When comparing Pi-hole vs Blokada, the Slant community recommends Blokada for most people. In the question“What are the best ad blockers?” Blokada is ranked 4th while Pi-hole is ranked 5th. The most important reason people chose Blokada is:
Older version Blokada 4 still free. Blokada 5 free without VPN option. Best solution recommended is either Blokada 6 or Blokada 6+, based on personal experience with all these versions and trying other apps.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro You can select a DNS like 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8 and others
Pro Does not need a Pi
You can install this on any posix device that can run bash scripts eg your linux or unix server it also can run on windows with the subsystem for linux or with a docker container.
Pro Blocks ads for all network devices and browsers
No need to install blockers at the browser or OS level. Pi-hole works at the DNS (network) level so you only have to maintain and manage one authority.
Pro Frequent updates are easily applied
It takes one mouse-click to keep pi-hole updated and current with new blocked-site lists.
Pro Low-cost deployment
Installs on a $35 Raspberry PI SBC. Open-source software (donations accepted).
Pro Can whitelist blocked sites on the fly
If a blocked site comes up and pihole is set to display the block page, you can add it to the whitelist there and then.
Pro Can be used with a vpn from anywhere in the world
Pro Easy installer
It includes an easy shell installer.
Pro Regex blocking
Supports now regex blocking.
Pro Free and open source
Older version Blokada 4 still free. Blokada 5 free without VPN option. Best solution recommended is either Blokada 6 or Blokada 6+, based on personal experience with all these versions and trying other apps.
Pro Doesn't require root
Pro Great features
Blokada works across all of your apps, not only the browser! It doesn't require root, supports both wifi and mobile networks, and is perfectly safe and simple to use. Just turn it on, and it will do the job silently!
Pro Blocks Ads
Blokada efficiently blocks ads, tracking and malware. It saves your data plan, makes your device faster and protects your privacy.
Pro Blokada 6 Plus no longer has a locaVPN. VPN is now Cloud based
Individual sites or subsites can be manually blocked or whitelisted. Additional Blocklists have been added, others updated.
Improved performance with Cloud-based functions.
Pro Plus adds Cloud DNS
Great support from the developers using Blokada Talk or Telegram.
Pro Secure
Pro AdAway without Rooting
The equivelent of AdAway(best adblocker I've ever used for android) but without having to root your phone.
Cons
Con Requires some advanced devOps skills
The tutorial and installation is pretty straight-forward but requires some technical chops to install. You should be comfortable with the Linux command line.
Con Can inadvertantly block sites that are required for other web-based services
For example, using pi-hole for websites that rely on 3rd-party sites can be broken by pi-hole if the 3P site references black-listed sites.
Con Unreliable because of Pi architecture
If you use it with a Pi, however, Pi-hole can run on any POSix device that can run curses like: Any Unix/Linux server, Windows servers with the Linux subsystem, routers, even toasters if they run on Linux.
Con Setup horror
Con Pages
It blocks the ads but doesn't delete the location of an ad.
Con Cannot use with VPN
Because Blokada works by using an internal VPN to act as a filter, it is not possible to use Blokada if you're using an actual VPN.