The non-profit DNS service Zero (DNS0·EU), created in France and aimed at users across the EU, has suddenly gone offline. The team admitted they simply ran out of time and resources — enthusiasm alone couldn’t keep the servers running.
Now, the project’s homepage has been replaced with a short farewell note:
“The dns0·eu service is shutting down. We would have liked to continue maintaining it, but it turned out to be impossible for us in terms of time and resources.”
Resilient Infrastructure, Fragile Reality
Zero was built as a secure, GDPR-compliant, no-logs resolver designed to block malicious domains. Its servers were distributed among various hosting providers across EU member states — a textbook example of a decentralized architecture.
Unfortunately, even the best architecture can’t withstand human burnout. The project’s structure held firm, but its creators’ schedules didn’t.
What’s Next?
The DNS0·EU team thanked their infrastructure and security partners and suggested that users look elsewhere for their “internet address book.” They pointed to DNS4EU — a privacy-oriented resolver backed by ENISA — or NextDNS, whose co-founders previously helped launch DNS0·EU itself.
A Quick DNS Refresher
A DNS resolver acts like the internet’s phonebook: it converts human-readable domain names into IP addresses so browsers know where to go. Most devices use their ISP’s default DNS servers, but users are free to choose alternatives — and, as this story shows, it’s good to have a few on hand.