Control D
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 5 of 7 network ad blockers by recommenders
People recommend Control D for DNS-level ad and tracker blocking, custom blocklists and a free tier. Caveat: some find it slow.
People recommend Control D for DNS-level ad and tracker blocking, custom blocklists and a free tier. Caveat: some find it slow.
17 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 16
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 94%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 16 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 16 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Blocks ads and trackers at DNS level
“Brave + NextDNS/ControlD is what I've found the be the ultimate ad blocking combo”
Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “How I block all online ads” “There is a simple and free method to block anything you like at DNS level”
Comment from 2 Jul 2026 in “A new Android malware from Google” “I use ControlD and it's blocking 38% of all DNS requests in my household.”
Comment from 9 Nov 2025 in “Samsung Family Hub for 2025 Update Elevates the Smart Home Ecosystem” - Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “How I block all online ads”
Editable blocklists and free tier
“they maintain ad block lists that you can edit as you see fit to add things or relax things that may cause issues”
Comment from 29 Dec 2025 in “List of domains censored by German ISPs” “I ended up just switching to Control D's free tier using the Hagezi blocklist.”
Comment from 6 Oct 2026 in “System-level ad-blocking in Android” More features than alternatives
“controld overall has more features”
Comment from 29 Dec 2025 in “NextDNS is my new favourite DNS service · Stan's blog” “ControlD has them beat there”
Comment from 7 Oct 2026 in “System-level ad-blocking in Android”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Feels slow and heavy
“ControlD’s is slow and feels so heavy.”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “NextDNS is my new favourite DNS service · Stan's blog” Routing all DNS traffic through it
“not sure I wanna keep tunneling all my DNS queries to ControlD perpetually”
Comment from 16 Aug 2026 in “Firefox for iOS now has a native adblocker”
Other network ad blockers people recommend
The four most recommended other network ad blockers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pi-hole | 136 | 26 | 84% | 12 | 5 yrs7 owners | Approved |
| NextDNS | 81 | 14 | 85% | 12 | 3 yrs4 owners | Approved |
| AdGuard Home | 48 | 3 | 94% | 13 | — | Approved |
| AdGuard DNS | 26 | 3 | 90% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Control DThis page | 16 | 1 | 94% | 7 | — | Approved |
What people said
15 of the 21 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“ControlD has them beat there”
“I ended up just switching to Control D's free tier using the Hagezi blocklist.”
“I've been using Control D and have been happy with it so far”
“everything is blocked by default (ControlD dns provider) and only a few websites are accessible”
“not sure I wanna keep tunneling all my DNS queries to ControlD perpetually”
“There is a simple and free method to block anything you like at DNS level”
“ControlD’s is slow and feels so heavy.”
“they maintain ad block lists that you can edit as you see fit to add things or relax things that may cause issues”
“I migrated from the former to the latter about six months ago, but both are a solid choice.”
“controld overall has more features”
“I tried controld and wasn't impressed.”
“enjoy ad/track free in all networks”
“Brave + NextDNS/ControlD is what I've found the be the ultimate ad blocking combo”
“Controld can route the dns through different countries”
“I use ControlD and it's blocking 38% of all DNS requests in my household.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.