This guide breaks down the real difference between OISD and Hagezi. Not size. Not hype. Philosophy. OISD delivers stable, daily driver protection with minimal breakage while Hagezi cuts deeper into telemetry, trackers, and hidden analytics at the cost of friction. You’ll see exactly which blocklist fits your threat model, your tolerance for breakage, and the level of operational quiet you need.
You use a DNS blocklist to cut surveillance and garbage traffic before it hits your device. A blocklist acts like a filter. It strips the obvious garbage before it ever becomes a request, but blocklists are not magic and they are not neutral. They are encoding someone else’s judgment of what is safe and what is suspicious. Your job is to figure out what fits your situation.
Two lists dominate 2026 with the online chat rooms abuzz with which is better. OISD vs Hagezi. Both heavy. Both respected. Both built by very different philosophies. Choosing between OISD and Hagezi trips people up because they solve the same problem with completely different methods. This guide cuts the noise so you can pick the one that fits your privacy model instead of the one that sounds cool on Reddit.
The Philosophy Split
Understand what each list is actually trying to do. Most people compare blocklists by size or by “which one blocks more.” Wrong metric. What you care about is their philosophy. The difference is not size. It is temperament.
OISD is built for stability and wide compatibility. It strips the obvious junk but avoids touching gray areas that might break apps or logins. Think of it as a safe daily driver. It is built for people who want solid protection with minimal friction.
Hagezi is built for precision and depth. It targets trackers, analytics, CDNs, telemetry pipes, and obscure domains most people never see. Expect more silence and slightly more breakage. It is built for people who accept occasional breakage because they want coverage that borders on surgical.
You are choosing the mindset behind the list, not the number of entries. Both work. Your context decides which is right.
What OISD Looks Like in Practice
OISD feels clean. You forget you have it running. You set it and you rarely think about it again. Pages load. Apps behave. You get protection without constant whack a mole debugging.
OISD is the Honda Civic of block lists. Not exciting but reliable. Ideal for the lock down without collateral damage.
What Hagezi Looks Like in Practice
Hagezi feels sharper. It blocks more. It reads the modern tracking ecosystem more aggressively. It cuts deeper into ad networks, analytics, and the hidden scaffolding that props up telemetry.
But it is aggressive. You will see breakage. It will happen. Some apps refuse to load third party assets. Some login flows choke. But if you can tolerate that and fix it, you get a level of silence OISD does not reach. Hagezi is for people who want to claw back every inch. You are trading convenience for deeper silence.
Choose the personality of your network
OISD is the dependable generalist. Hagezi is the tactical specialist. Your threat model decides which one you need.
- Does breakage stress me out or do I shrug and fix it?
- Do I share this network with people who do not want friction?
- Am I trying to minimize exposure or eliminate it entirely?
- Do I need the quietest network possible for investigative or sensitive work?
- Does my hardware stack match a hardened approach?
Answering honestly points you to the list that fits your life, not the one influencers hype.
The Real Choice You Are Making
Do not pick based on hype.
Use OISD if:
- You want protection without side effects.
- You share your network with people who do not want anything to break.
- You rely on apps or services that load from multiple CDNs.
- You want one blocklist that “just works” across every device.
- You don’t want support headaches.
Use Hagezi if:
- You run a hardened device or browser and can fix issues as they come.
- You want to eliminate as much telemetry as possible.
- You do not mind debugging.
- You want deeper coverage than OISD provides.
- You prefer maximum suppression of ads, trackers, and profiling domains.
- You don’t mind kids and housemates screaming their games and streaming apps won’t work.
This is not a moral choice. It just depends on how much friction you are willing to deal with.
The Hybrid Path
Don’t try to be cute and run both. You will create redundant entries and unpredictable breakage. If you really want or need a controlled hybrid, do this instead:
- Run OISD full as your base.
- Add one Hagezi specialty list on top, like the Pro or Threat list. This gives you OISD stability with Hagezi sharpness where it matters.
Keep it simple. Let the lists complement each other instead of collide.
Test It
Always test and verify your work. Do not run your test on a laptop if your real privacy problem is on your phone. Install the list where the risk lives.
Test blocklist:
- Browse normally for 24 hours.
- Log in to every app you use weekly.
- Run your work tools and cloud apps.
- Try your password manager.
- Connect to streaming and gaming services.
If something breaks, identify the domain and whitelist it once. If you find yourself whitelisting constantly, you picked the wrong list for your life.
How to Apply the list to your DNS setup
Once you choose your list, point your DNS resolver to it and lock it in.
If you use NextDNS
- Open your config.
- Go to Privacy -> Blocklists.
- Select OISD or Hagezi Multi / Pro.
- Save the config.
- Lock the profile.
If you use Pi-hole or AdGuard Home
- Import the raw blocklist URL directly.
- Update gravity or refresh filters.
- Monitor the query log for breakage.
If you use a travel router or GL.iNet
- Add the list under AdGuard Home or DNS filtering.
- Sync changes.
- Reboot the router if needed.
Verify the blocklist is doing its job
Run a quick audit.
Check these
- Ads on news sites
- Telemetry requests in your browser console
- App tracking attempts in your DNS logs
- Whether streaming still works
- Whether login pages load cleanly
If everything feels lighter and nothing critical is broken, you’re good.
Recommended Setup
For daily users:
OISD big. Stable, clean, reliable.
For hardened setups:
Hagezi Multi or Hagezi Pro. More aggressive, more protective.
For shared home networks:
OISD. Zero drama.
For isolated profiles, workstations, or privacy labs:
Hagezi. Maximum reduction of surface area.
Bottom Line
There is no best list. Pick the blocklist that matches your tolerance for breakage. Pick the one that fits your threat model. Pick the one that keeps your network quiet enough for you to think.
-GHOST
Written by GHOST, creator of the Untraceable Digital Dissident project.
This is part of the Untraceable Digital Dissident series — tactical privacy for creators and rebels.
Explore more privacy tactics at untraceabledigitaldissident.com.
- Network Privacy Hub – Kill DNS leaks, VPN failures, and ISP logging.