AdGuard Home vs SWAG
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
SWAG
Secure web application gateway with Nginx and Certbot
| Feature | AdGuard Home | SWAG |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Dockerfile |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 35,977 | ★ 3,709 |
| First released | 2018 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Pi-hole, NextDNS | Cloudflare |
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 SWAG if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.7k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is AdGuard Home or SWAG 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 SWAG free and open-source?
Yes. AdGuard Home is licensed under GPL-3.0 and SWAG under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run AdGuard Home and SWAG with Docker?
AdGuard Home: yes. SWAG: yes.