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1 more ways to get CIRA Canadian Shield
More official pages
About CIRA Canadian Shield
CIRA Canadian Shield filters DNS lookups to stop devices from reaching sites linked to phishing, malware, botnets and scams, using national and international threat intelligence. An optional adult content filter is available for households with children.
It is run by CIRA, a Canadian not-for-profit that says it will not sell personal data and keeps data in Canada. It can be set up through apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac and Windows, or through extensions for Firefox, Chrome and Edge.
Strengths
- Blocks phishing, malware, botnets and scam sites
- Optional adult content filtering for families
- Apps and browser extensions for most platforms
- Run by a not-for-profit that keeps data in Canada
Limitations
- Built primarily for Canadian users
- No custom blocklists or per-domain control described
- Relies on a hosted resolver you do not control
Details
- Pricing
- FreeFree, provided by a national not-for-profit.
- License
- Proprietary
- Developer
- CIRA
- Platforms
- Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Browser extension
- How it runs
- Downloadable app, Hosted service, Browser extension
- Works offline
- No
- Best suited for
- Canadian households wanting free malware and scam protection with little setup
- Categories
- DNS filtering, Security tools, Privacy tools
- Last verified
- Added
- Provenance
- Facts checked against the developer's own pages and store listings, 1 sources on file.
Alternatives to CIRA Canadian Shield
Compare allSoftware that can replace CIRA Canadian Shield for an important use case, and what changes if you switch.
Quad9
Free public DNS resolver that blocks known malicious domains.
Quad9 is a free Swiss non-profit resolver blocking malicious domains with a no-client-IP-logging policy, but it offers no adult content filtering option.
Cloudflare 1.1.1.1
Fast public DNS resolver with a filtered option for families.
Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 is a free global resolver with a Families option for content filtering, run by a US company rather than a Canadian not-for-profit.
OpenDNS Home
A public DNS service from Cisco with phishing protection and optional content filtering for home networks.
OpenDNS Home from Cisco provides free phishing protection and content filtering for parental controls, with queries going to a US company's resolver.
DNS4EU
A free public DNS resolver hosted in the EU that blocks malware, phishing and ransomware domains.
DNS4EU is a free resolver hosted in the EU blocking malware, phishing and ransomware, with variants offering different filtering levels.
CleanBrowsing
A DNS filtering service that blocks malware, phishing and adult content at the network level.
CleanBrowsing is a freemium filtering service blocking malware, phishing and adult content with enforced Safe Search, configured by changing DNS settings.
AdGuard DNS
Public filtering DNS resolver with encrypted transports.
AdGuard DNS is a freemium filtering resolver that also blocks ads and supports DNS-over-QUIC, with custom rules requiring a paid account.
NextDNS
Cloud DNS filtering with per-device profiles and detailed logs.
NextDNS adds granular blocklists, per-device profiles and detailed logs, but its free tier is limited to a monthly query allowance.
Control D
Customisable DNS filtering service with per-device profiles.
Control D offers per-device profiles and granular per-service rules with apps for every major platform, though most useful features need a paid plan.
CIRA Canadian Shield as an alternative
Listings that name CIRA Canadian Shield as an alternative.
Safe Surfer
A parental-control DNS filtering service that blocks harmful content on phones, computers and home routers.
CIRA Canadian Shield is free, run by a Canadian not-for-profit, and offers optional adult content filtering, but has no screen time controls.
Similar software
Related functionality, not necessarily a direct replacement.
