Alternatives to dnsmasq
Lightweight DNS forwarder, DHCP server and TFTP server in one. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
dnsmasq
Lightweight DNS forwarder, DHCP server and TFTP server in one.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as dnsmasq.
Pi-hole
A DNS server for your home network that refuses to look up ad and tracker domains, for every device at once.
Pi-hole adds ad and tracker blocking with a web interface and can also run the DHCP server, but drops TFTP network boot and uses EUPL-1.2.
CoreDNS
A DNS server written in Go that builds its behavior from a chain of plugins.
CoreDNS is an Apache-2.0 plugin-based DNS server with zone files and service discovery, but it provides no DHCP or network boot.
SmartDNS
A local DNS server that queries several upstream resolvers and returns the fastest-responding IP address.
SmartDNS is a local DNS server that returns the fastest upstream answer and supports encrypted upstreams, without DHCP or TFTP.
Unbound
Validating, recursive, caching DNS resolver.
Unbound resolves recursively with DNSSEC validation rather than forwarding, but has no DHCP server.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
AdGuard Home
Network-wide ad and tracker blocking in a single binary, with encrypted DNS built in rather than bolted on.
Blocky
Lightweight DNS proxy with blocklists, written for container deployments.
Knot Resolver
A caching DNS resolver with a small core and optional modules, from home routers to resolver farms.
OpenWrt adblock
A DNS-based ad and abuse domain blocking package for OpenWrt routers, covering every device on the network.
