Cloudflare DDNS vs Pi-hole
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?
Cloudflare DDNS
Update DNS records on Cloudflare
VS
Pi-hole
Blackhole for Internet advertisements with a GUI for management and
| Feature | Cloudflare DDNS | Pi-hole |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | free | EUPL-1.2 |
| Language | TypeScript | Shell |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, one-click | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 244 | ★ 60,247 |
| First released | 2023 | 2026 |
| Replaces | — | — |
Why pick each one
Choose Cloudflare DDNS if…
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- One-click install on common self-host platforms
- Written in TypeScript
Choose Pi-hole if…
- Released under the EUPL-1.2 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 60.2k GitHub stars
- Written in Shell
Frequently asked questions
Is Cloudflare DDNS or Pi-hole better?
Neither is universally better. Pi-hole has the larger community, while Cloudflare DDNS is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Cloudflare DDNS and Pi-hole free and open-source?
Yes. Cloudflare DDNS is licensed under free and Pi-hole under EUPL-1.2. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Cloudflare DDNS and Pi-hole with Docker?
Cloudflare DDNS: yes. Pi-hole: yes.