CleanBrowsing vs OpenDNS: Which DNS Service Better Protects Your Family?

Last edited: 2025-06-15 16:10:35

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When it comes to protecting your children online through DNS-based filtering, two names consistently rise to the top: CleanBrowsing and OpenDNS. Both offer free parental control solutions, but they take fundamentally different approaches to keeping your family safe online. Understanding these differences is crucial for making the right choice for your household.

Understanding DNS-Based Parental Controls

Before diving into the comparison, it's helpful to understand how DNS filtering works. Think of DNS (Domain Name System) as the internet's phone book – when your child types in a website address, the DNS server translates that into the actual location of the website. Parental control DNS servers act as gatekeepers, checking every website request against their database of blocked content and either allowing or denying access based on their filtering rules.

This approach offers several advantages over software-based solutions. DNS filtering works at the network level, meaning it protects all devices connected to your home network without requiring individual software installations. It's also much harder for tech-savvy children to bypass compared to browser-based filters.

The Contenders: A Quick Overview

CleanBrowsing positions itself as a dedicated parental control service, offering multiple filtering levels designed specifically for families. Their name reflects their singular focus on providing clean, safe internet browsing experiences for children.

OpenDNS, now owned by Cisco, started as a general DNS service but has evolved to include robust security and parental control features. Their FamilyShield offering represents their family-focused solution within a broader suite of DNS services.

Blocking Effectiveness: The Numbers Tell a Story

The most critical question for any parent is simple: How well does each service block inappropriate content? Based on comprehensive testing across 1,000 known adult websites using DNSFilterTest.com, the results reveal interesting patterns.

OpenDNS FamilyShield demonstrates impressive raw blocking power, successfully preventing access to 90% of tested adult websites. This represents one of the highest blocking rates available among free DNS services, making it particularly effective at its core mission of blocking explicit content.

CleanBrowsing offers two distinct approaches with two different DNS servers. Their Adult Filter matches OpenDNS with an 84% blocking rate, while their Family Filter maintains the same 84% rate but extends protection beyond just adult content. This difference in approach, rather than blocking rate, becomes crucial when considering your family's specific needs.

The Safe Search Battle: Where Differences Emerge

Here's where the philosophical differences between these services become apparent. Safe search enforcement ensures that when your children use Google, Bing, or other search engines, explicit images and websites are filtered from the results. This protection is often more important than blocking specific websites because children frequently encounter inappropriate content through innocent searches. Luckily for us we can quickly test this also at DNSFilterTest.com.

CleanBrowsing takes a comprehensive approach to safe search enforcement. Their Family Filter forces safe mode on Google, YouTube, Bing, DuckDuckGo, and Yandex, creating a protective bubble around your child's search experience. Even their more lenient Adult Filter enforces safe search on Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, and Yandex, though it notably excludes YouTube from forced safe mode.

OpenDNS FamilyShield takes a surprisingly different approach – it doesn't enforce safe search on any search engines. This means while it excellently blocks known adult websites, your children could still encounter explicit content through image searches or by discovering new sites through search results. This represents a significant gap in protection that many parents might not initially consider.

Mixed Content Sites: The Modern Parenting Challenge

Today's internet landscape includes many websites that contain both appropriate and inappropriate content. Reddit, X/Twitter, Imgur, and similar platforms allow user-generated content that can range from educational discussions to explicit material. How DNS services handle these "mixed content" sites reveals their overall philosophy toward internet safety.

CleanBrowsing's Family Filter takes a protective stance, blocking access to mixed content sites including Reddit, Imgur, DeviantArt, dating sites, and file-sharing platforms like Archive.org. This approach prioritizes safety over access, acknowledging that children might stumble upon inappropriate content even on otherwise legitimate platforms.

The Adult Filter version of CleanBrowsing takes the opposite approach, allowing access to these mixed sites while still blocking dedicated adult content. This gives families flexibility to choose their comfort level.

OpenDNS FamilyShield allows access to all mixed content sites, taking a more permissive approach that trusts parents to handle these platforms through other means or considers them acceptable risks.

Speed and Performance: The Daily Experience

A fast internet speed is pretty nice to have. Slow DNS responses can make web browsing frustratingly sluggish, potentially leading to complaints from family members about the "internet being slow."

CleanBrowsing delivers notably different performance depending on which service you choose. Their Adult Filter provides exceptionally fast response times, averaging 69 milliseconds – the fastest among all tested services. However, their Family Filter operates at a more moderate 122 milliseconds, possibly due to the additional processing required for more comprehensive filtering.

OpenDNS FamilyShield is a bit slower, with 137 milliseconds average response time. While not the fastest, this represents perfectly acceptable performance for most families and shouldn't noticeably impact browsing experience.

What is important to add is that the response time is very much dependent on your location. So, the measured speeds above are not the same for everyone. Therefore, OpenDNS might be faster in your case.

Making the Right Choice for Your Family

The decision between CleanBrowsing and OpenDNS ultimately depends on your family's specific needs and your comfort level with different approaches to online safety.

Choose OpenDNS FamilyShield if:

  • Your primary concern is blocking dedicated adult websites with maximum effectiveness
  • You prefer to handle search engine safety and mixed content sites through other methods
  • You want a straightforward, no-nonsense blocking solution
  • You're comfortable with a more permissive approach to borderline content

Choose CleanBrowsing Family Filter if:

  • You want comprehensive protection that includes search engine safety
  • You prefer blocking mixed content sites to eliminate potential exposure
  • You prioritize thorough protection over internet speed
  • You want a solution specifically designed for family use

Choose CleanBrowsing Adult Filter if:

  • You want strong adult content blocking with maximum internet speed
  • You're comfortable managing mixed content sites yourself
  • You still want search engine protection (except YouTube)
  • You prefer a balance between protection and access

Implementation Considerations

Both services are straightforward to implement. You'll need to change your router's DNS settings to use either service, which typically involves accessing your router's admin panel and updating the DNS server addresses. This change will affect all devices connected to your home network.

Consider that DNS filtering, while effective, isn't foolproof. Tech-savvy children might find ways around these restrictions using VPNs, alternative DNS servers, or mobile data. The most effective approach combines DNS filtering with ongoing conversations about internet safety and appropriate monitoring based on your children's ages and maturity levels. One filtering and monitoring solution for your home network is the free open-source software AdGuard Home (read more here).

The Verdict: Different Tools for Different Families

Rather than declaring a single winner, it's more helpful to recognize that CleanBrowsing and OpenDNS represent different philosophies in family internet protection. OpenDNS excels at its core mission of blocking adult content with impressive effectiveness, while CleanBrowsing provides more comprehensive protection that extends to search engines and mixed content sites.

Your choice should align with your family's specific needs, your children's ages and tech sophistication, and your comfort level with managing internet safety. Many successful families use either service effectively – the key is understanding what you're getting and supplementing with additional measures as needed.

Remember that no DNS service is a complete solution for family internet safety. The most effective approach combines technical tools like DNS filtering with education, communication, and age-appropriate monitoring to create a comprehensive strategy that evolves with your children's growing independence and digital literacy.

Alternatives to CleanBrowsing and OpenDNS

CleanBrowsing and OpenDNS are not the only DNS providers. Other big names include Cloudflare and AdGuard. I have compared seven different DNS providers in this review. One DNS provider has an even higher porn website blocking rate than OpenDNS and enforces safe mode to additional search engines to the ones CleanBrowsing’s Family Filter does, so check it out!