Pi-hole
Network-wide DNS sinkhole that blocks ads and trackers for every device on a home network.
HN commenters like it as a free, network-wide DNS ad blocker for the home1234, especially for cutting smart TV ads, telemetry and slow menus.567 The most common caveat is that DNS-level blocking lets some ads through, so many pair it with a browser ad blocker891011, and some worry DNS over HTTPS will make it less effective.1213
Why people recommend it
Ad blocking · 3
Commenters use it to block ads across their whole home network.
“The Internet is unusable these days without ublock origin or a pihole.”
“We use a PiHole, plus ad-blocking browsers, so we see very few ads.”
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“run pi-hole that blocks ads”
Smart TV control · 3
It blocks smart TV ads and data collection, and one user says it sped up TV menus.
“I use Pihole to block data collection”
“Pi-Hole sped up my Samsung home and menu screens tremendously.”
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“We have a nice Sony Android TV along with a pihole.”
Free · 3
Users praise it as free, with one finding it better than paying for NextDNS.
“I've been loving the Pihole setup I just set up.”
“Most of the stuff I use is free and excellent.”
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“Huge shout-out to HomeAssistant, PiHole, paperless-ngx, Dawarich, and countless others”
Simple setup · 2
Users call it simple to set up and like its familiar GUI.
“pi-hole has a gui that I was already used to and it all works great.”
“blocking .apple.com & .icloud.com (and many more hosts) using a PiHole (so simple, so necessary).”
Works with Unbound · 3
It slots easily into DNS chains with Unbound or upstream resolvers like Quad9.
“pi-hole has a gui that I was already used to and it all works great.”
“Finally, Unbound forwards requests to my Pi-hole, where the magic happens.”
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“I use PiHole in my own network”
Layered defense · 3
Users run it as one layer alongside browser blockers and other privacy tools.
“I also have a few piholes (two locations)”
“We use a PiHole, plus ad-blocking browsers, so we see very few ads.”
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“I use all the usual off the shelf "dont track me" stuff like a pihole”
Caveats and dissent
DNS-only blocking · 3
It only blocks at the DNS level, so some ads get through without a browser ad blocker.
“it only can do DNS blocking, so you still need an in browser AdBlock for more advanced stuff.”
“Every advert snuck past both my Pi-Hole and my iOS filters”
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“somehow got around my pihole and ublock origin”
DoH threat · 2
Devices that use DNS over HTTPS can bypass it, which may make it stop working.
“Or to put it more plainly pi-hole will stop working.”
“Pi-Hole sped up my Samsung home and menu screens tremendously.”
Hard to toggle · 1
You can't easily disable it with one click, for example for cashback sites.
“it only can do DNS blocking, so you still need an in browser AdBlock for more advanced stuff.”
Pi reliability · 1
One user's Raspberry Pi 3b setup broke every few months, likely due to SD cards.
“a frustrating experience with Pi-Hole in a Raspberry Pi 3b (system broke by itself every other month”
Mobile setup · 1
Using it from Android over Tailscale can require extra DNS configuration.
Often compared with
1 moved from NextDNS to Pi-hole
1 moved from Pi-hole to NextDNS
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- What I self-host 2 mentions
- ChatGPT now knows what you do on other websites via ad collector 2 mentions
- Ask HN: What self-hosted apps do you use daily? 2 mentions
- Raspberry Pi Zero 3W and Pi 4 Model A spotted in device trees 1 mention
- New Apple TV 4K 1 mention
- System-level ad-blocking in Android 1 mention
Data: pi-hole.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 34
“mine are both now installed on Pi 3b+ PiHoles, to display realtime DNS traffic 24/7”
“it only can do DNS blocking, so you still need an in browser AdBlock for more advanced stuff.”
“running arr stack, jellyfin, home assistant, pi hole”
“pi-hole previously, I must take another look.”
“Finally, Unbound forwards requests to my Pi-hole, where the magic happens.”
“I use all the usual off the shelf "dont track me" stuff like a pihole”
“For a home network network pihole or unbound also supports blocklists”
“+1 for Pi-Hole”
“PiHole - dns”
“The Internet is unusable these days without ublock origin or a pihole.”
“somehow got around my pihole and ublock origin”
“PiHole was my solution as well”
“I've been loving the Pihole setup I just set up.”
“configure it to use my pihole DNS”
“I'm also doubtful my Pihole wouldn't just black it anyways.”
“run pi-hole that blocks ads”
“Most of the stuff I use is free and excellent.”
“Huge shout-out to HomeAssistant, PiHole, paperless-ngx, Dawarich, and countless others”
“I use Pihole to block data collection”
“So alternative is PiHole.”
“Every advert snuck past both my Pi-Hole and my iOS filters”
“I also have a few piholes (two locations)”
“Even though I use pi-hole to block ads”
“Or to put it more plainly pi-hole will stop working.”
“blocking .apple.com & .icloud.com (and many more hosts) using a PiHole (so simple, so necessary).”
“Pi-Hole sped up my Samsung home and menu screens tremendously.”
“internally serve my intranet and other services like pihole (which sits behind BIND)”
“I use unbound, not PiHole, so I'm not that familiar with PiHole”
“We use a PiHole, plus ad-blocking browsers, so we see very few ads.”
“I use PiHole in my own network”
“a frustrating experience with Pi-Hole in a Raspberry Pi 3b (system broke by itself every other month”
“We have a nice Sony Android TV along with a pihole.”
“pi-hole has a gui that I was already used to and it all works great.”
“with Docker for running NgINX and PiHole”