# AdGuard DNS alternatives: what AI models name instead, October 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition. 243 of the 252 answers in the 1 category where AdGuard DNS holds a standing named it neither first nor as an alternative; these are the first choices those answers made. Page: https://it-ai-index.com/vendors/adguard-dns/alternatives/

## Named instead, most often (every category and segment added)

- DNSFilter: 88
- Cisco Umbrella: 42
- Cloudflare Gateway: 30
- Cloudflare One: 7
- NextDNS: 6
- Quad9: 6

## DNS filtering

**Small business**: 82 of 84 answers did not name AdGuard DNS.

- DNSFilter: first choice in 41 of those 82
- Cloudflare Gateway: first choice in 15 of those 82
- Control D: first choice in 5 of those 82
- Cisco Umbrella: first choice in 3 of those 82
- Cloudflare One: first choice in 3 of those 82
- NextDNS: first choice in 3 of those 82
- Quad9: first choice in 3 of those 82
- Cloudflare: first choice in 2 of those 82

**Mid-market**: 77 of 84 answers did not name AdGuard DNS (AdGuard DNS is #7 of 9 at 0%).

- DNSFilter: first choice in 33 of those 77
- Cloudflare Gateway: first choice in 11 of those 77
- Cisco Umbrella: first choice in 3 of those 77
- NextDNS: first choice in 3 of those 77
- Quad9: first choice in 3 of those 77
- Cloudflare: first choice in 2 of those 77
- Cloudflare One: first choice in 2 of those 77
- Cisco Secure Access – DNS Defense: first choice in 1 of those 77

**Enterprise**: 84 of 84 answers did not name AdGuard DNS.

- Cisco Umbrella: first choice in 36 of those 84
- DNSFilter: first choice in 14 of those 84
- Cisco Secure Access: first choice in 4 of those 84
- Cisco Secure Access – DNS Defense: first choice in 4 of those 84
- Cloudflare Gateway: first choice in 4 of those 84
- Cloudflare One: first choice in 2 of those 84
- Zscaler Internet Access: first choice in 2 of those 84
- Cloudflare: first choice in 1 of those 84

Published under CC BY 4.0. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.