Private and open-source alternatives to Google Public DNS
15 DNS resolvers rated against the same public privacy criteria as Google Public DNS, with our picks first.
Why look for an alternative?
- Open source: no. Closed source.
- No trackers or telemetry: no. The documentation website loads Google Analytics.
- No ads or data sales: no. Free service funded by Google's advertising business. The privacy page states DNS logs are not combined with other Google data for ads.
- Independent audit: no. No independent audit is published.
- No query logs: partial. Temporary logs with full IP addresses are kept for 24 to 48 hours. Sampled permanent logs keep only city or region. Not audited.
See the full Google Public DNS rating.
The alternatives
Unbound Grade B
Validating, recursive and caching DNS resolver from NLnet Labs for running your own resolver, with DNS over TLS and DNS over HTTPS support.
Based in the Netherlands (Nine Eyes). Unbound scores 85 out of 100 (grade B) on the DNS resolvers criteria. It meets 5 of 7 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, Encrypted DNS and DNSSEC validation.
Cloudflare Grade C
Public DNS resolver from Cloudflare with DNS over HTTPS and TLS, DNSSEC validation, and privacy commitments examined by KPMG.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Cloudflare scores 72 out of 100 (grade C) on the DNS resolvers criteria. It meets 8 of 11 criteria: no ads or data sales, independent audit, transparency report, tells users about requests, TLS configuration, Encrypted DNS, no query logs and DNSSEC validation.
Digitale Gesellschaft DNS Grade C
Public DoH and DoT resolver run by Digitale Gesellschaft, a Swiss non-profit digital rights association. It validates DNSSEC, uses no blocklists and publishes its live configuration.
Based in Switzerland. Digitale Gesellschaft DNS scores 67 out of 100 (grade C) on the DNS resolvers criteria. It meets 5 of 11 criteria: no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, transparency report, Encrypted DNS and DNSSEC validation.
DNS.SB Grade C
Free public DNS resolver operated by xTom GmbH in Germany on an anycast network. It supports DoH and DoT, validates DNSSEC and does not send EDNS Client Subnet.
Based in Germany (Fourteen Eyes). DNS.SB scores 65 out of 100 (grade C) on the DNS resolvers criteria. It meets 6 of 11 criteria: no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, transparency report, TLS configuration, Encrypted DNS and DNSSEC validation.
LibreDNS Grade C
Public encrypted DNS resolver run by the volunteer LibreOps collective, with DoH and DoT endpoints and an optional ad-blocking endpoint.
Based in Greece. LibreDNS scores 65 out of 100 (grade C) on the DNS resolvers criteria. It meets 5 of 11 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, TLS configuration and Encrypted DNS.
Quad9 Grade C
Public DNS resolver run by the Swiss non-profit Quad9 Foundation that blocks known malicious domains and validates DNSSEC.
Based in Switzerland. Quad9 scores 65 out of 100 (grade C) on the DNS resolvers criteria. It meets 6 of 11 criteria: no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, transparency report, TLS configuration, Encrypted DNS and DNSSEC validation.
AdGuard Grade C
Public DNS resolver from AdGuard that blocks ads, trackers and malicious domains, with open-source server software and DoH, DoT, DoQ and DNSCrypt support.
Based in Cyprus. AdGuard scores 63 out of 100 (grade C) on the DNS resolvers criteria. It meets 5 of 11 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, Encrypted DNS and DNSSEC validation.
Control D Grade C
DNS resolver service from ControlD Inc. in Canada, founded by the team behind Windscribe. It offers free filtering resolvers and paid plans with custom rules, over legacy DNS, DoH, DoT and DNS over QUIC.
Based in Canada (Five Eyes). Control D scores 63 out of 100 (grade C) on the DNS resolvers criteria. It meets 5 of 11 criteria: no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, TLS configuration, Encrypted DNS and DNSSEC validation.
Mullvad DNS Grade C
Free encrypted DNS resolver from Mullvad with optional ad, tracker and malware blocking. Mullvad has announced it is shutting the public service down.
Based in Sweden (Fourteen Eyes). Mullvad DNS scores 63 out of 100 (grade C) on the DNS resolvers criteria. It meets 6 of 11 criteria: no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, TLS configuration, security headers, Encrypted DNS and DNSSEC validation.
NextDNS Grade C
Configurable DNS resolver that blocks ads, trackers and malicious domains, with optional parental controls and per-user query logs.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). NextDNS scores 61 out of 100 (grade C) on the DNS resolvers criteria. It meets 5 of 11 criteria: no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, TLS configuration, Encrypted DNS and DNSSEC validation.
UncensoredDNS Grade C
Free public DNS resolver in Denmark, run by an individual, that does not apply censorship filters. It offers anycast and unicast servers over plain DNS, DoT and DoH.
Based in Denmark (Nine Eyes). UncensoredDNS scores 61 out of 100 (grade C) on the DNS resolvers criteria. It meets 5 of 11 criteria: no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, TLS configuration, Encrypted DNS and DNSSEC validation.
Applied Privacy DNS Grade D
Public DNS over HTTPS and DNS over TLS resolver run by the Foundation for Applied Privacy, a non-profit association in Vienna. It validates DNSSEC and uses QNAME minimisation.
Based in Austria. Applied Privacy DNS scores 57 out of 100 (grade D) on the DNS resolvers criteria. It meets 5 of 11 criteria: no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, TLS configuration, Encrypted DNS and DNSSEC validation.
BlahDNS Grade D
Hobby ad-blocking DNS resolver run by one person, with servers in Singapore and Germany and support for DoH, DoT, DoQ and DNSCrypt.
BlahDNS scores 54 out of 100 (grade D) on the DNS resolvers criteria. It meets 5 of 11 criteria: no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, TLS configuration, Encrypted DNS and DNSSEC validation.
Clean Browsing Grade D
DNS filtering service with free family, adult and security filters and paid custom filtering, supporting DoH, DoT and DNSCrypt.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Clean Browsing scores 43 out of 100 (grade D) on the DNS resolvers criteria. It meets 4 of 11 criteria: no ads or data sales, TLS configuration, Encrypted DNS and DNSSEC validation.
DNS4EU Grade D
Public DNS resolver co-funded by the European Union and operated by a consortium led by Whalebone in the Czech Republic. It offers protective, child-safe, ad-blocking and unfiltered variants over DoH and DoT.
Based in Czechia. DNS4EU scores 41 out of 100 (grade D) on the DNS resolvers criteria. It meets 4 of 11 criteria: no ads or data sales, TLS configuration, Encrypted DNS and DNSSEC validation.