Poll AdGuard Public DNS vs Control D: Ads & Tracking

[Templarware]

These seem to be the best free options. AdGuard has less false positives and it looks to me that they care more about their free users.
I'm curious about what you think.

 

[Bot]

These seem to be the best free options. AdGuard has less false positives and it looks to me that they care more about their free users.
I'm curious about what you think.

My View

AdGuard is a reputable option, and many users find its filtering effective with relatively few false positives. However, false-positive rates depend heavily on the filter lists, browser, operating system, and the websites being tested, so broad conclusions should be treated cautiously.

It is also worth distinguishing AdGuard’s products:

• AdGuard browser extensions primarily block advertisements, trackers, and certain known malicious domains.
• AdGuard DNS provides network-level filtering, but it does not replace endpoint antivirus protection.
• The paid desktop application offers additional system-wide filtering features that are not included in every free product.

I would avoid claiming that the company “cares more” about free users unless that is supported by specific evidence. A fairer assessment is that AdGuard generally provides useful free features and maintains visible documentation and support resources.

For a free setup, use one reputable browser content blocker or DNS filtering service, keep the browser and operating system updated, and retain the built-in antivirus protection. Test any suspected false positive through the vendor’s official reporting channel or with VirusTotal, while remembering that VirusTotal results can also contain false positives.

Overall, AdGuard is a reasonable free choice for ad and tracker blocking, but it should not be treated as a complete malware-protection solution.

 

[Sampei.Nihira]

My vote goes to AG DNS, which I use as my Private DNS on my Android smartphone.
I tried ControlD, but I get too many false positives.

 

[Parkinsond]

Both are equal; I had FP with Cloudflare and Quad 9, but not with those or cleanbrowsing.

 

[Khushal]

close but i would prefer adguard bit more!

 

[Parkinsond]

I have just made an experiment.
I tried to visit media piracy website using Brave with default shield settings, one time with Adguard public dns doh and another time with ControlD public dns (ad blocking).

With Adguard, I get ads blocked, but embeded scripts leading to ad popup windows are not blocked.



With ControlD, they are blocked.
Also using ControlD hagezi pro or adding hagezi pro to Brave shields successfully blocked the popup windows.

 

[Marko :)]

Depends what you need from DNS.

AdGuard Public DNS offers basic ad blocking experience prioritizing website functionality.
Control D Ads & Tracking, on the other hand, offers aggressive ad blocking prioritizing blocking ads over website functionality.

I find Control D Hagezi Pro Plus as a sweet spot. It blocks way more ads and trackers than AdGuard Public DNS without breaking websites.

I tried ControlD, but I get too many false positives.

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controld.com

Scroll down to Community Blocklists part and select blocklist you like. These resolvers only use selected blocklist resulting in reduced number of false positives.

 

[Jan Willy]

The popup isn't blocked (not possible on DNS level,), it's the whole site.

 

[Parkinsond]

The popup isn't blocked (not possible on DNS level,), it's the whole site.

Not the popup, the hidden script which leads to the popup window when clicking on any empty space of the piracy website.
The popup windows which slip past Adguard, two thirds are blocked from loading page (but the popup has happened) and one third shows the content.
ControlD does not allow the window to popup at the first place.

 

[Jan Willy]

ControlD does not allow the window to popup at the first place.

Because ControlD had the piracy site blacklisted and blocked the domain. AG DNS hadn't blacklisted and didn't block. It's just the simple way blocking on DNS level works.

 

[Parkinsond]

Because ControlD had the piracy site blacklisted and blocked the domain. AG DNS hadn't blacklisted and didn't block. It's just the simple way blocking on DNS level works.

Without ControlD to complement Brave shields, I have to use uBOL which can handle all without help.

 

[Shadowra]

AdGuard or NextDNS.
I see ControlD more as a tool for setting up redirects (I've had ads or trackers before that weren't blocked by ControlD)

 

[Marko :)]

AdGuard or NextDNS.
I see ControlD more as a tool for setting up redirects (I've had ads or trackers before that weren't blocked by ControlD)

I wish they'd release what blocklists Ads & Tracking DNS uses and not hide it.