Pi-hole vs Technitium DNS: Which Should You Use?

Quick Verdict Pi-hole is better if you just want network-wide ad blocking with a clean dashboard. Technitium is better if you want a full DNS server that also blocks ads — it can host DNS zones, act as an authoritative nameserver, and cluster across multiple instances. For pure ad blocking, Pi-hole's larger community and simpler setup make it the easier choice. Overview Pi-hole is a DNS sinkhole focused on ad blocking. It proxies DNS queries, blocks ads and trackers using blocklists, and shows query statistics on a dashboard. Under the hood, it uses dnsmasq for DNS and lighttpd for the web UI. Technitium DNS is a full-featured DNS server that happens to include ad blocking. It can serve as a recursive resolver (talking directly to root nameservers), an authoritative nameserver for your own zones, and a DNS proxy with blocking capabilities. It's built on .NET with a comprehensive web UI. Feature Comparison Feature Pi-hole Technitium DNS Primary purpose Ad blocking Full DNS server Web UI