# djbdns 8 Hacker News commenters recommended djbdns and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months. **Verdict:** Admins recommend it as a secure, fast DNS server that outperforms BIND in most respects. Main caveats: it no longer compiles on modern compilers and has had security bugs. ## Why people recommend it - Long-term favorite of many admins (2 comments): "I've tried many DNS server software projects over that time and I always come back to djbdns" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47519564)) "we used alternatives such as djbdns" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46114157)) - Secure design that made Internet safer (2 comments): "it did make the Internet a safer place for many years" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48116772)) "perfect for admins who valued security over features" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48118771)) - Modular, narrowly scoped design (2 comments): "the structure of these programs are direct ancestors to modern microservice architectures" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47102383)) "djbdns being narrow in scope is not necessarily a bad thing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48120626)) ## What people warn about - Doesn't compile on modern compilers (2 comments): "because of the C23 changes, djbdns doesn't even compile anymore" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48840373)) "unpatched djbdns no longer even compiles with a modern compiler" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49617628)) - Has had security bugs (1 comments): "DjbDNS has had a few security bugs over the years (but not that many)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48114942)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [dnsmasq](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dnsmasq.md): 32 recommend - [BIND 9](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bind.md): 17 recommend - [PowerDNS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/powerdns.md): 15 recommend - [Technitium DNS Server](https://hackerapproved.com/p/technitium-dns-server.md): 7 recommend - [Knot DNS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/knot-dns.md): 6 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "djbdns", https://hackerapproved.com/p/djbdns/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).