Top pick · highest health
blocky
Fast and lightweight DNS proxy as ad-blocker for local network with many features (alternative to Pi-hole).
DockerGo
DNS
Open source alternatives to Pi-hole
Pi-hole blocks ads and trackers for every device on your network by answering its DNS queries. Pi-hole is itself open source, so an alternative is a matter of footprint and features rather than freedom. We list two. blocky is a DNS proxy and ad-blocker written in Go under Apache-2.0; it caches and prefetches frequent queries and can use several upstream resolvers, so it suits a network where a fast, configurable resolver matters more than a dashboard. Numa is a single Rust binary under MIT that adds recursive resolution with DNSSEC validation, encrypted DNS over HTTPS, TLS and Oblivious DoH, and local names for your own services, so it suits anyone who wants private DNS as well as ad-blocking. Both ship Docker images. The trade-off against Pi-hole is its following: with over 60,000 GitHub stars it has far more users than either, and so more guides and community help when something breaks.
updated Oct 2026 2 alternatives best health 95 ★ 9k combined 215 commits / 90d 2 with Docker
Top picks to replace Pi-hole
Showing 2 of 2 tools
All 2 Pi-hole alternatives, ranked by health
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Numa
Ad-blocking DNS resolver with DNSSEC-validating recursive resolution, DoH/DoT/Oblivious DoH, ephemeral overrides, and local service domains, in a single Rust binary (alternative to Pi-hole, AdGuard Home, NextDNS).
DockerRustNix
Pi-hole alternatives compared
We track 2 open-source Pi-hole alternatives, of which 2 currently score 70 or above on Repoly's GitHub health scale and 2 ship a Docker image. blocky leads on health at 95/100 with 92 commits in the last 90 days; across all 2 projects you are choosing between Apache-2.0, MIT.
blocky edges Numa 95 to 93, and most of the difference is stars: 7.1k stars against 2k stars. Numa is the busier codebase, though, with 123 commits in 90 days to 92.
The most recent release is Numa v0.25.0, published 7 days ago. None of the measured options scores under 40. By stack, Go (1), Nix (1) and Rust (1) are the most common. blocky and Numa are permissively licensed.
| Tool | Health | Stars | Last commit | Licence | Self-hosting | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| blocky Steady at 95 since 11 Sep | 95 | 7.1k | 2 days ago | Apache-2.0 | Docker image | Long-term use: health 95/100 |
| Numa Steady at 93 since 11 Sep | 93 | 2k | yesterday | MIT | Docker image | Community size: 2k stars |
How to choose a Pi-hole alternative
- Want the project most likely to keep shipping? Start with blocky: health 95/100 and 92 commits in the last 90 days.
- Building it into a commercial product? blocky is Apache-2.0, a permissive licence, so changes you ship stay yours.
- Want the quickest install? Every measured option ships a Docker image, so a single compose file is the whole deployment.
- Planning to patch or extend it? Match your stack: Go (blocky), Nix (Numa), Rust (Numa).
- The score measures maintenance, not features: shortlist two and try them with your own data before you migrate.
Pi-hole alternatives: common questions
Is there an open source Pi-hole alternative on GitHub?
Yes. 2 of the 2 Pi-hole alternatives we track are on GitHub, led by blocky (github.com/0xERR0R/blocky, health 95/100, 7.1k stars) and Numa (github.com/razvandimescu/numa, health 93/100). Each tool page links its repository and shows the health score we recompute from it every night.
What is the most maintained open source alternative to Pi-hole?
blocky scores highest at 95/100, with 92 commits in the last 90 days, 7.1k stars on GitHub and its latest release (v0.35.0) published 2 months ago. Numa has the most raw commit activity at 123 commits in 90 days.
Which Pi-hole alternatives run in Docker?
2 of 2 publish a Docker image or Compose file: blocky, Numa. Docker support contributes 10 of the 100 available health points, because it is the clearest signal that self-hosting is a supported path rather than an afterthought.
Is blocky or Numa the better Pi-hole alternative?
On measured health blocky leads, 95 to 93. blocky has 92 commits in 90 days, 7.1k stars and v0.35.0 from 2 months ago; Numa has 123 commits in 90 days, 2k stars and v0.25.0 from 7 days ago. blocky is ahead or level on every term Repoly measures.
Which Pi-hole alternatives use a permissive licence?
2 of 2 are permissively licensed (MIT, Apache, BSD or similar): blocky (Apache-2.0), Numa (MIT). 0 use copyleft licences such as GPL or AGPL, which require you to publish changes if you distribute a modified version.
