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ctrld

Flexible DNS forwarding proxy with per-client policy

Reverse Proxy & Gateways ★ 904 stars Medium setup MIT

ctrld is an open-source DNS forwarding proxy from Control D that supports DNS-over-HTTPS, custom routing and per-client policies. It is self-hosted as a single binary on routers and servers.

Official siteSource code

Key features

  • Encrypted DNS forwarding
  • Per-client policies
  • Custom routing
  • Single binary

Strengths

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Written in Go
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM

Is ctrld secure?

OSV.dev has no published security advisories for ctrld's repository. No known vulnerabilities is not proof of security: it means none have been publicly catalogued.

Source: OSV.dev, checked 2026-10-14. How this is measured.

ctrld replaces

Self-hosted NextDNS alternatives

Health badge

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SelfHostIndex: 82 · excellent

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