Notes 
(Desktop) Validating, recursive, caching DNS resolve with support for DNS-over-TLS. Designed to be fast, lean, and secure Unbound incorporates modern features based on open standards. Unbound was recently audited.
Reviewed by Marco Wollank
Unbound
nlnetlabs.nl/projects/unbound/about 3 ratings so far*
Rate Unbound: No account needed
Threat level
Hardened
A hardened pick. Worth the effort once you have chosen to shrink your footprint on purpose. Enough for most people. Threat levels
Our take
Running your own validating recursive resolver is the way to stop trusting anyone else’s DNS, and Unbound is the lean, well-audited tool for it with DoT support. The cost is that you become the operator: setup, caching behavior, and upstream choices are now your job, which is more than most people want. The right call for self-hosters and small networks chasing real independence; unnecessary if a reputable public resolver already satisfies you.
GitHub at a glance
NLnetLabs/unbound BSD-3-Clause dnsdns-privacydnssecrecursorresolver
Stars
5,030
+14 this week
Forks
471
75 watching
Last commit
today
healthy
Latest release
release-1.26.2
13d ago, 19 total
Star history
Issues
68% closed
346
open
729
closed
+9 / -5
opened / closed, last 4 weeks
Opened vs closed, last 12 weeks
Commits, last 26 weeks
309 commits, active 24 of 26 weeks
125 contributors since Jun 2017
Languages
- C 83.8%
- Shell 6.1%
- M4 2.4%
- Other 7.7%
Updated daily from the GitHub API. Star tracking since Jun 15, 2026.
Website at a glance
nlnetlabs.nl
B score 70
Solid website security headers
Graded by Mozilla HTTP Observatory, tested 2d ago
Inspect this site yourself
Measures the security configuration of the tool's own website, not the privacy of the product itself. A strong tool can still score low here.
Unbound alternatives
NextDNS The major advantage of NextDNS over AdGuard DNS is to be able to configure the service to your needs via parental controls, website restrictions or block whole categories of…
AdGuard DNS Easy to setup within minutes. Comes with setup guides for all systems. You only need to enter two IP adresses.
Quad9 Based in Switzerland. Supports: DNS-over-TLS (DoT), DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) and DNSCrypt.
Nebulo (Android) Non-root, small-sized DNS changer utilizing DNS-over-HTTPS and DNS-over-TLS.
DNSCloak (iOS) Allows for the use for dnscrypt-proxy on an iPhone or iPad, which gives users the ability to encrypt their DNS requests through the use of an on-device VPN profile.
Control D Customizable encrypted DNS resolver supporting DoH, DoT, DoQ, and legacy DNS. Offers a free no-log tier and paid plans with a dashboard, per-device profiles, and content filtering.
Unbound license, in plain English
BSD-3-Clause Permissive
Permissive: use and modify freely. You just keep the notice and do not use the authors' names to endorse your version.
Permits
- Commercial use
- Modification
- Distribution
- Private use
Requires
- License and copyright notice
Does not provide
- Endorsement using author names
- Liability cover
- Warranty
Why it matters: Permissive licensing lets anyone reuse this, including inside closed products. That is freedom to build on, but no guarantee that downstream copies stay open.
Plain-language summary of the project's license, not legal advice. Read the full text for the exact terms.
* Average ratings will show on this page once the threshold of 5 ratings is reached.