Encrypted DNS Resolvers

DNS Provider Server Locations Privacy Policy Type Logging Protocols DNSSEC QNAME Minimization Filtering Source Code Hosting Provider
AdGuard Anycast (based in Cyprus) Commercial Some DoH, DoT, DNSCrypt Yes Yes Based on server choice Choopa, LLC, Serveroid, LLC
BlahDNS Finland, Germany, Japan Singapore
Hobby Project No DoH, DoT , DNSCrypt Yes Yes Ads, trackers, malicious domains Based on server choice only for DoH Choopa, LLC, Hetzner Online GmbH
Cloudflare Anycast (based in US) Commercial Some DoH, DoT Yes Yes Based on server choice ? Self
CZ.NIC Czech Republic
Association No DoH, DoT Yes Yes ? ? Self
Foundation for Applied Privacy Austria Non-Profit Some DoH, DoT Yes Yes No ? IPAX OG
LibreDNS Germany Informal collective No DoH, DoT Yes Yes Based on server choice only for DoH Hetzner Online GmbH
NextDNS Anycast (based in US) Commercial Based on user choice DoH, DoT, DNSCrypt Yes Yes Based on server choice ? Self
NixNet Anycast (based in US), US, Luxembourg Informal collective No DoH, DoT Yes Yes Based on server choice FranTech Solutions
PowerDNS The Netherlands Hobby Project No DoH Yes No No TransIP B.V. Admin
Quad9 Anycast (based in US) Non-Profit Some DoH, DoT, DNSCrypt Yes Yes Malicious domains ? Self, Packet Clearing House
Snopyta Finland Informal collective No DoH, DoT Yes Yes No ? Hetzner Online GmbH
UncensoredDNS Anycast (based in Denmark), Denmark, US
Hobby Project No DoT Yes No No ? Self, Telia Company AB

Encrypted DNS Client Recommendations for Desktop

{% include legacy/cardv2.html title="Unbound" image="/assets/img/legacy_svg/3rd-party/unbound.svg" description='A validating, recursive, caching DNS resolver, supporting DNS-over-TLS, and has been independently audited.' website="https://nlnetlabs.nl/projects/unbound/about/" forum="https://forum.privacytools.io/t/discussion-unbound/3563" github="https://github.com/NLnetLabs/unbound" %} {% include legacy/cardv2.html title="dnscrypt-proxy" image="/assets/img/legacy_svg/3rd-party/dnscrypt-proxy.svg" description='A DNS proxy with support for DNSCrypt, DNS-over-HTTPS, and Anonymized DNSCrypt, a relay-based protocol that the hides client IP address.' website="https://github.com/DNSCrypt/dnscrypt-proxy/wiki" forum="https://forum.privacytools.io/t/discussion-dnscrypt-proxy/1498" github="https://github.com/DNSCrypt/dnscrypt-proxy" %} {% include legacy/cardv2.html title="Stubby" image="/assets/img/legacy_png/3rd-party/stubby.png" description='An application that acts as a local DNS-over-TLS stub resolver. Stubby can be used in combination with Unbound by managing the upstream TLS connections (since Unbound cannot yet re-use TCP/TLS connections) with Unbound providing a local cache.' website="https://dnsprivacy.org/wiki/display/DP/DNS+Privacy+Daemon+-+Stubby" forum="https://forum.privacytools.io/t/discussion-stubby/3582" github="https://github.com/getdnsapi/stubby" %} {% include legacy/cardv2.html title="Firefox's built-in DNS-over-HTTPS resolver" image="/assets/img/legacy_svg/3rd-party/firefox_browser.svg" description='Firefox comes with built-in DNS-over-HTTPS support for NextDNS and Cloudflare but users can manually use any other DoH resolver.' labels="color==warning::icon==fas fa-exclamation-triangle::link==https://developers.cloudflare.com/1.1.1.1/privacy/firefox::text==Warning::tooltip==Cloudflare logs a limited amount of data about the DNS requests that are sent to their custom resolver for Firefox." website="https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-dns-over-https" privacy-policy="https://wiki.mozilla.org/Security/DOH-resolver-policy" forum="https://forum.privacytools.io/t/discussion-firefox-s-built-in-dns-over-https-resolver/3564" %}

Encrypted DNS Client Recommendations for Android

{% include legacy/cardv2.html title="Android 9's built-in DNS-over-TLS resolver" image="/assets/img/legacy_svg/3rd-party/android.svg" description="Android 9 (Pie) comes with built-in DNS-over-TLS support without the need for a 3rd-party application." labels="color==warning::icon==fas fa-exclamation-triangle::link==https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/docs/using#android_9_pie_or_later::text==Warning::tooltip==Android 9's DoT settings have no effect when used concurrently with VPN-based apps which override the DNS." website="https://support.google.com/android/answer/9089903#private_dns" forum="https://forum.privacytools.io/t/discussion-android-9s-built-in-dns-over-tls-resolver/3562" %} {% include legacy/cardv2.html title="Nebulo" image="/assets/img/legacy_png/3rd-party/nebulo.png" description='An open-source Android client supporting DNS-over-HTTPS and DNS-over-TLS, caching DNS responses, and locally logging DNS queries.' website="https://git.frostnerd.com/PublicAndroidApps/smokescreen/-/blob/master/README.md" privacy-policy="https://smokescreen.app/privacypolicy" forum="https://forum.privacytools.io/t/discussion-nebulo/3565" fdroid="https://git.frostnerd.com/PublicAndroidApps/smokescreen#f-droid" googleplay="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.frostnerd.smokescreen" source="https://git.frostnerd.com/PublicAndroidApps/smokescreen" %}

Encrypted DNS Client Recommendations for iOS

{% include legacy/cardv2.html title="DNSCloak" image="/assets/img/legacy_png/3rd-party/dnscloak.png" description='An open-source iOS client supporting DNS-over-HTTPS, DNSCrypt, and dnscrypt-proxy options such as caching DNS responses, locally logging DNS queries, and custom block lists. Users can add custom resolvers by DNS stamp.' website="https://github.com/s-s/dnscloak/blob/master/README.md" privacy-policy="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1050No_pU74CAWUS5-BwQWyO2x_aiMzWc/view" forum="https://forum.privacytools.io/t/discussion-dnscloak/3566" ios="https://apps.apple.com/app/id1452162351" github="https://github.com/s-s/dnscloak" %}

Apple's native support

In iOS, iPadOS, tvOS 14 and macOS 11, DoT and DoH were introduced. DoT and DoH are supported natively by installation of profiles (through mobileconfig files opened in Safari). After installation, the encrypted DNS server can be selected in Settings → General → VPN and Network → DNS.

Definitions

DNS-over-TLS (DoT)

A security protocol for encrypted DNS on a dedicated port 853. Some providers support port 443 which generally works everywhere while port 853 is often blocked by restrictive firewalls.

DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH)

Similar to DoT, but uses HTTPS instead, being indistinguishable from "normal" HTTPS traffic on port 443 and more difficult to block. {% include legacy/badge.html color="warning" text="Warning" tooltip="DoH contains metadata such as user-agent (which may include system information) that is sent to the DNS server." link="https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc8484#section-8.2" icon="fas fa-exclamation-triangle" %}

DNSCrypt

With an open specification, DNSCrypt is an older, yet robust method for encrypting DNS.

Anonymized DNSCrypt

A lightweight protocol that hides the client IP address by using pre-configured relays to forward encrypted DNS data. This is a relatively new protocol created in 2019 currently only supported by dnscrypt-proxy and a limited number of relays.