Quad9 vs NextDNS: Privacy Comparison
In this comprehensive privacy comparison, we analyze Quad9 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 Headline Finding
The most useful starting point is the overall tally and the single dimension that decided it. Across the six privacy dimensions we score, NextDNS finishes ahead of Quad9, 48/60 to 36/60. That total reflects a side-by-side review in which one service is consistently the more privacy-respecting choice, even though both cover the same functional ground.
Most of the distance between these services opens up on Data Collection: Quad9 6/10 versus NextDNS 8/10. Data Collection is where they come closest, a mere 2-point gap (6 vs 8 out of 10). Everything below justifies these totals dimension by dimension.
What Gets Collected
Every privacy assessment starts with data collection. How much a service gathers, stores, and processes about its users is what ultimately drives the privacy risk of using it. NextDNS takes a leaner approach here, capturing only the data strictly required to make the service work. Its rival pulls in a wider net of information -- behavioral patterns, device identifiers, and usage analytics that go well past what the core features actually need. Our marks were Quad9 6/10 and NextDNS 8/10 in this area. What separates them is not merely how much is gathered but why it is gathered and whether it is truly needed.
How Strong Is the Encryption
Whether data is moving or resting, encryption is what keeps it safe, and the quality of that work swings widely across services. NextDNS brings more capable encryption to the table, pairing more resilient protocols for data in transit with better protection for data at rest. Where the two differ is in coverage (exactly which data is encrypted), in strength (the algorithms and key lengths chosen), and in whether end-to-end encryption is used at all (which stops even the service operator from seeing user content). On encryption, Quad9 scored 7/10 and NextDNS scored 9/10.
Who Else Gets Your Data
How services share data with third parties is a critical privacy dimension. This includes sharing with advertising networks, analytics providers, business partners, and in response to government requests. NextDNS maintains more restrictive policies regarding third-party data access. The data sharing practices affect not just privacy but also the security of user information, as each additional party with access represents a potential breach vector. Scores: Quad9 8/10, NextDNS 10/10.
User Privacy Controls
Individuals only hold real power over their data when a service's privacy controls are available and genuinely effective. The relevant tools include the option to opt out of data collection, ways to download and erase data, granular permission settings, and how readily users can exercise the rights afforded them by applicable privacy regulations. NextDNS offers more complete and approachable privacy controls. Scores: Quad9 4/10, NextDNS 6/10.
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: Quad9 5/10, NextDNS 7/10.
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: Quad9 6/10, NextDNS 8/10.
Our Bottom-Line Call
Our comprehensive analysis gives Quad9 a total score of 36/60 and NextDNS a total score of 48/60. The overall winner for privacy is NextDNS. While both services serve similar functional needs, the winner demonstrates a more privacy-respecting approach across the dimensions that matter most. That said, no service is perfect, and users should always configure privacy settings actively regardless of which option they choose. We recommend supplementing your choice with additional privacy tools, a VPN, DNS-level ad blocker, and privacy-focused browser, to build a comprehensive privacy posture. If your threat model requires the strongest possible privacy, consider whether an even more privacy-focused alternative exists in this category beyond the two compared here.