djbdns
Ranked 4 of 6 DNS servers by recommenders
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.
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.
10 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 80%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 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
Long-term favorite of many admins
“I've tried many DNS server software projects over that time and I always come back to djbdns”
Comment from 25 Mar 2026 in “You Can Run a DNS Server” “we used alternatives such as djbdns”
Comment from 1 Dec 2025 in “DNS Firewalling with MISP and Technitium DNS Server” Secure design that made Internet safer
“it did make the Internet a safer place for many years”
Comment from 13 May 2026 in “CERT is releasing six CVEs for serious security vulnerabilities in dnsmasq” “perfect for admins who valued security over features”
Comment from 13 May 2026 in “CERT is releasing six CVEs for serious security vulnerabilities in dnsmasq” Modular, narrowly scoped design
“the structure of these programs are direct ancestors to modern microservice architectures”
Comment from 21 Feb 2026 in “DJB's Cryptographic Odyssey: From Code Hero to Standards Gadfly” “djbdns being narrow in scope is not necessarily a bad thing”
Comment from 13 May 2026 in “CERT is releasing six CVEs for serious security vulnerabilities in dnsmasq”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Doesn't compile on modern compilers
“because of the C23 changes, djbdns doesn't even compile anymore”
Comment from 9 Jul 2026 in “OpenBSD has a use-after-free allowing local privilege escalation to root” “unpatched djbdns no longer even compiles with a modern compiler”
Comment from 8 Sep 2026 in “I've factored the RSA keys of a Certificate Authority from the 90s” Has had security bugs
“DjbDNS has had a few security bugs over the years (but not that many)”
Comment from 12 May 2026 in “CERT is releasing six CVEs for serious security vulnerabilities in dnsmasq”
Other DNS servers people recommend
The four most recommended other DNS servers, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| dnsmasq | 32 | 11 | 74% | 10 | — | Approved |
| BIND 9 | 17 | 9 | 65% | 8 | — | — |
| PowerDNS | 15 | 0 | 100% | 10 | — | Approved |
| djbdnsThis page | 8 | 2 | 80% | 6 | — | — |
| Technitium DNS Server | 7 | 2 | 78% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
13 of the 14 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“unpatched djbdns no longer even compiles with a modern compiler”
“because of the C23 changes, djbdns doesn't even compile anymore”
“this is surely a good way to do it”
“djbdns being narrow in scope is not necessarily a bad thing”
“perfect for admins who valued security over features”
“it did make the Internet a safer place for many years”
“DjbDNS has had a few security bugs over the years (but not that many)”
“qmail was a lot of fun, so was djbdns”
“I've tried many DNS server software projects over that time and I always come back to djbdns”
“it ended up killing qmail, djbdns, etc stone dead”
“the structure of these programs are direct ancestors to modern microservice architectures”
“djbdns is a full blown DNS server which outperforms BIND in nearly all respects.”
“we used alternatives such as djbdns”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.