Free DNS filtering appliance
Block ads and malware for every device.
A free, self-hosted DNS filter for homes and small businesses. Import the appliance, point your router at it, choose what to block, and every device that uses your network's DNS is filtered. No account required.
Features
Everything in one dashboard.
Filtering for the whole network, set per device, with the logs to see what it did.
-
Ads and trackers
Ad and tracking domains blocked across the whole network, so pages load lighter on every device.
-
Malware and phishing domains
Domains on public malware and phishing lists are blocked before a connection starts.
What is DNS filtering? -
A profile per device
Each device or group gets its own categories, allow and deny rules, and schedules.
-
Category blocking
13 groups and 75 categories to choose from per profile, with domain lists for 7 of them today: advertising, phishing, malware, social media, adult content, gambling and cryptojacking.
-
Query log and reports
See what each device looked up and what was blocked, with scheduled PDF reports.
-
Hardened appliance
A minimal, read-only system with no SSH. Signed app updates, installed when you choose.
Who it's for
Homes, families and small offices.
Home networks
Ads, trackers and known bad domains blocked for laptops, phones, smart TVs and consoles, with nothing to install on each. What is DNS filtering?Families
Block adult content, gambling or social media for each device, on a schedule. The lists are still small. How web filtering worksSmall businesses
Office-wide filtering on the virtualization you already run, with reports per device. The small business stackHow it works
Every lookup passes one filter.
Devices ask the appliance for an address. Allowed lookups go on to your upstream resolver; blocked ones stop there, before any connection is made.
Comparison
How it compares.
VeloGuardian DNS next to the most common DNS filters for homes and small businesses.
| Feature | VeloGuardian DNS | Pi-hole | AdGuard Home | NextDNS | Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-hosted | Yes (OVA appliance) | Yes (manual install) | Yes (manual install) | No (cloud) | No (cloud) |
| Setup | Import OVA and boot | Linux install | Binary and config | Sign up and configure | Change DNS settings |
| Operating system included | Yes | No (bring your own) | No (bring your own) | Not applicable | Not applicable |
| Custom blocklists | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Web dashboard | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Price | Free | Free | Free | Freemium | Free |
Getting started
Running in three steps.
-
Import the appliance
Import the OVA into VMware, VirtualBox or Proxmox, boot it and set a static IP from the console.
-
Point your router
Set your router's DNS to the appliance's address. Every device that uses the network's DNS goes through it.
-
Choose what to block
Open the dashboard, pick categories for each profile and add your own rules.
- Hypervisor
- VMware ESXi 6.5 or later, VMware Workstation, VirtualBox, Proxmox
- Resources
- 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 8 GB disk
- Network
- One network adapter in bridged mode
- Also available
- A Linux installer for an existing amd64 host
FAQ
Common questions.
Yes. There are no paid tiers, no feature gates and no account. The appliance runs on your own hardware. It checks daily for signed updates and sends a small daily check-in (an appliance ID, its version and hostname); both can be switched off in Settings from version 0.6.3.
Four public lists ship with it: Steven Black, OISD Small, Phishing Army Extended, URLhaus. They refresh every day. You choose which categories each profile blocks, add your own lists by URL, and set allow and deny rules for single domains.
Blocklists refresh daily on their own. App updates are Ed25519-signed packages: the appliance checks for them daily and you install them from the dashboard.
Not noticeably. Cached and blocked answers come back in milliseconds, and blocked ads and trackers never load at all.
Yes. VeloGuardian DNS becomes your network's DNS server and forwards allowed lookups to the upstream resolvers you choose in Settings, for example Cloudflare or Google.
Yes. Any device that uses your network's DNS is filtered, including smart TVs, game consoles and IoT devices that cannot run an ad blocker. Devices or browsers set to their own encrypted DNS go around it.
No. They are unrelated products from different companies. GoGuardian is a paid, cloud-based content filter for school Chromebooks. VeloGuardian DNS is a free, self-hosted DNS filtering appliance for homes, families and small businesses that runs on your own hardware.
Both are self-hosted DNS filters. VeloGuardian DNS comes as a ready-made virtual appliance: import it into VMware, VirtualBox or Proxmox and it is running. Pi-hole is installed on a Linux system or Raspberry Pi you set up yourself. VeloGuardian DNS includes a hardened, read-only system, signed app updates and a web dashboard out of the box.
Yes. From the dashboard you choose categories per profile (13 groups and 75 categories, 7 with domain lists today), add blocklists by URL, allow or deny single domains, set schedules, and review the query log.
No. It is built for homes, families and small businesses. It needs 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 8 GB disk and is free, with no licensing, no per-seat pricing and no sales process. Download the OVA and deploy it on any supported hypervisor.
Yes, with limits worth knowing. You can block categories such as adult content, gambling or social media for each device, on a schedule, and it works in every browser on the network. Domain lists exist today for adult content, gambling and social media, and are still small, and a device or browser set to its own encrypted DNS can bypass any DNS filter, including this one.
Protect your network today.
Download VeloGuardian DNS. Free, with no account.