CleanBrowsing Free vs Paid Plans Compared

Step 1: The Free Community Filters

CleanBrowsing's free service provides three pre-configured DNS filters that anyone can use immediately. There is no account required, no signup, and no credit card. Just point your DNS to our free resolver IPs and your network is protected.

The Three Free Filters

• Family Filter: Blocks adult content, VPNs/proxies, and mixed content domains. Enforces SafeSearch on Google, Bing, YouTube, and other supported platforms. This is the most restrictive free filter and is recommended for households with children.
• Adult Filter: Blocks adult content only. Does not block VPN/proxy domains or mixed content platforms like Reddit. Does not enforce SafeSearch. Suitable for users who want to block explicit material without restricting access to broader internet services.
• Security Filter: Blocks malware, phishing, and botnet domains. Does not block any content categories. This filter is designed purely for threat protection and is ideal for anyone who wants to add a security layer to their DNS without content restrictions.

All three free filters support encrypted DNS via DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) and DNS-over-TLS (DoT). This means your DNS queries are private and secure even on the free tier. The free filters are powered by the same global Anycast network and Categorify engine that powers our paid plans.

Free filters are ideal for families wanting basic protection without configuration, tech-savvy users who want malware/phishing blocking with zero overhead, and small networks where predefined categories are sufficient. Visit our filters page for resolver IPs and setup instructions.

Step 2: What Paid Plans Add

The key difference between free and paid is control and visibility. Free filters work well for basic protection, but paid plans give you the ability to customize what is blocked, monitor activity, and create different policies for different users or groups.

With paid plans, you have granular control over which of the 21+ content categories are blocked or allowed. You can create custom allow and block lists for specific domains, view detailed activity reports showing what domains were queried and blocked, and set up user profiles with different filtering policies. The dashboard provides full visibility into your network's DNS activity.

Paid plans also support whitelist-only environments where everything is blocked by default and only approved domains are allowed. This is a feature that cannot be replicated with the free filters and is essential for controlled environments like testing labs, kiosks, and high-security networks.

Step 3: Who Should Upgrade?

The paid plans are designed for users who need customization beyond the three preset filters. If the free filters cover your needs, there is no pressure to upgrade -- they are genuinely free, with no feature degradation or time limits.

However, the following use cases typically require paid features:

• Schools and libraries: Organizations that need CIPA compliance reporting, custom policies for different grade levels or departments, and activity logging for audits. The ability to create multiple profiles with different filtering rules is critical for educational environments.
• Businesses: Companies that need activity logs for security investigations, department-level filtering (e.g., marketing team has different rules than engineering), and custom block pages with company branding. The reporting features help IT teams understand network usage patterns.
• Parents who want fine-tuned control: Families where the preset free filters are either too restrictive or not restrictive enough. For example, you might want to allow social media but block gaming sites, or allow YouTube but block specific streaming platforms. This level of category-by-category control requires a paid plan.
• Managed Service Providers (MSPs): MSPs managing filtering for multiple clients need separate profiles, custom block pages per client, and centralized reporting. CleanBrowsing's MSP features are designed for this use case.
• Organizations that need custom block pages: The free filters show a generic CleanBrowsing block page. Paid plans allow you to customize the block page with your own branding, messaging, and contact information -- important for schools and businesses where users need to know who to contact if a site is incorrectly blocked.

Step 4: Pricing

CleanBrowsing paid plans start at $59.99/year with transparent, all-inclusive pricing. There are no per-user fees, no hidden costs, and no stripped-down starter tiers designed to upsell. Every paid plan includes the full feature set.

What Every Paid Plan Includes

• Encrypted DNS (DoH/DoT): Secure DNS queries on all plans, ensuring privacy and preventing DNS tampering.
• All 21+ content categories: Full control over which categories are blocked or allowed.
• Custom domain allow/block lists: Add specific domains to your allow or block list regardless of their categorization.
• Activity reporting: See what is happening on your network with detailed DNS query logs.
• User profiles: Create different filtering policies for different groups of users or devices.
• Custom block pages: Brand the block page with your own messaging and design.
• API access: Programmatically manage your account, update IPs, and configure filters.

We also offer plans tailored for schools and libraries, businesses, and WiFi service providers. Visit our pricing page for current plans, features, and pricing details.

If you are unsure whether you need a paid plan, start with the free filters. You can always upgrade later when you need customization, and your transition will be seamless -- the same CleanBrowsing infrastructure powers both tiers.