Pi-hole vs NextDNS: Privacy Comparison
In this comprehensive privacy comparison, we analyze Pi-hole and NextDNS across six critical dimensions: data collection practices, encryption implementation, third-party data sharing, user privacy controls, transparency, and historical track record. Both services serve similar needs, but their approaches to user privacy differ significantly. Our analysis reveals that NextDNS offers a meaningfully better privacy experience overall, though each service has relative strengths and weaknesses worth understanding in detail.
The Verdict at a Glance
Before the dimension-by-dimension breakdown, here is the summary our scoring produced. Across the six privacy dimensions we score, NextDNS finishes ahead of Pi-hole, 51/60 to 34/60. That total reflects a privacy comparison in which one service is consistently the more privacy-respecting choice, even though both cover the same functional ground.
The largest single-dimension gap is in Data Collection, where NextDNS leads by 3 points -- Pi-hole 4/10 to NextDNS 7/10. Transparency is where they come closest, a mere 2-point gap (8 vs 10 out of 10). The sections below explain how each score was reached.
What Gets Collected
The starting point for judging privacy is always how data is collected. The amount of user data a service captures, keeps, and works with is the single biggest factor behind its privacy exposure. NextDNS shows more discipline on this front, collecting nothing beyond the bare minimum needed for the service to run. The competing option reaches for a much wider set of data, including behavioral patterns, device identifiers, and usage analytics that stretch beyond the essentials. In this category we rated Pi-hole 4/10 and NextDNS 7/10. The gap comes down to more than raw volume -- it is about the intent behind each piece of data and whether collecting it was ever justified.
How Strong Is the Encryption
Encryption protects user data both in transit and at rest, and the implementation quality varies dramatically between services. NextDNS implements stronger encryption measures, including more robust protocols for data in transit and better protection for stored data. The specific encryption implementations differ in their coverage (which data is encrypted), their strength (which algorithms and key lengths are used), and whether end-to-end encryption is employed (preventing even the service provider from accessing user content). Pi-hole scored 5/10 while NextDNS scored 8/10 for encryption.
Third-Party Data Sharing
A service's willingness to hand data to outside parties is a make-or-break privacy factor. That covers advertising networks, analytics providers, business partners, and what happens when governments come asking. NextDNS keeps a tighter lid on who can reach user data. These sharing habits shape security as much as privacy, since every extra party granted access becomes one more way a breach could happen. Scores: Pi-hole 6/10, NextDNS 9/10.
User Privacy Controls
How much say people have over their own data depends on whether the privacy controls a service offers are both present and actually useful. That spans opt-out switches for data collection, the ability to download and delete information, fine-grained permission settings, and how simply users can act on the rights granted to them under relevant privacy regulations. NextDNS delivers broader, easier-to-reach privacy controls. Scores: Pi-hole 7/10, NextDNS 10/10.
Transparency
At its core, transparency is about how clearly a service tells users what happens to their data. That means how understandable the privacy policy is, whether transparency reports exist, how promptly privacy inquiries are addressed, and whether changes to policy are flagged proactively. NextDNS is the stronger performer on transparency overall. Without clear and accessible privacy communication, informed consent and trust are impossible. Scores: Pi-hole 8/10, NextDNS 10/10.
What Their History Reveals
The record of privacy incidents, regulatory run-ins, and how a service answers vulnerabilities offers context you cannot ignore. NextDNS holds the stronger track record here, with a smaller count of incidents and a more responsible response to the problems that did surface. More often than not, what a service did in the past is the best guide to its future privacy conduct. Scores: Pi-hole 4/10, NextDNS 7/10.
The Final Verdict
When the full analysis is tallied, Pi-hole finishes at 34/60 and NextDNS at 51/60. On privacy grounds, the overall winner is NextDNS. Both products meet similar functional needs, yet the winner brings a more privacy-respecting approach to the dimensions that carry the most weight. Still, perfection is off the table for any service, so no matter which you choose you should actively set up its privacy options. Our advice is to round out your pick with additional privacy tools, a VPN, DNS-level ad blocker, and privacy-focused browser, to assemble a thorough privacy posture. Should your threat model call for the strongest privacy possible, weigh whether an even more privacy-focused alternative exists in this category beyond the two compared here.