Blocky vs Pi-hole: Lightweight DNS Blocking
Source: Dev.to
Pi‑hole vs Blocky – Quick Comparison
Quick Verdict
Pi‑hole is the better choice for most users — it has a polished web UI, massive community, extensive block‑list ecosystem, and handles everything a home network needs.
Blocky wins on resource efficiency and configuration‑as‑code — it’s a single Go binary with a YAML config, no database, no web UI.
- Choose Blocky if you want minimal overhead and a GitOps‑friendly DNS blocker.
- Choose Pi‑hole for the best overall experience.
Overview
| Pi‑hole | Blocky | |
|---|---|---|
| Description | The most popular DNS‑level ad blocker for self‑hosting. Provides a web dashboard, query logging, analytics, DHCP, and a large ecosystem of community blocklists. Built with PHP and FTLDNS (forked dnsmasq). | A lightweight DNS proxy and ad blocker. A single Go binary with zero dependencies — no database, no web server, no PHP. Configuration lives in a single YAML file. |
| Links |
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Blocky | Pi‑hole |
|---|---|---|
| Web UI | No (API only) | Yes (full dashboard) |
| Configuration | YAML file | Web UI + CLI |
| Ad blocking | Blocklists (same format as Pi‑hole) | Blocklists (gravity system) |
| Query logging | File / stdout | Database (SQLite/FTL) |
| Statistics / analytics | Prometheus metrics | Built‑in dashboard |
| DHCP | No | Yes |
| DNS‑over‑HTTPS upstream | Yes | Via cloudflared proxy |
| DNS‑over‑TLS upstream | Yes | Via stubby proxy |
| DNSSEC | Yes | Via upstream |
| Per‑client / group rules | Yes (client groups) | Yes (v5 group management) |
| Conditional forwarding | Yes | Yes |
| Custom DNS records | Yes (in config) | Yes (local DNS) |
| Regex filtering | Yes | Yes |
| Whitelist / blacklist | Yes (in config) | Yes (UI) |
| Multi‑instance sync | Yes (Redis) | No (separate instances) |
| Health check | Built‑in endpoint | Via API |
| Docker image | spx01/blocky | pihole/pihole |
| Runtime | Go (single binary) | PHP + dnsmasq + lighttpd |
| RAM (idle) | ~10‑20 MiB | ~60‑100 MiB |
| License | Apache‑2.0 | EUPL‑1.2 |
Installation Complexity
-
Blocky – Deploy as a single container with a YAML config file. No volumes are required (stateless). No web installer, no admin password – just write the config and start. The learning curve is mainly the YAML options.
-
Pi‑hole – Requires more initial steps: set environment variables for the admin password, mount volumes for configuration and log persistence, and map ports. The web UI then guides you through the remaining setup. More steps, but more approachable for non‑technical users.
Performance and Resource Usage
| Metric | Blocky | Pi‑hole |
|---|---|---|
| RAM (idle) | ~10‑20 MiB | ~60‑100 MiB |
| RAM (large blocklists) | ~30‑50 MiB | ~200‑400 MiB |
| CPU | Minimal | Low |
| Disk | 0 MiB (stateless) | ~1 GiB (with logs) |
| Startup time | ~1 s | ~10‑30 s |
Blocky is dramatically lighter. It loads blocklists into memory and runs as a single process. Pi‑hole runs multiple processes (lighttpd, PHP‑FPM, pihole‑FTL) and maintains a SQLite DB for query logging.
Community and Support
-
Pi‑hole – By far the larger community: 50 k+ GitHub stars, active subreddit, extensive documentation, hundreds of third‑party guides. If you have a problem, someone else has likely solved it.
-
Blocky – Growing community (~5 k GitHub stars). Documentation is good but less extensive. The maintainer is responsive. Community is more technically oriented, with fewer beginner guides.
Use Cases
Choose Blocky If…
- You want the lightest possible DNS blocker.
- You prefer configuration‑as‑code (YAML in Git).
- You don’t need a web UI (use Grafana for dashboards).
- You run multiple instances and want Redis‑based sync.
- You’re on resource‑constrained hardware.
- You want DNS‑over‑HTTPS/TLS upstream without extra proxies.
Choose Pi‑hole If…
- You want a web dashboard for monitoring and management.
- You need DHCP in the same tool.
- You want access to the largest blocklist ecosystem.
- Non‑technical household members need to manage whitelist/blacklist.
- You value the richest set of community resources and guides.
- You prefer point‑and‑click configuration.
Final Verdict
-
Pi‑hole for most users. The web UI, DHCP integration, community resources, and blocklist ecosystem make it the most complete solution. It’s what most people think of when they hear “self‑hosted ad blocking.”
-
Blocky for infrastructure‑minded users. If you manage your infrastructure as code, want Prometheus metrics in Grafana, and value minimal resource usage, Blocky is elegant. It pairs well with existing monitoring stacks and GitOps workflows.
FAQ
Can Blocky use Pi‑hole’s blocklists?
Yes. Blocky supports the same blocklist format as Pi‑hole. Most community blocklists (Steven Black, OISD, etc.) work with both.
How do I get a dashboard for Blocky?
Blocky exposes Prometheus metrics. Set up Prometheus + Grafana and import a Blocky dashboard (community dashboards are available). It requires more setup than Pi‑hole’s built‑in dashboard but integrates with your existing monitoring.
Can Blocky replace Pi‑hole entirely?
For DNS blocking, yes. Blocky doesn’t include DHCP — if you rely on Pi‑hole’s DHCP you’d need to move that to your router or a separate DHCP server.
Which blocks more ads?
They use the same blocklists, so blocking effectiveness is identical. The difference lies in management and monitoring, not raw blocking capability.
Related Articles
- How to Self‑Host Pi‑hole
- How to Self‑Host Blocky
- Pi‑hole vs AdGuard Home
- AdGuard Home vs Blocky
- Unbound vs CoreDNS
Here’s the same content, tidied up while preserving the original structure and meaning:
- vs-coredns/
- [Best Self-Hosted Ad Blocking](https://dev.to/best/ad-blocking/)