AdGuard DNS Review (2026): Free Ad-Blocking DNS from Cyprus

What is AdGuard DNS?

Who is behind AdGuard DNS

AdGuard DNS is a public and private DNS service from AdGuard Software Limited, a company registered in Limassol, Cyprus (Anexartisias and Athinon 79). The same company makes the AdGuard ad blocker, AdGuard VPN and AdGuard Mail. AdGuard’s site says the DNS service has more than 120 million users and handles 500 billion queries a day.

The DNS server software is open source: the AdGuardDNS repository on GitHub is published under the AGPL-3.0 licence. The service is still actively developed – version 2.24, released on 24 September 2026, added multiple pauses in parental-control schedules and new Enterprise features.

Where AdGuard DNS hosts your data

The resolvers run on AdGuard’s own network (AdGuard Software Limited, AS212772). AdGuard lists 15+ locations and 100+ servers, including Stockholm, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London and Prague in Europe, plus North America, Asia, Australia, Africa and South America – so when you travel, you may be answered outside Europe. Account data, such as your email address and private-DNS query logs, is stored in AdGuard’s own data centre in Frankfurt, Germany, according to its privacy policy. The adguard-dns.io website runs behind Cloudflare, a US company; the resolvers themselves do not.

Checked 25 Oct 2026. Hosting can change – report a change.

AdGuard DNS pricing

The public servers are free, with no account. Private DNS – your own server with custom rules and stats – has four plans. Starter is free: 300,000 requests a month, 5 devices, 2 servers and 100 rules. Personal costs €26.45 a year plus VAT, billed annually, or €2.21 a month plus VAT, and gives you 10 million requests a month, 20 devices, 5 servers and 1,000 rules. On 25 October 2026 AdGuard showed a 55% Halloween discount, bringing the first year of Personal down to €11.90, valid until 1 November 2026. Team is shown at €212.49 a year plus VAT (crossed out from €318.53) for 200 devices, 100 million requests and 2 dedicated IPv4 addresses, and Enterprise is priced on request. AdGuard VPN customers get Personal for free. Payments are handled by Paddle. Prices appear in your local currency; I switched the page to euros.

Servers, filtering and privacy

AdGuard runs three public servers. Default blocks ads and trackers: IPv4 94.140.14.14 and 94.140.15.15, IPv6 2a10:50c0::ad1:ff and 2a10:50c0::ad2:ff, DNS over HTTPS at https://dns.adguard-dns.com/dns-query and DNS over TLS at dns.adguard-dns.com. Family also blocks adult content and enables Safe Search and Safe Mode where possible: 94.140.14.15 and 94.140.15.16, IPv6 2a10:50c0::bad1:ff and 2a10:50c0::bad2:ff, family.adguard-dns.com. Non-filtering blocks nothing: 94.140.14.140 and 94.140.14.141, unfiltered.adguard-dns.com. DNS over QUIC and DNSCrypt are supported as well. The privacy policy says the Default list covers domains AdGuard considers ad, tracking or malware, updated from community feedback.

Private DNS is what sets AdGuard apart from other European resolvers. You connect your devices to your own server and manage it from a dashboard: block or allow domains, use parental controls that block adult content in search and on YouTube, schedule when sites such as social media are blocked, and see real-time stats per device – which sites it tried to reach and what was blocked.

On privacy, AdGuard says it processes no personal data on the public servers. It keeps aggregated server metrics, a count of how often each tracker is blocked, and an anonymous list of domains requested in the last 24 hours, with nothing linking them to a user. On private DNS it stores query logs so it can show them in your dashboard – status, domain, device name and date, plus anonymised IP addresses limited to the subnet if you turn that on. You can switch logging off or choose how long logs are kept.

What users say about AdGuard DNS

On Trustpilot AdGuard has 4.7/5 from 9,791 reviews (checked 25 October 2026). The profile is claimed and covers the whole company, so most reviews are about the AdGuard ad blocker rather than the DNS service. Trustpilot’s AI summary says reviewers praise effective ad removal, a clean experience and fast, polite support.

Pros and cons

Verdict on AdGuard DNS

Verdict: AdGuard DNS is the most complete filtering DNS from a European company. The free Family servers are a drop-in replacement for OpenDNS FamilyShield, and the free private DNS gives you the custom rules, schedules and stats that most public resolvers lack. Its network is smaller than Quad9’s and not limited to the EU, so if you only want a private, neutral resolver, Quad9 or DNS4EU is the better fit. Best for: families and households that want ads, trackers or adult content blocked on every device. Not for: people who want a neutral resolver that never changes answers.

AdGuard DNS is ranked #1 in Best European alternatives to OpenDNS and #3 in Best European alternatives to Google Public DNS and in Best European public DNS resolvers.

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