Comparison

DNS Survey vs AdsBlockers

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ€” with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

DNS Survey

Features
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DNS Survey reads a domain's public DNS records and explains, in plain English, how that domain handles email. Type a domain and you get: โ€ข A plain-English summary โ€” who hosts the mailboxes, whether sender authorisation (SPF) is published, whether an anti-spoofing policy (DMARC) is in place and how strict it is, and whether outgoing mail is signed (DKIM). โ€ข Third-party senders โ€” the outside services allowed to send email as that domain, with the evidence for each. Shared sending platforms are labelled separately, because they prove mail is being sent without revealing which application sends it. โ€ข Vendors by category โ€” products the domain shows evidence of using, from mailbox hosting and CRM to payments, security and developer tools, each shown with the record that identified it. โ€ข The raw records โ€” SPF, DMARC, MX, NS, CNAME, A, TXT and DKIM, including SPF lookup-limit counting and DMARC policy warnings. Touch and hold to copy any value. Everything comes from public DNS. The app never connects to mail servers, sends email, or asks for credentials. Nothing is stored. No history, no cache, no account โ€” a result exists only while you are looking at it. Detection is best-effort: a match on a verification token means the domain was verified with that service at some point, not that it is in use today.

About

AdsBlockers

Features
Read full description

AdsBlockers is a device-wide ad and tracker blocker for iPhone and iPad. It works at the DNS level, so ads are blocked system-wide โ€” in apps, browsers, and anywhere else your device makes network requests. How it works When an app on your device tries to resolve a domain name (like a tracking or ad-serving server), the DNS proxy checks it against locally stored blocklists. If the domain is blocked, the request is silently dropped โ€” the ad never loads. If it's allowed, the query is forwarded to your chosen DNS resolver over encrypted DNS-over-HTTPS. The included Safari content blocker adds a second layer of protection specifically for web browsing inside Safari, catching cosmetic and path-level ad rules that DNS-only blocking can't reach. What's included โ€” Filter lists from EasyList, EasyPrivacy, StevenBlack hosts, OISD, AdGuard DNS filter, and 1Hosts Lite. Toggle each list on or off independently. โ€” Custom allowlist and blocklist for per-domain control. โ€” Pause protection temporarily (or until you turn it back on). โ€” Kill switch stops all internet if the DNS filter loses resolver access, preventing unfiltered traffic. โ€” Daily blocked-count charts and a 7-day activity log on the Activity screen. Your privacy Nothing leaves your device. There are no accounts, no analytics, and no server logs. The only third-party DNS resolver you interact with is the one you choose โ€” Cloudflare, Google, Quad9, or AdGuard DNS. Queries are encrypted by default via DNS-over-HTTPS. The app cannot see your browsing content, search history, usernames, or passwords โ€” only the domain names in DNS queries, and only those that were blocked appear in the local activity log (kept for 90 days). Requirements iOS 18 or later. A physical iPhone is required to use the DNS proxy; the Safari content blocker works on iPad without one.

Screenshots

DNS Survey3 screens
AdsBlockers4 screens

Verdict

The call

DNS Survey and AdsBlockers are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters โ€” price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them โ€” neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
DNS Survey versus AdsBlockers: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDNS SurveyAdsBlockers
PriceFreeFree
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad โ€” better
Requires iOS17.016.4 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size1 MB96 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSTEVEN EDWARD WHITTLENoah M

In-app purchases

None

DNS Survey

No in-app purchases

None

AdsBlockers

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is DNS Survey free?
DNS Survey is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is AdsBlockers free?
AdsBlockers is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do DNS Survey or AdsBlockers have ads?
Neither DNS Survey nor AdsBlockers shows ads.

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