block VS nextdns

their latest commit emptied the README.md file from their official repo. See https://github.com/EnergizedProtection/block/commit/8bc981b5b1e813ab07ea80cbb08e4b42643d9b6e

their website is currently a blank page. See https://energized.pro

they started blocking tons of legitimate domains (amazon.in, github.io, tailscale.io ... and nextdns.io). See https://github.com/EnergizedProtection/block/issues/973

Same concept, but I personally like to use this https://energized.pro/

Energized HOSTS (https://github.com/EnergizedProtection/block)

Use uBlock Origin instead of uBlock. Why? Because it is the real shit. You do not need another content blocker like adblock with uBlock Origin, just tick the included optional filters in settings and also add custom filters like those from Energized. Also, on your phone, you can simply use Firefox Android with uBlock Origin.

I've tried hosted Pi-Hole and AdGuard Home. They are good as long as I'm around to fix stuffs. Then I tested something which can be global (home) and also for individual devices -- Control-D, NextDNS, and Adguard DNS. All of them works pretty well. If I really have to choose, then it would be in the order of NextDNS > Control-D > AdGuard DNS. Affiliated with none, and have decided to subscribe to all three to further test them for this year.

https://controld.com

https://nextdns.io

https://adguard-dns.io

I ran a competing project[0] on my home network for a few years before I discovered NextDNS[1]. What I lost in performance (requests don't leave my house) I gained in portability: ALL my devices can take advantage – at home and away – and time-saved. PiHole works 90% of the time, but when it did stop working, I'd have to spend a bit of time fixing it. At $20/year, I simply couldn't compete with NextDNS.

Note: This isn't a shill for NextDNS; I love these kinds of projects and think they absolutely should exist, but NextDNS just happens to be one of those dead-simple SaaS tools that is an insanely good value.

0 - https://pi-hole.net/

1 - https://nextdns.io

I used Pi-Hole, then went to NextDNS, then to AdGuard DNS, tinkered with AdGuard Home, and currently testing Control-D. They are all actually pretty good, similar features, and it has become just a matter of personal choice.

In all fairness, when I have some time and can invest in decent hardwares, I might go back to AdGuard Home with one of the paid services as backup for travel, and when for the other family members.

Pi-Hole works really well but once-a-while, when I'm traveling, it will decide to act up and it's a whole IT support with the family over phone for minutes if not hours. I'm not smart enough to setup a secure enough tunnel and the like, and haven't read up enough on the topic. This follows similar pattern with AdGuard Home.

NextDNS, AdGuard DNS, Control-D are easy and just works, especially with the devices that the family uses. I think I bought one of those AdGuard Lifetime license, so I use that to block client-side rendered ads in conjunction with either AdGuard DNS or NextDNS or Control-D. Right now, Control-D is doing pretty good with my test-drive.

https://adguard-dns.io

https://nextdns.io

https://controld.com

Okay but NextDNS' own homepage says it "blocks ads and trackers on websites and in apps" - https://nextdns.io

pretty much to the same effect of a pihole, yet you can get up and running in minutes. You can then configure wherever you please: your browser, your laptop, your phone, or even your router.

[0]: https://nextdns.io

It's not open, but I'm happy with https://nextdns.io/

There is https://www.dns0.eu and https://nextdns.io.

I like the 300K requests per month free tier that nextdns.io has. Comes with plenty of filters.

you can also have a look at nextdns [0][1]. I set it up on both my mac nad iOS. NextDns provides a panel where you can see what got blocked and some other analytics for you. Even though I use Brave on iOS and Arc with uBlock Origin still that wasn't enough and nexDNS blocked some additional ~8% trackers. It's free for first 300k requests per month.

[0] https://nextdns.io/

[1] https://github.com/nextdns