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I really like NextDNS. It's almost like the Pi-Hole as a Service. It's very cheap ($1.99/mo) and has an app (macOS/Windows/iOS/Android) that provides filtering

I really like NextDNS. It's almost like the Pi-Hole as a Service. It's very cheap ($1.99/mo) and has an app (macOS/Windows/iOS/Android) that provides filtering/monitoring on the go, even when they aren't at home. Also block ads and malware sites. https://nextdns.io https://nextdns.io

CharlesW 3y ago
I also found NextDNS to be a great overall solution and highly recommend them. I augment NextDNS with Apple's parental controls (https://support.apple.com/en-us/105121 https://support.apple.com/en-us/105121). There's also the not-well-marketed Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 for Families, introduced 4 years ago today. I have not tried it, but it may be too simplistic for HN readers: https://blog.cloudflare.com/introducing-1-1-1-1-for-families https://blog.cloudflare.com/introducing-1-1-1-1-for-families At one point I used Circle (since acquired by aura.com) as well. It was okay, but had a terrible app.
jdoss 3y ago
I second NextDNS. You can have different profiles on your account so I have one just for the kids devices that is pretty locked down and one for me that is less restrictive for us adults in the family. I used to run a PiHole a few years back, but having NextDNS on the go is very very nice. I think my only gripe is it blocks a lot of email unsubscribe links so I have to allow list them to unsubscribe and some wifi hot spots with captive portals (like when flying) breaks third party DNS providers, so I have to turn it off to connect.
- philsnow 3y ago
  Between Multi-Account Containers (separate browser containers for more or less every single domain), using pihole for DNS, uBlock Origin, and Privacy Badger, I scarcely ever know right away why various sites don't work for me. I can sometimes be arsed to disable stuff until it works, but often it's a good pause where I consider whether I give enough of a crap about the site to bother.
- runjake 3y ago
  Yes! Great point! The profiles feature of NextDNS is huge. I have separate NextDNS profiles for kids, adult, IoT gear, smart TVs, and other stuff I don't trust.
gnicholas 3y ago
I've used NextDNS myself, and it seems very easy to enable/disable. Is there a way to turn it on so the kid cannot just disable it at any time, and then re-enable it without you being aware?
- stranded22 3y ago
  Depends on how you have it set up. In Apple devices, it is hidden in a few levels, they will NEVER find it without a lot of investigation. For Amazon devices, the only way I have found to use it is via an app - this can be turned off. Or, you could run it at the router level with some funky dns routing (my router allows different dns for different devices), but that might not work with the logging function.
  - gnicholas 3y ago
    On my iPhone it's literally an app and when you open it there's just one big toggle. There's another way to use it on iOS that's somehow more obscure?
    - mantra2 3y ago
      Yeah, generate a profile: https://apple.nextdns.io/ https://apple.nextdns.io/
stranded22 3y ago
Nextdns here too. It’s a good price and has been very helpful in locking down my son’s devices. Initially had an Amazon Fire 10 HD (actually, initially a 7) - the kids setup is very good, providing games, books and audio books but they do not offer on the iPad. So, iPad is set up to be blocked, with nextdns as a backup.
jmacd 3y ago
I am also a very happy NextDNS customer and have been for quite a number of years now. I think they really got the pricing right.

CharlesW 3y ago

I also found NextDNS to be a great overall solution and highly recommend them. I augment NextDNS with Apple's parental controls (https://support.apple.com/en-us/105121 https://support.apple.com/en-us/105121). There's also the not-well-marketed Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 for Families, introduced 4 years ago today. I have not tried it, but it may be too simplistic for HN readers: https://blog.cloudflare.com/introducing-1-1-1-1-for-families https://blog.cloudflare.com/introducing-1-1-1-1-for-families At one point I used Circle (since acquired by aura.com) as well. It was okay, but had a terrible app.

jdoss 3y ago

I second NextDNS. You can have different profiles on your account so I have one just for the kids devices that is pretty locked down and one for me that is less restrictive for us adults in the family. I used to run a PiHole a few years back, but having NextDNS on the go is very very nice. I think my only gripe is it blocks a lot of email unsubscribe links so I have to allow list them to unsubscribe and some wifi hot spots with captive portals (like when flying) breaks third party DNS providers, so I have to turn it off to connect.

philsnow 3y ago
Between Multi-Account Containers (separate browser containers for more or less every single domain), using pihole for DNS, uBlock Origin, and Privacy Badger, I scarcely ever know right away why various sites don't work for me. I can sometimes be arsed to disable stuff until it works, but often it's a good pause where I consider whether I give enough of a crap about the site to bother.
runjake 3y ago
Yes! Great point! The profiles feature of NextDNS is huge. I have separate NextDNS profiles for kids, adult, IoT gear, smart TVs, and other stuff I don't trust.

gnicholas 3y ago

I've used NextDNS myself, and it seems very easy to enable/disable. Is there a way to turn it on so the kid cannot just disable it at any time, and then re-enable it without you being aware?

stranded22 3y ago
Depends on how you have it set up. In Apple devices, it is hidden in a few levels, they will NEVER find it without a lot of investigation. For Amazon devices, the only way I have found to use it is via an app - this can be turned off. Or, you could run it at the router level with some funky dns routing (my router allows different dns for different devices), but that might not work with the logging function.
- gnicholas 3y ago
  On my iPhone it's literally an app and when you open it there's just one big toggle. There's another way to use it on iOS that's somehow more obscure?
  - mantra2 3y ago
    Yeah, generate a profile: https://apple.nextdns.io/ https://apple.nextdns.io/

stranded22 3y ago

Nextdns here too. It’s a good price and has been very helpful in locking down my son’s devices. Initially had an Amazon Fire 10 HD (actually, initially a 7) - the kids setup is very good, providing games, books and audio books but they do not offer on the iPad. So, iPad is set up to be blocked, with nextdns as a backup.

jmacd 3y ago

I am also a very happy NextDNS customer and have been for quite a number of years now. I think they really got the pricing right.