I have been using the Pi-hole on my home network for years now. It is a network-wide ad and tracker blocker — if you have multiple devices on your home network, this open-source project simply adds the much needed protection from trackers that are embedded specially on mobile applications.
One thing about Pi-Hole is that you need to be familiar with Linux and have a spare server that you can leave on 24x7. For those who do not have the time to spare to learn Linux, there are similar services that you can subscribe to that do not require maintaining your own Linux server. I have written about NextDNS.iobefore, but there is a new player in town, ControlD, from the company that brought us Windscribe VPN.
Free Public DNS
NextDNS.io requires that you create an account before you can use its free public DNS services. The free-tier of NextDNS allows you to have a cumulative total of 300,000 DNS queries/month, which is more than enough for a few devices. When you exceed the free-tier quota, the DNS service will still function, but without the ad and tracker blocking.
ControlD has public DNS services as well. You can choose from the free, unfiltered DNS service provided by 76.76.2.0, one with malware blocking at 72.72.2.1, another with malware and ad blocking at 72.72.2.2, and finally, the malware + ad + social blocking at 72.72.2.3.
Both NextDNS.io and ControlD provide DNS over TLS and DNS over HTTPS, just in case you need them.
Block Lists
NextDNS.io uses a database of domains to block that is created from different user-maintained, public repositories. Users can mix and match different sources.
Similarly, ControlD uses a database of domains as well. However, unlike NextDNS.io, ControlD maintains, curates and controls the database, i.e., you cannot mix and match from different sources.
User Customization
There are domains that are not present on either of the public repositories used by NextDNS.io, nor the ControlD database, e.g., some country-specific trackers like weconnect.globe.com.ph. Both ControlD and NextDNS.io allow users to customize their allow-list and deny-list.
Logs
Logging of queries from your network can be turned on and off. On ControlD, you can turn it on but it will automatically turn off after two (2) hours. On NextDNS.io, if you turn on logging, you can define the retention from an hour up to two (2) years, which is not recommended.
Turn on logging only when you are troubleshooting access. Sometimes when a website is behaving weirdly or a mobile application is not functioning as it should be — there maybe domains that are blocked that you need to unblock. There are times when you suspect websites to contain trackers, you will only know when you look at the log.
Other features
NextDNS.io provides a whole plethora of other features that you can configure. NextDNS.io has an analytics dashboard, similar to Pi-Hole, that shows you an overview of the performance of the service, such as Top Blocked Domains, Top Resolved Domains, Number of Queries, Number of Queries Blocked, etc.
ControlD, OTOH, has an added paid service that masks your connection to make it appear that you are from on another country. Turn it on and all your connections will appear like you are connecting from another country. Pretty neat, huh?
Configuration
Both ControlD and NextDNS.io will provide you with the IP address of the DNS servers assigned to you. Use this on your broadband router’s DHCP server so all devices will be assigned this IP as their DNS server.
There is a caveat, though, NextDNS.io requires users to link their IP (can be done manually or automatically) before you can use the DNS servers. ControlD will assign a user-specific IP address, so no need to link.
Pricing
NextDNS.io has different pricing tiers, but for home networks, it costs USD20/year, for unlimited queries, unlimited devices, and unlimited configurations.
ControlD has two price tier. The basic plan is USD20/year. Adding the global proxy service will cost another USD20/year, giving you a total of USD40/year.
Which one to choose
At the USD20/year price point, you can’t go wrong with either ControlD or NextDNS.io. It is more of a personal choice — if you want to select your block lists repositories that NextDNS.io provides, or you want ControlD to curate the block list for you.
For USD0.05 (less than P2.50) a day to protect all your devices from ads and trackers is not a bad investment. So what are you waiting for? Try them both and decide which one is for you.