NextDNS vs SafeDNS
NextDNS
nextdns.ioSafeDNS
safedns.comSide by side
| Figure | NextDNS | SafeDNS |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | £1.79/mo | $1.20/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 5 |
| Spec score · Internet Filtering Software | 9.0 (#5) | 8.1 (#20) |
| Spec score · DNS Filtering Services | 9.0 (#6) | 8.0 (#15) |
| Spec score · DNS Filtering Software | 9.0 (#4) | 8.0 (#11) |
| Support | The pricing page lists community support for Free and Pro, and email support for Business and Education. | The site advertises 24/7 support; Pro + priority phone support lists a 2 minute SLA response. |
Plans
NextDNS
- FreeFree
- FreeFree
- Pro£1.79 a month
- Business£17.90 a month
- Education£17.90 a month
SafeDNS
- Basic$1.20 a month
- Pro$2 a month
- Pro +$2.60 a month
- Safe Home$25.95 a year
- Safe Family$35.95 a year
In their own words
NextDNS
NextDNS filters internet traffic to block security threats, ads, and trackers, and offers controls for supervising children's access across devices and networks. Its listed threat protections include malware, phishing, cryptojacking, DNS rebinding, lookalike domains, typosquatting, domain generation algorithms, and newly registered domains. Parental controls include category blocking, SafeSearch, YouTube Restricted Mode, and blocks for specific sites, apps, and games, plus scheduled Recreation Time. DNS-over-HTTPS and DNS-over-TLS provide encrypted DNS connections. Users can disable logging or choose retention from one hour to two years and select storage in the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, or Switzerland. The free plan costs nothing and includes 300,000 queries per month; after the limit, it continues answering as a non-blocking DNS service. Pro costs £1.79 a month. Business and Education each cost £17.90 a month, for every 50 employees or 250 students respectively. Free and Pro list community support; Business and Education list email support.
SafeDNS
SafeDNS filters internet access at the DNS layer using AI-powered domain categorization and malicious-resource detection. Its ProtectiveDNS service is described as blocking malicious domains and DNS attacks in real time. The business offering lists 66 web-filtering categories, including phishing and malware protection. AppBlocker can deny access to service-related domains, with over 80 apps grouped into 11 categories. Users can set filtering schedules and safe-search controls, create custom blocklists, and review daily, weekly, and monthly usage statistics. SafeDNS supports Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, routers, web, API, and SDK access. Business plans include features such as roaming clients and Active Directory integration, while Pro + adds SIEM integration that sends query logs and security event data to an Amazon S3 bucket every 10 minutes. Safe Home costs $25.95 a year; Safe Family costs $35.95 a year. Business plans start at $1.20 per user per month and have minimum user counts. A 15-day trial is available, but there is no free plan. SafeDNS lists households, businesses, schools, nonprofits, and service providers among its audiences.