ctrld 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.
Pi-hole
Blackhole for Internet advertisements with a GUI for management
| Feature | ctrld | Pi-hole |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | ≈5-minute setup |
| Health score | 82 · Excellent | 100 · Excellent |
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | MIT | EUPL-1.2 |
| Language | Go | Shell |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 899 | ★ 61,045 |
| First released | 2022 | 2015 |
| Replaces | NextDNS | NextDNS |
What are ctrld and Pi-hole?
ctrld
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.
- Encrypted DNS forwarding
- Per-client policies
- Custom routing
- Single binary
Pi-hole
Pi-hole is a network-wide ad and tracker blocker that acts as a DNS sinkhole with a web dashboard for monitoring and management. It targets home users who want blocking on every device without client software. It is deployed via Docker or an install script.
- DNS-level ad blocking
- Query log and statistics
- Optional DHCP server
- Group-based client rules
ctrld vs Pi-hole: key differences
Ctrld is written in Go, while Pi-hole is built with Shell. Licensing differs — MIT for ctrld versus EUPL-1.2 for Pi-hole. Ctrld is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Pi-hole. Pi-hole is the more established project (first released 2015), while ctrld arrived in 2022. Pi-hole has the considerably larger community, at 61,045 GitHub stars versus 899. Pi-hole lists first-class Docker deployment; ctrld does not.
Why pick each one
Choose ctrld if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in Go
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Choose Pi-hole if…
- Network-wide ad blocking
- Polished web dashboard
- Runs on Raspberry Pi
Watch out for
- Can break some sites
- Whitelist maintenance needed
Frequently asked questions
Is ctrld or Pi-hole better?
Neither is universally better. Pi-hole has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are ctrld and Pi-hole free and open-source?
Yes. ctrld is licensed under MIT and Pi-hole under EUPL-1.2. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run ctrld and Pi-hole with Docker?
ctrld: check the project docs for container support. Pi-hole: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, ctrld or Pi-hole?
ctrld has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Pi-hole. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.