Self-hosted / open sourceDNS Privacy & FilteringHeadquarters: IN

Rethink DNS: sovereignty score and 8 European alternatives

Rethink DNS + Firewall + VPN is an open-source Android app from Celzero that combines three functions: a firewall, a network monitor and encrypted DNS. The firewall cuts off internet access per app, for example by screen state or a custom list of domains and IP addresses, without root. DNS queries are sent over DNS over HTTPS, Oblivious DoH, DNS over TLS or DNSCrypt to a resolver of your choice; by default this is the Rethink resolver with blocklists against malware and ads. Traffic can also be routed through SOCKS5, HTTP CONNECT or WireGuard. The app is distributed through Google Play, F-Droid and the project website.

Celzero Pvt Ltd is an Indian company, so the provider is based outside the EU. The app is open source under Apache-2.0. According to its privacy policy, the resolver does not log requests. It runs on third-party infrastructure: the stub resolvers on Cloudflare's network and the recursive resolver on Fly.io. If you choose your own resolver, where processing takes place depends on that choice.

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Sovereignty score

79 / 1000 = high exposure
100 = sovereign

Jurisdiction SOV-250
Headquartered outside the EU (IN)
Data residency SOV-3100
Hosting inside and outside Europe (EU, OTHER)
Cryptographic key sovereignty SOV-390
Self-hostable: encryption keys under your own control
Freedom from lock-in SOV-680
Open source: low switching costs
Source & runtime sovereignty SOV-4 · SOV-675
Source code auditable, forkable and self-hostable

SOV codes: the matching objective in the European Commission's Cloud Sovereignty Framework. Official source

How the score is calculated

Facts and evidence

Last checked October 5, 2026

Headquarters	IN (OTHER)Verified by hand
EU adequacy decision	No — no adequacy decisionVerified by hand
Sovereignty model	Open-source, distributedVerified by hand
Data hosting	EU, OTHERVerified by hand
Open-source	YesVerified by hand
GDPR-compliant	YesVendor-stated
Category	DNS Privacy & Filtering
Type	Product
Website	rethinkdns.com ↗

How we verify · Something wrong? Suggest a correction

Top EU-based & GDPR-compliant alternatives to Rethink DNS

The European alternatives to Rethink DNS come from our knowledge base of over 7,800 vendors. We only list vendors headquartered in the EU or the EEA; fully European-owned vendors rank before vendors with a foreign owner. For each alternative you see the country, the open-source status and a short description.

Score per alternative: 0 = high exposure, 100 = sovereign

25 European DNS Privacy & Filtering vendors are in the catalogue. View the whole category · Submit an alternative · View category on the map

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Why digital sovereignty matters with Rethink DNS

Rethink DNS is headquartered in IN, outside the EU. Contracts and data therefore also fall under non-European law. The GDPR applies through contractual terms, but in a conflict with local legislation you have less certainty than with a European vendor.

Rethink DNS hosts data in EU, OTHER. Exactly what stays within the EU — and what does not — is defined by the vendor's data processing agreement and sub-processor list, not by a setting you control yourself; check those documents for the precise scope, including backups, logs and support access.

Rethink DNS is open source. You can audit the source code, self-host the software and keep the encryption keys under your own control. Switching is easier because data and software are not tied to a single party.

What this means for your organisation depends on your whole stack and context. The free assessment weighs Rethink DNS together with your other vendors and gives a total score, a heatmap and the main risk drivers.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best European alternative to Rethink DNS?

It depends on your use case. Strong EU alternatives to Rethink DNS include AdGuard DNS, AdGuard Home and Blocky. On this page you can compare 8 EU alternatives by jurisdiction, data residency and open-source status.

Are there open-source alternatives to Rethink DNS?

Yes. Open-source EU alternatives to Rethink DNS include AdGuard Home and Blocky. These keep your data fully under your own control and let you self-host if you want to.

Is Rethink DNS GDPR-compliant and where is the data hosted?

Rethink DNS is headquartered in IN (OTHER) and hosts data in EU, OTHER. The vendor states it is GDPR-compliant, but the data falls under non-EU jurisdiction. For full EU data residency the EU alternatives on this page usually offer more certainty.

Details and sources

Verified by handHeadquarters, owner, hosting locations and licence have been checked by us against public sources. Free of charge and for every vendor, not a paid label. Nothing in this knowledge base is taken over automatically. Last checked on October 5, 2026.

Sources

Public sources used in the latest check of this record.

Compliance evidence

The links below point to the vendor's own public documents. We only record what we found: a missing link means "not found publicly", not "not compliant".

No public compliance evidence has been recorded for this vendor yet. Do you know its DPA or subprocessor list? Something wrong? Suggest a correction

Digital sovereignty in DNS Privacy & Filtering

DNS Privacy & Filtering: Privacy-friendly DNS services, ad blocking and DNS filtering. In this category the choice of vendor determines who has legal access to your data, where that data lives and how easily you can switch later.

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