A big day for safer family browsing
Today we're launching Alpaca Cloud — and it changes what's possible for families who want quiet, reliable protection on every device in the house.
Until now, Alpaca lived on the Mac. Beautiful, native, fully on-device. But families don't browse on a single Mac. They browse on iPhones in the car, iPads at the kitchen table, Android tablets at homework time, and Chromebooks on the school run. Alpaca Cloud reaches all of them — with the same care for safety and privacy you already trust on the Mac.
And we're starting with a free plan, because every family deserves a quieter, safer internet from day one.
What Alpaca Cloud is, in one sentence
Alpaca Cloud is a family-friendly DNS filtering service you connect directly to a device — no app to install — managed from a single account in the Alpaca Portal.
That's the whole magic. Each device you add gets a tiny configuration file or a secure DNS link. Once it's applied, that device is helped to steer clear of known phishing sites, deceptive scams, malware hosts, and the noisy ad and tracker networks that follow your family around the web.
You don't have to remember to turn anything on. There are no browser extensions to install. Nothing changes about how anyone in your family uses their device. It just gets quieter, and a little safer, in the background.
Why we built it
We hear the same story from parents over and over:
"I love what Alpaca does on my Mac. But what about the kids' iPads? What about my partner's Android phone? What about the Chromebook the school sent home?"
Families don't pick a single platform. They pick whatever works for the moment — and the protection has to follow.
Alpaca Cloud is our answer. One account, every device, zero technical know-how required.
Best of both worlds: Keep using the native Alpaca for Mac app for fully on-device filtering on the Macs you own — and add Alpaca Cloud to every other device in your household.
What you can do in the Portal
The Alpaca Portal is your home base. From a single sign-in, you can:
- Add a new device in under a minute — the Portal generates a secure DoH URL or a downloadable configuration profile, depending on the platform
- See every device connected to your account at a glance
- Remove or rotate a device's profile any time — handy when a kid upgrades phones
- Watch your free plan usage — the published free tier is 3 devices and 300,000 DNS queries per month, but during the public beta we're not enforcing those limits, so you can think of it as effectively unlimited while we settle the experience
- Look forward to a generous paid plan — when we do switch on paid tiers, the headline plan will be a small monthly subscription with unlimited devices and unlimited queries, designed to stay friendly to growing families
It's the kind of dashboard you set up once and forget about — exactly how protection should feel.
Which devices it works on
| Device | How it connects |
|---|---|
| iPhone & iPad | Download a mobile configuration profile from the Portal and tap Install |
| Mac | Use the native Alpaca for Mac app for fully on-device filtering, or apply a config profile via Alpaca Cloud |
| Android | Paste a DoH URL into Private DNS settings |
| Chromebook | Paste a DoH URL into ChromeOS Secure DNS settings |
That covers the devices most families actually use. No app store reviews to wait through. No supply of admin permissions. Just a profile or a URL — and it's done.
Getting started in three steps
Create your free Alpaca Portal account
Head to the Alpaca Portal and sign up. The free plan is included automatically — no card required.
Add your first device
Click Add device, give it a friendly name (like "Sam's iPad"), and choose the platform. The Portal generates the right profile or DoH URL for you.
Apply it to the device
Follow the Cloud getting-started guide for your platform. Most parents finish in under five minutes.
That's it. The device starts being helped to dodge known threats immediately.
How it stays respectful of your family
We hold ourselves to a high bar on privacy — and Alpaca Cloud is built on the same principles as Alpaca for Mac:
- No browsing surveillance. We're not in the business of building profiles of your family. We're in the business of helping you avoid the people who are.
- No selling data. Not now, not ever.
- No ads. No tracking pixels. No analytics about your kids. Just filtering.
- Open about what we do. The free plan limits, the public-beta status, the feature roadmap — all of it lives in the Portal and our docs.
The same Alpaca you trust on your Mac, designed to extend quietly to the rest of your household.
Public beta, generously open: Alpaca Cloud is launching in public beta. The published free tier is 3 devices and 300,000 queries/month, but we aren't enforcing those limits during the beta — use it as much as your family needs. When paid tiers arrive, the headline plan will be a small monthly subscription with unlimited devices and unlimited queries, and a free plan will continue to live alongside it.
Try it tonight
You don't need to be technical. You don't need to install anything on your own computer. You don't even need a credit card.
You just need a few minutes — and a willingness to make the family internet a little kinder.
Create your free account at the Alpaca Portal →
We can't wait to see what your household feels like with Alpaca Cloud quietly working in the background.
Learn more
- Alpaca Cloud — Getting Started — full setup walkthrough for every supported platform
- Alpaca for Mac — pair with the native Mac app for fully on-device filtering
- Pricing — see the free plan details and upcoming paid tiers