What is Unbound used for?

Unbound is a validating, recursive, and caching DNS resolver that supports DNS-over-TLS and DNS-over-HTTPS for encrypted client communication. It is a good fit for setting up a local or network DNS resolver, enhancing online privacy through encrypted DNS queries, and improving DNS robustness with DNSSEC validation and caching.

Is Unbound open source?

Yes. Unbound is open source under the BSD-3-Clause licence. Its source code is on GitHub at NLnetLabs/unbound and is written mainly in C.

Yes. Unbound is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host Unbound?

Yes. Unbound can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.

What is Unbound an alternative to?

Unbound is an open-source alternative to Gcore, NextDNS, NS1 and Amazon Route 53. Other open-source alternatives to Gcore include Technitium DNS Server, PowerDNS and bind9.

Is Unbound actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Unbound was on 13 October 2026. The project has 5k stars on GitHub.

Unbound: open-source alternative to Gcore, NextDNS, NS1

About Unbound

Unbound is a validating, recursive, and caching DNS resolver designed to be fast and lean, incorporating modern features based on open standards. It supports DNS-over-TLS and DNS-over-HTTPS to encrypt client communication, and includes standards like Query Name Minimisation and Aggressive Use of DNSSEC-Validated Cache.

It runs on all Linux and BSD distributions, as well as macOS, with packages available for most platforms. It is included in the base system of major BSD operating systems and standard repositories of most Linux distributions, with easy installation and configuration.

Key features

Validating, recursive, and caching DNS resolution
DNS-over-TLS and DNS-over-HTTPS support for encrypted communication
Query Name Minimisation to limit data exchanged with authoritative servers
Aggressive Use of DNSSEC-Validated Cache
Support for authority zones, including loading a copy of the root zone
Free and open source under the BSD license

Good fit for

Setting up a local or network DNS resolver
Enhancing online privacy through encrypted DNS queries
Improving DNS robustness with DNSSEC validation and caching

Built with: C tools
Tags: dns; resolver; privacy; security; open-source

Unbound: questions and answers

What is Unbound used for?: Unbound is a validating, recursive, and caching DNS resolver that supports DNS-over-TLS and DNS-over-HTTPS for encrypted client communication. It is a good fit for setting up a local or network DNS resolver, enhancing online privacy through encrypted DNS queries, and improving DNS robustness with DNSSEC validation and caching.
Is Unbound open source?: Yes. Unbound is open source under the BSD-3-Clause licence. Its source code is on GitHub at NLnetLabs/unbound and is written mainly in C.
Is Unbound free?: Yes. Unbound is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host Unbound?: Yes. Unbound can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.
What is Unbound an alternative to?: Unbound is an open-source alternative to Gcore, NextDNS, NS1 and Amazon Route 53. Other open-source alternatives to Gcore include Technitium DNS Server, PowerDNS and bind9.
Is Unbound actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Unbound was on 13 October 2026. The project has 5k stars on GitHub.