The unacceptable stagnation of NextDNS: Is this project abandoned?
This complaint is written out of profound frustration and severe disappointment regarding the current state of NextDNS. For users heavily relying on this service for network-wide protection and router-level DNS filtering, the absolute silence and lack of meaningful updates from the development team have become entirely unacceptable. It has been an incredibly long time since any real innovation or new features were added to the platform. While the core DNS resolution and blocklists still function, the platform itself feels completely abandoned.
Competitors are rapidly evolving, introducing advanced analytics, better interface options, deeper router integrations, and modern security protocols. Meanwhile, NextDNS remains stubbornly stuck in the past. Users are left with the exact same dashboard, the exact same feature set, and the exact same limitations that existed years ago. Where is the roadmap? Where is the communication from the developers? There is a growing consensus in the community that the project is on life support.
Entire network privacy and security architectures are entrusted to this service. Routers are configured, clients are deployed, and infrastructure is built around NextDNS, yet there is zero reassurance that the platform is actively maintained beyond merely keeping the servers online. The lack of transparency is absolutely alarming. Simple feature requests highly upvoted by the community have been ignored for years. Critical bug reports sit unresolved.
The IT and networking landscape changes rapidly, especially concerning encrypted DNS, malicious domain tracking, and zero-day threats. A security product cannot afford to remain stagnant. If it is not moving forward, it is actively falling behind. This stagnation is a serious technical failure that cannot be disputed. Relying on a static tool in a dynamic threat environment is a massive technical risk. The ecosystem needs active development, not just a service running on autopilot.
It is deeply disappointing to see a product with such incredible initial potential slowly fade into irrelevance simply because active development ceased. The community deserves a clear, honest answer about the future of this platform. If active development has concluded, transparency is required immediately so networks can be migrated to alternative solutions that actually prioritize progress, system updates, and user feedback. This lack of evolution is a technical reality that cannot be ignored or tolerated any longer.
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I also would love to hear a statement regarding this from the developers.
I really love this service and I think many of us do, but is there a sing of life or is this horse dying ? -
I know that their Ai Security Protection has been in "beta" stage for years, as have other parts of the dashboard. Honestly it's best to use your own DNS server or service connected to your own router physically. I would go with quad9, ControlD "if wanting dashboard", cloud flare, or google dns. Reason behind this over NextDNS is the fact of "stale" updates or feedback "no support" unless you pay for business. NextDNS is basically ran on Google and or AWS cloud as this is why dashboard exists, "which by the way your account creation defaults to logging and CDN". So you sign up creating an account with or without fake email, but it sets you up automatically with logs etc. So now you've made an account that the dashboard runs over google or amazon cloud "lord knows they get something out of it". DNS routing done by anycast servers nearby by third party vendors. Logs can be set to Switzerland, so what the company is based in the USA if you are using this in the USA and per the new bill passed a while back they can seize logs of DNS if wanted even in other countries "not that it matters anyway cause your stuff is visible unless paranoid". The worst of all part is the fact NextDNS has no third party transparency reports! They are but a website pointing you towards cloud services and a statement "of we will never sale your data". They might not care, but I guarantee you the vendors they use do, if not by DNS then by the use of the dashboard for sure. Things haven't been updated IMO in years because they used the funds from here to build the European model for business. Heck, they do not even reply or setup a bot to reply to people on forums, it is set and forget...they forget you. Many users have switched to CONTROL D but that is windstream Canadian setup clone and if you check both backgrounds of origins you will find shady shadows. Windstream had long reputation for poor services for years, in fact they went bankrupt in 2019 and sued. Deceptive marketing as well. NextDNS is registered as a Delaware LLC, founders are French leading to questions on privacy laws GDPR vs US laws and accountability. Their dns0.eu collapsed in October of 2025, they couldn't keep up that project so to me it sounds like they took money and ran providing services AS IS. Poitrey co founded dailymotion, they got massive sued for sharing pirated content. Nextdns now allows to block or bypass age restriction settings. This circumvents keeping children safe from going into adult or age restricted sites. I could go on on many reason why NOT to use the service anymore. You are basically sending your data to LLC anycast local providers that all run over the backbone of google and cloud flare anyways and this is all controlled using dashboard created in the cloud which again ran by google or AWS services. Just pick the closest DNS to you by pinging each IP and looking at the average time response. Also cloud flare is an authoritative DNS provider so If I was a business I'd choose them over nextdns, controld, google, etc. Quad9 is boasted as privacy as using over 20 sources to filter bad domains with, creator built it upon packet clearing house "impressive" but again if in the US even though company is int. Swiss land, your DNS data isn't as private as most believe. All that matter is encryption, dnssec, and fastest near you.
Content aside
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