Pi hole vs AdGuard Home on Proxmox: Which DNS Blocker Is Better?
Pi hole and AdGuard Home can block advertising, tracking and unwanted domains across an entire network. Once clients use the service as their DNS resolver, filtering can apply to computers, phones, televisions, game consoles and smart devices without installing separate blocking software on each device.
Pi-hole vs AdGuard Home on Proxmox: Comparison Sheet
Both Pi-hole and AdGuard Home block ads and trackers network-wide and run comfortably in a small LXC container on Proxmox. Pi-hole suits you if you want a large community, clear query visibility and flexible blocklists. AdGuard Home suits you if you want encrypted DNS, parental controls and per-client settings built in. Run two instances on separate nodes, because DNS is critical.
Both products work well on Proxmox and need very few resources. Pi hole has a larger community, extensive documentation and a familiar interface. AdGuard Home includes more advanced DNS privacy and client control features in its standard installation.
Pi hole is often the easier choice when you want proven network filtering with a large support community. AdGuard Home is generally stronger when you want encrypted DNS, flexible client policies and more DNS functions in one application.
How do DNS blockers work?
When a device opens a website or application, it usually sends a DNS request to translate a domain name into an IP address. Pi hole or AdGuard Home receives that request before it reaches an external DNS provider. If the requested domain appears on a blocking list, the DNS server prevents the device from connecting to it. If the domain is allowed, the request is answered from the local cache or forwarded to an upstream DNS service.
Pi hole describes itself as a DNS sinkhole that protects network devices from unwanted content without requiring client software. AdGuard Home uses the same basic approach and redirects advertising and tracking domains to a blocked destination.
DNS filtering cannot remove every advertisement. It works best when advertising and tracking use separate domains, and it may not block content delivered from the same domain as the application or video being viewed.
Which has the better interface?
Both products provide web based administration, but the interfaces put different information first.
Pi hole is known for its dashboard, query log and clear presentation of blocked requests. It shows total queries, blocked queries, active clients, frequently requested domains and frequently blocked domains. It stores long term query information in an SQLite database, and administrators can change privacy levels to hide domains, clients or nearly all query details from reporting.
AdGuard Home has a similarly accessible dashboard with query statistics, client activity, filtering results and upstream DNS performance. Its interface puts more DNS configuration options directly into the application, including encrypted upstreams, client settings and parental controls.
Pi hole may feel clearer when the main goal is understanding which domains are being requested and blocked. AdGuard Home may feel more complete when you want to configure filtering, DNS privacy and client behaviour through one interface.
Which provides better blocking control?
Both products support custom blocklists, allowlists and individual domain rules.
Pi hole can assign clients and domains to groups, so an administrator can apply different filtering policies to different devices. A television, a child's tablet and a work computer do not need identical blocking rules. Pi hole also supports regular expression rules for matching domain patterns. These can be powerful, but an overly broad expression can accidentally block legitimate services.
AdGuard Home handles per client settings through its client management system. Administrators can identify clients by IP address, subnet or supported encrypted DNS identifiers, and different clients can get different filtering, parental control and safe search settings. It also has built in options for blocking known malware or phishing domains, enforcing safe search and restricting adult content. You can get similar results with Pi hole by adding suitable lists and rules, but it takes more manual selection.
So AdGuard Home gives you more policy controls right after installation, while Pi hole gives administrators a flexible base and a large ecosystem of community maintained lists.
Which is better for encrypted DNS?
AdGuard Home has the stronger built in encrypted DNS support. It can use encrypted upstream resolvers and supports protocols including DNS over HTTPS, DNS over TLS, DNS over QUIC and DNSCrypt. It can also act as an encrypted DNS server for compatible client devices. These functions need suitable certificates and careful network configuration when the server is exposed outside the local network.
Pi hole normally forwards requests to standard upstream DNS servers. It supports DNSSEC validation and can be paired with additional tools when you need encrypted forwarding or recursive resolution.
A common Pi hole design uses Unbound as a local recursive resolver. Instead of sending every unblocked request to one public DNS provider, Unbound queries the DNS hierarchy and returns the result to Pi hole. That gives you more control, although it adds another service to maintain. AdGuard Home is easier when encrypted DNS must work without installing a separate resolver or proxy.
Which provides better DHCP?
Both Pi hole and AdGuard Home contain DHCP servers. A DHCP server assigns network settings such as IP addresses, gateways and DNS servers to client devices. Using the filtering server for DHCP helps when the existing router does not let administrators distribute a custom DNS address.
Pi hole documentation recommends disabling DHCP on the router before enabling its own server, since two DHCP servers on the same network can hand clients conflicting settings. AdGuard Home also requires a static address when providing DHCP, and by default it advertises itself as the DNS server for the clients receiving its leases.
Either platform can handle ordinary home or small business DHCP. In more complex networks a dedicated firewall such as OPNsense may still be the better place for DHCP, because it already understands VLANs, gateways and firewall zones. In that design, Pi hole or AdGuard Home provides DNS filtering while OPNsense keeps managing addresses.
Which is easier to install on Proxmox?
The cleanest setup is usually a small, unprivileged LXC container with a static IP address. Proxmox uses LXC as its system container technology, and a DNS filtering service does not normally need a complete virtual machine because it uses little processing power or memory.
Pi hole officially supports maintained releases of Debian, Ubuntu, Alpine and several other Linux distributions, so a Debian LXC container is a straightforward platform for a native installation. Pi hole provides an automated installer, although administrators can review and run the installation process manually if they prefer.
AdGuard Home is distributed as a standalone binary for several platforms. You unpack it and register it as a system service, which makes it particularly simple to install inside a minimal Linux container.
Both products also offer Docker deployment. If you prefer Docker, Proxmox recommends running application containers inside a QEMU virtual machine rather than nesting them directly inside LXC. For a single DNS service, though, Docker adds little practical value, and a native installation inside LXC is normally lighter and easier to troubleshoot.
Which is easier to maintain?
Pi hole has a simple native update command. Its documentation recommends reading release notes before applying updates, particularly across major version changes. AdGuard Home includes an update mechanism in its interface for supported native installations, while Docker deployments are updated by replacing the container image and keeping the data and configuration directories.
Proxmox can back up the complete LXC container or virtual machine, which gives you a fast recovery option if an update damages the installation. Export or copy the application configuration separately as well. A complete Proxmox backup is good for disaster recovery, while an application level configuration copy is easier to inspect or move to a new server.
DNS is a critical service. When the filtering server is unavailable, clients may lose access to websites even though the internet connection itself still works. A reliable deployment uses two DNS filtering instances on separate Proxmox nodes or physical systems, with both addresses handed to clients through DHCP. Avoid placing both DNS instances on the same Proxmox host if the goal is protection from host failure.
Which provides better privacy?
Both products run locally and let the administrator choose the upstream DNS service.
Pi hole has explicit privacy levels for its statistics. Administrators can keep detailed query information, hide domains, hide clients or disable most long term query analysis.
AdGuard Home provides query logging and configurable retention. It also supports encrypted upstream DNS without additional software, which can stop the local internet provider from reading ordinary unencrypted DNS traffic between the server and the upstream resolver. Encryption does not make DNS activity invisible, though. The selected upstream provider can still receive requests, and network destinations may be inferred from other traffic.
The most private option may combine local recursive resolution, minimal logging and carefully controlled access. Pi hole with Unbound is attractive for that design, while AdGuard Home is more convenient when encrypted forwarding is the preferred model.
Which DNS blocker should you choose?
Choose Pi hole when you want a mature community, extensive troubleshooting resources, flexible blocklists and a straightforward DNS filtering platform. It suits setups where DNS encryption will be handled by another service or where you plan to use Unbound for recursive DNS.
Choose AdGuard Home when you want encrypted DNS, parental controls, safe search enforcement and detailed per client settings in one application. Its standalone architecture also makes installation and migration simple.
For most first time Proxmox users, Pi hole remains the familiar and well documented option. For users who want more DNS privacy features without assembling several tools, AdGuard Home is usually the stronger choice.
Both need little hardware, so the most useful test is to deploy each in a temporary LXC container and compare the dashboards, client identification, blocking behaviour and upstream DNS configuration before deciding which one becomes part of the permanent network.