Software Alternatives & Startups

Dark Reader VS NextDNS

Compare Dark Reader VS NextDNS and see what are their differences

Dark Reader

Reduce eye strain in your browser with this extension that provides a dark theme for browsing.

Dark Reader Landing page
Rating
0 reviews
Pricing
Open source
NextDNS

Block ads, trackers and malicious websites on all your devices.

NextDNS Landing page
Rating
0 reviews
Pricing
Open source
Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Which is more popular?

Based on our record, NextDNS should be more popular than Dark Reader. It has been mentioned 517 times since March 2021.

social mentions
199 vs 517
Browser Extensions popularity
100% vs 0%

Base details

Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.

Dark Reader
NextDNS
Website darkreader.org nextdns.io
Pricing
Open source
Open source Official pricing
Company Startup from the United States
Listed in

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

Dark Reader 5 features
NextDNS 5 features
  • Eye Strain Reduction
    Dark Reader converts bright websites to dark mode, which reduces eye strain and improves visual comfort, especially in low-light environments.
  • Customizable Settings
    The extension offers various customization options like brightness, contrast, and sepia filters, allowing users to adjust the appearance to their liking.
  • Improved Battery Life
    Using dark themes on OLED screens can help save battery life because pixels consume less power when displaying black.
  • Open Source
    Being an open-source project, Dark Reader allows for community contributions and transparency, ensuring better security and continuous improvements.
  • Cross-Browser Compatibility
    Dark Reader is available for multiple browser platforms such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge, ensuring a consistent experience across different devices.

Possible disadvantages

  • Performance Impact
    The extension can sometimes slow down browser performance, particularly on resource-intensive websites or less powerful devices.
  • Inconsistent Behavior
    Not all websites are fully compatible with Dark Reader, leading to occasional rendering issues or incomplete dark mode implementations.
  • Learning Curve
    New users might find the range of settings and customization options overwhelming and might need some time to adjust the extension to suit their needs.
  • Limited Support for Dynamic Content
    Websites with dynamic content or frequent updates may not immediately reflect changes in dark mode, requiring manual adjustments or refreshes.
  • Privacy Concerns
    As with any browser extension, there are potential privacy concerns if the extension collects browsing data, though Dark Reader's open-source nature mitigates this risk to some extent.
  • Privacy Protection
    NextDNS prevents trackers, malicious websites, and ads from reaching your devices, ensuring better privacy and security online.
  • Customization
    NextDNS offers extensive customization options, allowing users to configure the DNS filtering rules to suit their specific needs, including custom blocklists and allowlists.
  • Performance Insights
    Provides detailed analytics and logs, helping users monitor DNS queries, block rates, and other performance metrics.
  • Multiple Devices
    Can be used across various devices and operating systems, including Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and more.
  • Parental Controls
    Includes parental control features to block adult content, social media, and gaming sites, making the internet safer for children.

Possible disadvantages

  • Cost
    While there is a free tier, accessing full features and unlimited queries requires a paid subscription, which might be a downside for budget-conscious users.
  • Learning Curve
    The extensive customizability may pose a learning curve for users who are not tech-savvy, requiring some technical understanding to optimize settings effectively.
  • Reliance on Cloud
    NextDNS operates through cloud-based servers, which means users must rely on their internet connection and NextDNS's server uptime for uninterrupted protection and performance.
  • Data Retention Concerns
    Even though privacy is a key feature, some users might still have concerns about data retention and the logging of DNS queries.
  • Potential for Overblocking
    Aggressive filtering can sometimes block legitimate websites or services, requiring users to manually adjust settings or whitelist certain domains.

Analysis

An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.

Dark Reader
NextDNS

Overall verdict

  • Dark Reader is generally well-reviewed and considered good by users who prefer browsing with a dark theme.

Why this product is good

  • Dark Reader is a popular browser extension designed to provide a dark mode for websites that do not natively support it. It helps reduce eye strain during prolonged browsing sessions, especially in low-light conditions, by inverting bright colors and creating a consistent dark theme across websites.

Recommended for

  • Users who experience eye strain from bright screens
  • Individuals who frequently browse in low-light environments
  • People who prefer a consistent dark theme across different websites
  • Users looking for customizable dark mode options for web pages

Overall verdict

  • NextDNS is a recommended service for improving online privacy and security, offering extensive features and a user-friendly interface. It balances robust protection with ease of use, making it suitable for a wide range of users.

Why this product is good

  • NextDNS is considered a good option for those looking to enhance their internet privacy and security. It offers advanced features like customizable filtering, privacy protection, and ad-blocking. It also provides real-time analytics and threat intelligence to help users understand and control their internet usage. Its ease of use and flexibility make it accessible for both tech-savvy individuals and those looking for simple solutions to improve their digital safety.

Recommended for

  • Individuals concerned about privacy
  • Families wanting to implement parental controls
  • Users looking to block ads and trackers
  • Tech enthusiasts seeking customizable DNS solutions
  • Businesses aiming for enhanced network security

Videos

Walkthroughs and reviews on video.

Dark Reader 1 video + Add
NextDNS 4 videos + Add

Dark Mode for Google Chrome — Dark Reader

How To Set NextDNS on Your PC

More videos

  • Review - NextDNS: A review and walkthrough
  • Review - NextDNS Review and Configuration
  • Review - NextDNS IS The Future of DNS!!

Category popularity

How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.

Score bands 0–20 21–40 41–50 51–60 61–100
Dark Reader
NextDNS
100% 100%
0% 0%
0% 0%
100% 100%
100% 100%
0% 0%
0% 0%
DNS
100% 100%

User comments

Share your experience with using Dark Reader and NextDNS. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

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Reviews and articles

External articles and on-site reviews we used to compare the two products.

Dark Reader no reviews yet
NextDNS no reviews yet
  • Top 10 Productivity Apps for MacOS 2025
    dev.to · Apr 2025

    I live for dark mode. Anyone who’s worked with me knows how much I reject working in light mode. Seriously, I don’t know how you light-moders stay relaxed with so much brightness. That said, when it comes to browsing...

  • 7 Best Dark Mode Extensions For Chrome
    thedroidguy.com · Feb 2023

    Using an on-demand dark styles theme generator, this eye-care extensions for google chrome turns on night mode for web pages. Bright color are turned into high contrast, easy-to-read hues at night thanks to Dark Reader.

  • The 10 best dark mode extensions for Google Chrome in 2022
    chromeready.com · Apr 2022

    Dark Reader also provides you with other controls that let you tweak your display however you want. They allow you to change any website’s brightness, contrast, font, and other display elements. You can also store the...

  • 22 NextDNS Alternatives

    NextDNS app intuitively encrypts all DNS queries on all networks and manages settings from your cell phones and tablets. NextDNS brings next-level protection from almost all kinds of security threats while blocking...

  • Free Privacy App for Any Device.
    medium.com · Jan 2020

    The other option is to host your own PiHole. NextDNS’s service is modelled on PiHole, and openly admit this in their FAQ. I personally host my own PiHole on a RaspberryPi 3b+ and have my traffic in my apartment routed...

Social recommendations and mentions

Recommendations tracked on public social media and blogs since March 2021.

Dark Reader 199 mentions
NextDNS 517 mentions
  • iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 released
    Just a heads up, you can have dark mode on every website on iOS Safari with Dark Reader: https://darkreader.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 1 day ago
  • Ask HN: How can I browse HN in dark mode?
    Firefox desktop and mobile let you install addons like https://darkreader.org/ which work great. - Source: Hacker News / 2 days ago
  • Dark Mode Sucks
    Install Darkreader, enable Light mode https://darkreader.org/ I think most users are capable of that :). - Source: Hacker News / 10 months ago

View more

  • Mullvad – Shutting down our public encrypted DNS
    I've been using NextDNS [0] for a long time. It's worth the price because you can set up all kinds of different blocking profiles and have different ones on different devices, allows you to have overrides for local network items (or... - Source: Hacker News / 11 days ago
  • Cloudflare flags archive.today as "C&C/Botnet"; no longer resolves via 1.1.1.2
    I'll throw https://nextdns.io into the mix. Been very happy with it. Supports DOH, block lists, among a plethora of other features. - Source: Hacker News / 6 months ago
  • Vienam Bans Unskippable Ads, Requires Skip Button to Appear After 5 Seconds
    While on the subject, does anybody know any good ad-blocking solutions for mobile phones? So far I have experimented with NetShield from ProtonVPN and https://nextdns.io/ with varying results. There are also features baked into certain... - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago

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Alternatives to Dark Reader and NextDNS

When comparing Dark Reader and NextDNS, you can also consider the following products.