Knot Resolver
A caching DNS resolver with a small core and optional modules, from home routers to resolver farms.
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1 more ways to get Knot Resolver
Package managers
- Homebrew
brew install knot-resolver
About Knot Resolver
Knot Resolver is a caching DNS resolver that scales from large resolver farms down to home network routers. Its core is kept small and efficient, and most features are optional modules written in C or Lua, which limits attack surface and lets administrators enable only what they need.
Recent releases add support for serving stale records and DNS-over-HTTPS, including an unencrypted mode for use behind a reverse proxy. Version 6.4.2 was released in August 2026.
Strengths
- Small core with features in optional C and Lua modules
- Scales from home routers to large deployments
- DNS-over-HTTPS support
- Regular releases, most recently in August 2026
Limitations
- Configured by hand, with no graphical dashboard
- Some newer features, such as unencrypted DoH mode, are still alpha
Details
- Pricing
- FreeFree to download and use under the GPL.
- License
- GPL
- Platforms
- Linux, Self-hosted
- How it runs
- Self-hosted
- Account
- Not required
- Best suited for
- Running your own caching DNS resolver with custom policies
- Categories
- Network tools, DNS filtering
- Last verified
- Added
- Provenance
- Facts checked against the developer's own pages and store listings, 1 sources on file.
Alternatives to Knot Resolver
Compare allSoftware that can replace Knot Resolver for an important use case, and what changes if you switch.
Unbound
Validating, recursive, caching DNS resolver.
Unbound is a BSD-3-Clause validating recursive resolver with encrypted transports that also runs on Windows and macOS, but has no filtering of its own.
PowerDNS Recursor
A recursive DNS resolver from the PowerDNS project that you run on your own server.
PowerDNS Recursor offers DNSSEC validation with dedicated regression tests and pairs with dnsdist and PowerDNS Authoritative.
CoreDNS
A DNS server written in Go that builds its behavior from a chain of plugins.
CoreDNS is an Apache-2.0 plugin-chain server aimed at Kubernetes and homelabs, with a short Corefile configuration.
Knot Resolver as an alternative
Listings that name Knot Resolver as an alternative.
BIND 9
Open-source DNS server software from ISC that also provides the dig command-line query tool.
Knot Resolver is a GPL caching resolver with a small core, Lua and C modules and DNS-over-HTTPS support, but it does not host authoritative zones.
Technitium DNS Server
A self-hosted DNS server that blocks ads network-wide, hosts your own zones, and encrypts upstream queries.
Knot Resolver is a modular caching resolver with DoH support, configured by hand without a dashboard and without authoritative zone hosting.
Similar software
Related functionality, not necessarily a direct replacement.
dnsdist
A DNS load balancer that routes queries to backend servers and blocks abusive traffic with rules.
dnsmasq
Lightweight DNS forwarder, DHCP server and TFTP server in one.
Pi-hole
A DNS server for your home network that refuses to look up ad and tracker domains, for every device at once.
AdGuard Home
Network-wide ad and tracker blocking in a single binary, with encrypted DNS built in rather than bolted on.
Stubby
Local DNS stub resolver that encrypts queries with DNS-over-TLS.
