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Pi-hole vs SmartDNS: catalog facts
Pi-hole	SmartDNS
Free Free and open source under the European Union Public Licence 1.2, funded by donations and…	Free Free to use, with source code published on GitHub.
Linux, Self-hosted, Web	Linux, Self-hosted
Blocks advertising in mobile apps and on smart televisions, not just browsers Covers every device on the network with nothing installed on them	Picks the fastest upstream answer rather than the first reply Supports DoT, DoH, DoQ and DoH3 upstreams
Runs on Linux; it is not a program you install on a laptop Over-blocking breaks sites, and someone has to fix it when it does	Main readme is in Chinese, with a separate English version Needs manual configuration with no graphical interface
Self-hosted	Downloadable app, Self-hosted
Open source	Closed source
License: EUPL-1.2	License not stated
No account needed	No account needed
Works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 21, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.