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Blocky review

Free#53 of 65 in Internet Filtering Software

A capable open-source DNS filter for technical, self-hosted network deployments.

3.9/10Editor score
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Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Blocky is an open-source DNS proxy and network-wide ad blocker for local networks, homelabs, businesses, Raspberry Pi systems, OpenWrt routers, Docker, and Kubernetes environments. Written in Go and licensed under Apache-2.0, it filters DNS queries through external, local, or inline denylists, with allowlists and client-specific filtering groups. Its strongest fit is a technical operator who wants network-level control rather than a consumer-facing filtering application.

The published plan structure is straightforward: Free and open source includes self-hosted deployment under the Apache-2.0 license. There are no paid tiers to compare, so the main tradeoff is operational rather than subscription-based. Administrators manage deployment, configuration, DNS behavior, and storage choices themselves. Blocky supports wildcard and regular-expression rules, time-based schedules, custom DNS records, conditional forwarding, configurable caching, and prefetching. Encrypted DNS options include DNS over HTTPS, DNS over TLS, DNS over QUIC, and DNS over HTTPS/3.

Blocky fits environments that already use Linux, OpenWrt, Docker, or Kubernetes and need observability or automation around DNS filtering. Query logs can flow to CSV, SQLite, MySQL/MariaDB, PostgreSQL, TimescaleDB, or dnstap, while Prometheus metrics, Grafana dashboards, REST APIs, and CLI interfaces support monitoring and integration. Rolling 24-hour statistics cover top domains, blocked domains, and clients. Choose Blocky for programmable, self-hosted filtering with detailed infrastructure integration. Choose an alternative when family-oriented controls or SafeSearch enforcement matter more than DNS customization and deployment flexibility.

Blocky pros and cons

  • Where it wins
    • Flexible denylist, allowlist, regex, wildcard, and client-group rules
    • Encrypted DNS, custom records, conditional forwarding, and caching
    • Prometheus, Grafana, REST API, CLI, and multiple logging backends
  • Where it doesn't
    • Requires self-hosted deployment and technical DNS administration
    • Activity reporting centers on rolling 24-hour DNS statistics
    • Does not provide SafeSearch enforcement for general-purpose filtering

Blocky fact sheet, pricing and score →

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