PrivacyTools.io
Reviewed by Marcus Holmberg
Replace today: Google DNS Cloudflare DNS

Best Secure & Encrypted DNS in 2026

Private alternatives to Google DNS, Cloudflare DNS, vetted against our public criteria.

Grouped by threat level

Covered Easy start and good defaults for everyone
Hardened Some setup and real gains for the willing

How they compare

Tool Filtering Based in Cost
NextDNS 		Optional United States Freemium
AdGuard DNS 		Ad-block Cyprus Freemium
Pi-hole 		Optional · Free
dnscrypt-proxy 		Optional · Free
Unbound 		None Netherlands Free
RethinkDNS 		Optional · Free
Mullvad DNS 		Optional Sweden Free
Quad9 		Malware Switzerland Free
Nebulo 		None · Free
DNSCloak 		None · Free
Control D 		Optional Canada Freemium
Cloudflare 		None United States Free
Firefox 		None · Free

Your DNS resolver sees every domain you visit, and by default those lookups travel unencrypted for your network and your internet provider to read or tamper with at will. Secure, encrypted DNS hides them in transit and lets you choose a resolver that does not keep a record of where you go. These are the resolvers and clients worth using, from filtering services to software you run yourself.

Why you cannot just turn DNS logging off

There is no switch on your internet provider that says stop watching my lookups, because seeing them is a normal part of how the default plumbing works. Plain DNS was designed in an era with no thought for privacy, so every query goes out in the clear and anyone on the path can read or rewrite it. Changing a setting on your own machine will not encrypt a protocol that was never built to be encrypted. The only real fix is to move your lookups onto an encrypted channel and point them at a resolver you actually chose, which is what every option on this page lets you do.

How we pick these

Every resolver and client here is measured against our public listing criteria, with weight given to a clear, public logging policy and a jurisdiction that does not undermine it. We favour support for modern encrypted protocols and software whose behaviour can be inspected, run by operators with a record of keeping their word rather than a slogan on a landing page. Self-hosted options like Pi-hole and Unbound earn extra credit because they remove the third party from the equation entirely. We list a resolver only when its privacy claims survive a closer look.

What are the protocols, briefly?

DNS-over-TLS, or DoT, encrypts your lookups on a dedicated port, which is clean to manage but sometimes blocked on locked-down networks. DNS-over-HTTPS, or DoH, sends them over the same port as normal web traffic, so they blend in and are very hard to block. DNSCrypt is an older but robust open method that some clients still favour, with the v2 protocol in wide use. Any of these stops your network from reading or altering your queries; the differences are about how easy each is to block and to manage, not about which one is private.

Encryption is only half the job

Encrypting your DNS hides the lookups from everyone on the wire, but the resolver you point them at still sees every one of them. That is why the resolver’s logging policy matters as much as the encryption itself: a private channel to a resolver that sells your history defeats the purpose. Choose one that publicly commits to not keeping or selling your queries, and weigh where it is based, since the law of that country shapes what it can be forced to hand over. Running your own resolver removes that trust question altogether, which is why the self-hosted picks above exist.

How to switch in a few minutes

Pick your resolver, then decide where it lives. For whole-home coverage, set it once on your router so every device inherits it, much as open router firmware lets you control DNS for the entire network. For coverage that travels with you onto untrusted Wi-Fi, set it per device in your operating system or browser instead. If you are moving off Google’s resolver in particular, our Google DNS alternatives page walks through the change, and pairing encrypted DNS with a no-logs VPN closes the remaining gap, since the VPN hides the connection itself once DNS is sealed.

Frequently asked

Does encrypted DNS make me anonymous?
No, and it is important to be clear about that. It hides which sites you look up from your network and your internet provider, but the resolver you choose still sees those lookups. The real benefit is twofold: nobody on the wire can read or tamper with your queries, and you get to pick a resolver that promises not to log or sell them.
DoH or DoT, which should I use?
DoH runs over normal HTTPS, so it blends in with ordinary web traffic and is the hardest to block, which makes it the safest default on restrictive networks. DoT uses its own dedicated port, which is cleaner to manage and inspect on a home network you control. Either one stops your network from seeing your lookups, so the choice comes down to your environment.
Will encrypted DNS slow down my browsing?
Rarely in a way you would notice. The major encrypted resolvers run servers around the world, so lookups usually stay fast no matter where you are. If a connection ever feels sluggish, switching to a resolver with a server closer to you almost always fixes it. The encryption itself adds very little overhead.
Can encrypted DNS block ads and trackers too?
Some resolvers can. A filtering resolver refuses to answer lookups for known ad and tracker domains, so those requests fail before your browser ever connects. Applied at this layer it covers every app on the device, not just the browser. It is not a full ad blocker on its own, but it removes a large slice of unwanted traffic network-wide.
Should I set it on each device or on my router?
Both approaches are valid and suit different needs. Setting it on your home router covers every device at once, including ones that cannot be configured individually, which is the simplest way to protect a whole household. Setting it per device follows you onto other networks, such as public Wi-Fi, where the local resolver is untrusted. Many people do both.
Is a no-logging promise from a resolver trustworthy?
It is only as good as the operator behind it, which is why jurisdiction and reputation matter as much as the policy text. A clear, public commitment from a provider with a track record is worth far more than a vague one. If you want to depend on nobody's promise at all, running your own resolver removes the third party entirely, at the cost of a little setup.