadest community support, you’re already deep in the homelab ecosystem and want integrations everywhere, or you’re comfortable doing some manual configuration for encrypted DNS.
Pick AdGuard Home if: you’re setting up DNS blocking for the first time, you want encrypted DNS out of the box, you need per-device filtering with minimal friction, or you want to use service blocking for parental controls or focus modes.
The Takeaway on AdGuard Home vs Pi-hole
In the adguard home vs pi-hole debate, there’s no wrong choice — both block ads effectively and both are free. Pi-hole wins on community depth and ecosystem breadth. AdGuard Home wins on out-of-the-box features and ease of setup for newcomers.
If you’re brand new to homelab DNS blocking: start with AdGuard Home. It’ll be running in five minutes and you’ll be impressed. If you’re already a Pi-hole user with a working setup: there’s no compelling reason to switch unless per-device filtering or native encrypted DNS is something you need. Either way, running network-wide DNS filtering is one of the highest-ROI things you can do with a home server — once it’s running, you won’t think about it again.
Which one are you running? Or thinking of switching? Drop it in the comments.
Whichever blocker you choose, bookmark the official Pi-hole documentation — it’s some of the best-written docs in self-hosting, and most of its network concepts apply to AdGuard Home setups too.
Frequently Asked Questions
AdGuard Home vs Pi-hole: which is easier to set up?
AdGuard Home. It ships as a single binary with no separate web server or PHP dependencies, so it’s running in about three minutes. Pi-hole is quicker than it used to be since the v6 rewrite, but AdGuard Home still has the edge for a first-time setup.
Which one supports encrypted DNS out of the box?
AdGuard Home. Native DoH, DoT, and DoQ support means you can set encrypted upstream DNS resolvers directly in the UI. Pi-hole can do encrypted DNS too, but it requires a separate configuration step.
Can I filter different devices differently?
Yes with both, but AdGuard Home makes it far easier — per-device filtering takes about three clicks. Pi-hole supports this through custom group management, which works but is noticeably clunkier.
Which one has the bigger community?
Pi-hole, by a wide margin. It’s been the default homelab DNS blocker for years, so it has the broadest blocklist ecosystem, the most router integrations, and a forum where nearly every problem has already been solved.
Can I switch from Pi-hole to AdGuard Home easily?
Yes, especially if you’re already running Pi-hole in Docker. Both tools have official Docker images, so switching is just a different image name in your Compose file.