2 categories · RankedQuad9
Quad9 is a protective DNS service that filters domain lookups to block malware and other threats, with a focus on security and privacy · quad9.net ↗
Read the same way at every company size.
The standing depends on who is buying. Every model is asked the same questions for each company size.
DNSFilter is first at 40%.
DNSFilter is first at 52%. 0 of 14 models made it the first choice when asked directly.
Cisco Umbrella is first at 52%.
Why models recommend it
“For better privacy without logging concerns, services like Quad9, NextDNS (with logging disabled), and Mullvad DNS are generally recommended”Claude Haiku 4.5 · Negative question · first choice
“Quad9 (`9.9.9.9`) is a Swiss-based non-profit that blocks malicious domains, does not log IP addresses, and supports DoH/DoT.”Gemini 3.5 Flash · Negative question · first choice
“Consider these alternatives instead: Quad9 (non-profit, strong privacy, malware blocking)”Kimi K2 · Negative question · first choice
“Prefer non-profit or privacy-focused providers - Quad9 and similar”MiniMax M2.5 · Negative question · first choice
What gives them pause
“Avoid free/public options (e.g., Quad9, OpenDNS basic) for B2B”Grok 4.20 · Paraphrase question · warning
“Quad9 is oriented toward malicious-domain blocking... neither should be treated as a substitute for endpoint protection.”Perplexity Sonar · Negative question · warning
“considered to be a single-purpose, non-scalable resolver that is not suitable as a primary enterprise filtering service”Llama 4 Maverick · Negative question · warning
“it’s usually not the best fit for a mid-sized B2B company that wants enterprise policy control and growth into SSE”GPT-5.4 mini · Paraphrase question · warning
Also on the shortlist
The products named in the same answers as Quad9, over the 91 answers that named it, and how often each was the first choice instead.
| Product | Named together | Picked instead | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61 | 21 | View → | |
| 57 | 20 | View → | |
| 51 | 20 | View → | |
| 48 | 8 | View → | |
| 32 | 4 | View → | |
| 21 | 0 | View → | |
| 20 | 0 | View → | |
| 17 | 1 | View → | |
| 17 | 1 | View → | |
| 17 | 1 | View → |
What the models named instead of Quad9 →
A side-by-side page exists where both products are among a category's top eight.
At a glance
Stated on Quad9's own site, not checked by Gane.
- For
- Internet users
- Price stated
- free
- Free plan or trial
- free
- Hosting
- over 110 countries
How this is measured
Fourteen AI models from 12 labs are asked the same buying questions six ways, for three company sizes. Standings refresh every edition.
Gane sells AI visibility software. No company can pay to change a result.
Read the method →Sources returned with these answers
Fourteen of the fourteen models returned a source list in this edition: five return the pages they cited and nine the search results they consulted. These counts come from 78 of the 91 answers that named Quad9 and are not a share of its labels.
Domains cited
204 of the 220 domain citations in answers naming Quad9 came from a third party's page. Sixteen were to the publisher's own pages (the Gane Index), which the models cite like any other source; they are not counted as a third party.
Pages cited
Pages are listed as the models cited them.
By model
| Model | First choice | Alternative | Mention | Warning | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Perplexity Sonar | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Grok 4.20 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Mistral Small | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Kimi K2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| GPT-6 Luna | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 7 |
What it publishes
| Kind | Pages | Last 90 days | 2025-11 to 2026-10 | Latest | Categories named |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| News or press | 116 | undated | |||
| Blog | 2 | undated | |||
| Webinar or virtual event | 2 | undated | |||
| Report or ebook | 2 | undated |
How it is countedHide how it is counted
Every page quad9.net exposes, subdomains included. Kind is read from the address and title. The last 90 days, the latest date and the twelve months count pages by when they were published, from the site's feeds, a date in the address, or the page's own publication date, read from up to a hundred of its most recently changed pages; a page that says only when it last changed is counted in its kind but not in when, so the recent counts are a floor, and a kind none of whose pages gives a publication date reads undated. An event counts as online when its address or title says so (webinar, on demand, virtual or online summit); a conference, summit, trade show, expo or roadshow that does not say so is counted as a conference or event, which on a vendor's site is mostly in person. Read October 5, 2026.