# Pi-hole

> A DNS server for your home network that blocks ads and trackers for every device

Category: Self hosted apps (https://aiarabicdev.com/self-hosted)
Canonical page: https://aiarabicdev.com/self-hosted/pi-hole
Tags: dns, ad-blocking, privacy, networking, raspberry-pi

Pi-hole answers the DNS requests of every device on your network and refuses the ones that point to known ad and tracking domains. It runs on a Raspberry Pi or any small Linux box, under the EUPL-1.2, with a web dashboard that shows what each device is asking for.

## Facts

- Licence: EUPL-1.2
- Language: Shell
- Cost: Free and open source
- Self hostable: yes
- Added: 2026-10-25
- Last checked: 2026-10-25

## Links

- Website: https://pi-hole.net
- Source: https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole
- Docs: https://docs.pi-hole.net

## Blocking at the network, not in the browser

A browser extension protects one browser. Pi-hole sits one level lower: you tell your router, or each device, to use it as its DNS server, and from then on every lookup for a blocked domain gets an empty answer. That covers smart TVs, phones and apps that never accept an extension.

The dashboard is half the value. You see which device queries which domain and how often, which is a quick way to learn how chatty a TV or a cheap camera really is. It suits anyone who wants network wide blocking and some visibility, with block lists you choose and an allow list for the sites that break.

## What running it involves

The resource cost is tiny: a few hundred megabytes of RAM and very little disk, which is why a Raspberry Pi is the classic host. It also runs in Docker. The real cost is that it becomes critical infrastructure: when Pi-hole is down, name resolution fails and the whole household notices.

Keep it on the local network or behind a VPN. A DNS server open to the internet gets abused for amplification attacks within days. Plan a second instance or a fallback DNS on the router if others depend on it, and back up your lists and settings with the built in Teleporter export.

## Reach for it when

- you want ads and trackers blocked on devices that cannot run an extension
- you want to see which devices on your network talk to which domains
- you have a Raspberry Pi or a small always on Linux machine

## Watch out for

- it cannot block ads served from the same domain as the content, such as most YouTube ads
- if it goes down, DNS goes down for every device that uses it
- aggressive block lists break logins and checkouts, so expect to maintain an allow list

## Get started

Install on Linux:

```sh
curl -sSL https://install.pi-hole.net | bash
```

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