AdGuard Home vs Blocky
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted reverse proxy & gateways options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
AdGuard Home
Network-wide DNS ad and tracker blocker
VS
Blocky
Fast DNS proxy and ad-blocker for local networks
| Feature | AdGuard Home | Blocky |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 35,977 | ★ 6,844 |
| First released | 2018 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Pi-hole, NextDNS | Pi-hole, AdGuard Home |
Why pick each one
Choose AdGuard Home if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 36k GitHub stars
Choose Blocky if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 6.8k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is AdGuard Home or Blocky better?
Neither is universally better. AdGuard Home has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are AdGuard Home and Blocky free and open-source?
Yes. AdGuard Home is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Blocky under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run AdGuard Home and Blocky with Docker?
AdGuard Home: yes. Blocky: yes.