# Control D: how AI models rank it, November 2026

Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. Named in 30 judge labels across 2 categories by 14 of 14 models. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/control-d

## Standing by category

| Category | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [DNS filtering](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/network/dns-filtering/index.md) | 2% | 6 | 10% | 29 |
| [Managed DNS](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/network/managed-dns/index.md) | 0% | 41 | 0% | 1 |

## What the models said for it

- "NextDNS or Control D: Customizable filtering ... with strong no-log policies, audits" (Grok 4.20, DNS filtering)
- "Industry-leading malware block rate (99.98% per Nexxwave testing, June 2025)" (MiniMax M2.5, DNS filtering)
- "1. Control D - Highly recommended for limited budgets" (MiniMax M2.5, DNS filtering)
- "Highly customizable with support for modern protocols (DoH, DoT, DoQ)... may require more initial setup." (Grok 4.20, DNS filtering)

## And against it

- "also receive mixed reviews, with similar concerns about support and occasional reliability issues" (Mistral Small, DNS filtering)
- "their privacy language has changed over time... premium/custom setups can involve account data" (GPT-5.4 mini, DNS filtering)
- "though less common for general B2B IT operations" (Qwen 3.7 Flash, DNS filtering)

## By model

| Model | First choice | Alternative | Mention | Warning | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Perplexity Sonar | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Grok 4.20 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Mistral Small | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Kimi K2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| GPT-6 Luna | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |

## Sources returned with these answers

The sites and pages cited by the answers that named Control D, from 82 of the 89 answers that named it (only the models that return a source list).

### Domains cited

- dnsfilter.com: 53
- controld.com: 41 (its own site)
- sourceforge.net: 31
- powerdmarc.com: 29
- cybersecuritynews.com: 22
- dope.security: 19
- g2.com: 19
- reddit.com: 19
- simplyit.biz: 19
- insight.tmcnet.com: 17

### Pages cited

- https://dnsfilter.com/: 43
- https://powerdmarc.com/best-dns-security-solutions: 27
- https://simplyit.biz/resources/best-dns-filtering-small-business-2026: 19
- https://insight.tmcnet.com/insight/buyers-guide/categories/dns-filtering-and-protective-dns-services: 17
- https://itdaily.com/news/network/adv-best-dns-filtering-solutions-for-enterprise-networks: 17
- https://geekflare.com/cybersecurity/best-dns-filtering-software: 15
- https://controld.com/pricing: 13
- https://comparitech.com/net-admin/dns-filtering-tools: 12

## In its own words

What Control D's own pages state, read 2026-10-05. Stated by the vendor, not checked by the index.

- Positioning: DNS filtering for Every OS (https://controld.com/)
- For: engineering teams, MSPs, and universities worldwide (https://controld.com/)
- Price stated: Flat fee per endpoint. Start free. (https://controld.com/)
- Starting price: 30 (https://controld.com/)
- Free plan or trial: Start Free Trial (https://controld.com/)
- Certifications: ISO 27001, ISO 27701, GDPR, SOC 2 Type II
- Hosting: 3 Data Storage Regions, New York (US), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Sydney (Australia)
- Customers named: GitHub, Network Information Technologies, LLC, Pinnacle ICT, Pennsylvania College of Technology, Good Heart Technology, Massey Hall & Roy Thomson Hall, 7 Security Group

## What it publishes

Every page controld.com exposes, read 2026-09-29: 1723 addresses. By kind, pages and the last 90 days:

- blog: 182 pages, 9 in the last 90 days, latest 2026-08-28
- case study: 5 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest 2026-05-18
- conference or event: 1 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest undated
- report or ebook: 2 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest 2023-09-15
- comparison: 61 pages, 1 in the last 90 days, latest 2026-07-30
- template or tool: 1039 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest 2026-02-05
- glossary or explainer: 30 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest 2025-11-21
- podcast or video: 15 pages, 6 in the last 90 days, latest 2026-09-17
- Recent: 2026-09-17 podcast or video: Podcast episode 16 micah czigan https://controld.com/blog/podcast-episode-16-micah-czigan
- Recent: 2026-09-07 podcast or video: Podcast episode 15 konrads klints https://controld.com/blog/podcast-episode-15-konrads-klints
- Recent: 2026-08-28 blog: Control d tailscale partnership https://controld.com/blog/control-d-tailscale-partnership
- Recent: 2026-08-19 podcast or video: Podcast episode 14 mohana balakrishnan https://controld.com/blog/podcast-episode-14-mohana-balakrishnan
- Recent: 2026-08-05 blog: Byod dns security policy https://controld.com/blog/byod-dns-security-policy
- Recent: 2026-08-01 podcast or video: Podcast episode 13 paul bleicher https://controld.com/blog/podcast-episode-13-paul-bleicher

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, November 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/it.