The Best DNS Filtering Services in 2026
We researched DNS filtering services from official websites, including pricing pages, plan tables and product documentation. Rankings focus on the category’s core job, value for money and verified features, including filtering coverage, per-device policies, logs and analytics for homes and businesses.
Our top picks
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Top ranked
AdGuard DNS#1 of 519.4/10Broad DNS protection with strong family controls, encrypted protocols, and wide device coverage.
Free plan · 30-day trial
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Runner-up
NextDNS#2 of 519.3/10A flexible DNS filtering service with unusually broad controls on its free plan.
Free plan
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Top-ranked free plan
Control D#3 of 519.2/10A flexible DNS platform with detailed policies, schedules, analytics, and router deployment.
Free plan · 14-day trial
Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.
The full ranking 51 tools, best first · page 1 of 2
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Best forBroad consumer and family DNS protection
Broad DNS protection with strong family controls, encrypted protocols, and wide device coverage.
- Custom blocklists
Free plan · 30-day trial Our AdGuard DNS verdict → Visit AdGuard DNSFor vendors Sponsor this spot · #1 · $149/mo →9.4/10★★★★★Visit AdGuard DNS -
Best forPrivacy-focused users needing advanced DNS controls
A flexible DNS filtering service with unusually broad controls on its free plan.
- Custom blocklists
9.3/10★★★★★Visit NextDNS -
Best forPower users wanting flexible DNS policies
A flexible DNS platform with detailed policies, schedules, analytics, and router deployment.
- Custom blocklists
Free plan · 14-day trial Our Control D verdict → Visit Control DFor vendors Sponsor this spot · #3 · $79/mo →9.2/10★★★★★Visit Control D -
Best forAffordable households and small teams
A capable free DNS filter for one device, with paid tiers planned for wider coverage.
- Per-device policies
- Ad blocking
- Activity logs
9.1/10★★★★★Visit QueryWarden -
Best forOrganizations needing DNS plus network filtering
A flexible DNS and network filtering service with HTTP inspection from $7 per user monthly.
- Custom blocklists
9.0/10★★★★☆Visit Cloudflare -
Best forFamilies wanting free profile-based filtering
A flexible DNS filter for families that need profiles, schedules, and privacy controls.
- Per-device policies
- Ad blocking
- Activity logs
8.9/10★★★★☆Visit DeCloudUs -
Best forOpen-source Android and self-hosted users
A free, open-source Android DNS filter with detailed controls and monitoring.
8.8/10★★★★☆Visit RethinkDNS -
Best forFamilies managing up to 25 devices
A flexible DNS filter with family-focused controls, encrypted DNS, schedules, and broad device coverage.
- Custom blocklists
8.7/10★★★★☆Visit CleanBrowsing -
Best forSchools and small networks on a budget
Affordable DNS filtering with roaming clients, policy controls, logs, and directory integrations.
8.6/10★★★★☆Visit ScoutDNS -
Best forFamilies wanting paid per-device DNS policies
Paid DNS filtering with per-device controls, logs, schedules, and encrypted DNS.
- Per-device policies
- Ad blocking
- Activity logs
8.5/10★★★★☆Visit ArmorDNS -
Best forEstablished enterprises needing security controls
A broad DNS and web security service for enterprises with Cisco infrastructure.
- Custom blocklists
8.4/10★★★★☆Visit Cisco Umbrella -
Best forUsers wanting deep category and usage controls
A broad DNS filtering service for households and organizations needing detailed controls.
- Custom blocklists
8.3/10★★★★☆Visit SafeDNS -
Best forOrganizations wanting mature DNS reporting
A policy-focused DNS security service with detailed reporting and remote-device coverage.
- Custom blocklists
8.2/10★★★★☆Visit CIRA -
Best forEstablished organizations needing roaming filtering
A mature DNS filtering service for organizations managing roaming users and devices.
- Custom blocklists
8.1/10★★★★☆Visit WebTitan -
Best forEnterprises needing off-network DNS protection
Enterprise DNS filtering with roaming protection, policy controls, reporting, and security integrations.
Pricing on request · 60-day trial Our Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise verdict → Visit Akamai8.0/10★★★★☆Visit Akamai -
Best forNetwork teams needing threat-focused DNS security
A Fortinet-focused DNS security service for network-wide threat filtering and visibility.
7.9/10★★★★☆Visit Fortinet -
Best forSecurity teams focused on DNS threats
A focused DNS security layer for teams already operating Palo Alto Networks infrastructure.
- Activity logs
- Analytics dashboard
- Malware blocking
7.8/10★★★★☆Visit site -
Best forManaged-service providers needing centralized control
A centralized DNS security service for MSPs managing clients, users, and roaming devices.
- Ad blocking
- Activity logs
- Analytics dashboard
7.7/10★★★★☆Visit N-able -
Best forEnterprises wanting predictive DNS intelligence
Predictive DNS intelligence and policy controls for enterprise security teams.
7.6/10★★★★☆Visit Infoblox -
Best forSecurity operations teams needing DNS visibility
A security-focused DNS service combining threat blocking, visibility, policy control, and integrations.
7.5/10★★★★☆Visit DigiCert -
Best forDNS infrastructure teams needing adaptive defense
A focused enterprise DNS security appliance for adaptive filtering, detection, and response.
7.4/10★★★★☆Visit EfficientIP -
Best forLow-cost threat-domain filtering for networks
A low-cost hosted DNS service for blocking threats across business networks and remote users.
- Activity logs
- Analytics dashboard
- Adult content filtering
7.3/10★★★★☆Visit ThreatSTOP -
Best forSecurity teams needing endpoint-aware DNS control
Centralized, endpoint-aware DNS protection for distributed security teams.
- Per-device policies
- Activity logs
- Analytics dashboard
7.2/10★★★★☆Visit OpenText -
Best forFree family protection with browser support
A free family DNS filter with broad blocking, profiles, and browser support.
- Per-device policies
- Ad blocking
- Analytics dashboard
7.1/10★★★★☆Visit ShomerDNS -
Best forFamilies needing screentime and content controls
A family-focused DNS filter with device controls, logs, alerts, and scheduled screentime.
- Per-device policies
- Ad blocking
- Activity logs
7.0/10★★★★☆Visit Safe Surfer -
Best forWindows networks needing managed DNS filtering
A focused DNS security service for WatchGuard networks and supported Windows endpoints.
- Custom blocklists
6.9/10★★★☆☆Visit WatchGuard -
Best forOrganizations needing agent and router coverage
Flexible agent and router coverage with policy controls, reporting, and encrypted DNS.
6.8/10★★★☆☆Visit Webroot -
Best forEnterprises focused on DNS threat analytics
A focused DNS security service for enterprises needing threat analytics and policy control.
- Activity logs
- Analytics dashboard
- Adult content filtering
6.7/10★★★☆☆Visit Zscaler -
Best forNetwork operators needing threat feeds
Infrastructure-level DNS filtering for operators blocking threats across connected devices.
- Malware blocking
6.6/10★★★☆☆Contact Secure64 -
Best forFree encrypted DNS with curated blocklists
A free encrypted DNS service with broad curated blocking, but limited control.
- Ad blocking
- Adult content filtering
- Malware blocking
6.5/10★★★☆☆Visit Mullvad DNS -
Best forFree ad and tracker blocking DNS
A free DNS filtering service with encrypted protocols and configurable blocklists.
- Ad blocking
- Activity logs
- Analytics dashboard
6.4/10★★★☆☆Visit AhaDNS -
Best forPrivacy-focused free DNS users
A free, privacy-focused DNS service with strong filtering and encrypted protocol support.
- Ad blocking
- Adult content filtering
- Malware blocking
6.3/10★★★☆☆Visit DNSwarden -
Best forFree straightforward protective DNS
A free European DNS resolver with protection, child-safety and ad-blocking configurations.
- Ad blocking
- Activity logs
- Adult content filtering
6.2/10★★★☆☆Visit DNS4EU -
Best forFree basic home-network protection
A free, straightforward DNS layer for basic protection on home networks.
- Adult content filtering
- Malware blocking
6.1/10★★★☆☆Visit Cloudflare -
Best forOrganizations seeking free protective DNS
A free protective DNS service with roaming coverage, logs and SIEM connectors.
- Activity logs
- Analytics dashboard
- Malware blocking
6.0/10★★★☆☆Visit NCSC PDNS -
Best forFree malicious-domain protection
A free DNS resolver that blocks malicious domains without accounts or subscriptions.
5.9/10★★★☆☆Visit Quad9 -
Best forFree basic family DNS protection
A free family DNS service with broad blocking and encrypted DNS, but no reporting tools.
5.8/10★★★☆☆Visit DNS for Family -
Best forHome users wanting free basic family DNS modes
A free public DNS service for basic malware and adult-content filtering at home.
5.7/10★★★☆☆Visit Yandex DNS -
Best forLow-cost home DNS protection
Affordable router-level DNS protection for households, families, and remote workers.
- Ad blocking
- Adult content filtering
- Malware blocking
5.6/10★★★☆☆Visit Cipherion DNS -
Best forPaid family and student device filtering
A broad paid filtering service for families, students, and managed locations.
5.5/10★★★☆☆Visit CloudVeil -
Best forEnterprise network and security teams
A self-hosted DNS control layer for enterprise visibility, policy enforcement, and hybrid-cloud resolution.
5.5/10★★★☆☆Visit BlueCat -
Best forBusinesses wanting protective DNS with DDoS services
Protective DNS with integrated DDoS and WAF services for business networks.
- Malware blocking
5.5/10★★★☆☆Visit Vercara -
Best forFree basic home-network web filtering
A free home-network filter with flexible categories and straightforward device coverage.
5.5/10★★★☆☆Visit OpenDNS Home -
Best forSchools filtering managed and BYOD networks
A network-focused DNS filter for schools managing devices, BYOD, and guest access.
5.5/10★★★☆☆Visit GoGuardian -
Best forSchools needing filtering and student oversight
A broad K–12 filtering and oversight suite for schools and districts.
- Custom blocklists
5.5/10★★★☆☆Visit Blocksi -
Best forFree device and home-router protection
A free DNS filter with broad device support and basic controls for Canadian households.
5.5/10★★★☆☆Visit CIRA -
Best forSchools needing policy-rich web filtering
A policy-rich choice for schools managing web, YouTube, AI, and BYOD access.
- Custom blocklists
5.5/10★★★☆☆Visit Securly -
Best forSimple free malicious-domain blocking
A straightforward free DNS resolver for blocking known harmful domains.
5.5/10★★★☆☆Visit Comodo -
Best forSchools needing comprehensive web filtering
Comprehensive school filtering with policies, reports, SSL inspection, and directory integrations.
- Custom blocklists
5.5/10★★★☆☆Visit Linewize -
Best forTeams that need DNS filtering with zero-trust access
A broad zero-trust access platform with DNS filtering, VPN, identity, and logging.
5.5/10★★★☆☆Visit GoodAccess
No tools match those filters.
Compare at a glance
Head-to-head All 28 comparisons →
- AdGuard DNS vs NextDNS
- AdGuard DNS vs Control D
- AdGuard DNS vs QueryWarden
- AdGuard DNS vs Cloudflare Gateway
- AdGuard DNS vs DeCloudUs DNS
- AdGuard DNS vs RethinkDNS
- AdGuard DNS vs CleanBrowsing
- NextDNS vs Control D
- NextDNS vs QueryWarden
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How we rank DNS filtering services
Every tool on this page was researched by iTechGuides Editors from its official website — pricing pages, plan tables and product documentation. We rank on how well each one does this category's core job, what the free or entry plan includes, and where it falls short. Where we have enough verified facts, the score out of 10 is a rubric — job fit, value and how much we could verify — shown with its breakdown on every tool's page; a tool we have not verified enough to score yet shows its rank without a number. Scores are re-checked when a product changes its plans. Read the full editorial policy, or submit a tool we missed.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Last updated · How we research and update