Overview
ClouDNS has run managed DNS since 2010 and serves Premium customers from 65 anycast data centres on six continents. Besides standard records, it offers dynamic DNS, web and mail forwarding, domain parking, secondary and reverse DNS, DNSSEC, an HTTP API and DNS failover driven by health checks. A separate monitoring product covers HTTP, TCP, ping, SSL and more.
The Free DNS plan is permanent but limited: one zone, 50 records, 500,000 queries a month on four unicast servers, without DNSSEC or API access. Premium S at $2.95 a month (billed yearly) adds anycast, 5 zones, DNSSEC, secondary DNS and one failover check; Premium M at $4.95 raises that to 50 zones and 150 million queries; Premium L at $14.95 covers 400 zones.
Paid plans carry what ClouDNS calls a 1,000% uptime SLA: each minute of downtime extends your account by ten minutes. Free zone migration and 24/7 live chat support are included.
Pricing and plans
Free tier · no card
Free DNS forever: 1 zone, 50 records, 500K queries a month, 1 dynamic DNS hostname and 1 mail forward on 4 unicast servers (no anycast, no DNSSEC).
At the limit Not stated The vendor does not say what happens at the limit, or we have not found it yet.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free DNS | $0 | 1 zone, 50 records, 500K queries/mo, unicast servers |
| Premium S | $2.95/mo | 5 zones, 200 records, 5M queries, 1 failover check; billed yearly ($35.40) |
| Premium M | $4.95/mo | 50 zones, 2,000 records, 150M queries, 2 failover checks |
| Premium L | $14.95/mo | 400 zones, 20,000 records, 500M queries, 3 failover checks, hourly stats |
| Enterprise | Custom | Unlimited zones and queries, SAML SSO, custom configuration |
What it does
- Anycast DNS
- 65 anycast data centres on Premium plans; free plan uses 4 unicast servers.
- DNS failover
- Health checks (HTTP, TCP, ping) that change DNS answers when an endpoint fails.
- Dynamic DNS
- Dynamic DNS hostnames on every plan, from 1 on Free to 1,000 on Premium L.
- Secondary and reverse DNS
- Secondary zones on Premium; reverse DNS zones from Premium M.
- DNSSEC
- Available on Premium plans.
- HTTP API
- REST API access on Premium plans for automation.
Strengths and limitations
Strengths
- Permanent free plan plus very low entry price for anycast DNS.
- DNS failover included even on the cheapest paid plan.
- 24/7 live chat support on all plans.
- Wide feature set: dynamic, secondary, reverse DNS and forwarding.
Limitations
- Free plan has one zone, 50 records, no anycast, no DNSSEC and no API.
- Premium S is only sold on yearly terms.
- Failover checks are few: 1 to 3 on Premium plans.
- GeoDNS and DDoS-protected DNS cost extra.
Who it suits
Good for
- Small businesses wanting cheap anycast DNS with failover
- Hosting companies needing white-label DNS
- Home labs using dynamic DNS
Look elsewhere if
- Teams needing a CDN or WAF from the same provider
- Projects with many zones on the free plan
Alternatives to ClouDNS
| Tool | From | Free option | Stages |
|---|---|---|---|
| easyDNS Managed anycast DNS and registrar | $20/yr | ||
| DNSimple DNS hosting and domain management | $0.5/mo | ||
| Amazon CloudFront CDN with bundled WAF and DNS plans | $15/mo | Free tier | |
| Cloudflare CDN, DNS, WAF and DDoS protection | $20/mo | Free tier | |
| Gcore CDN Pay-as-you-go CDN with DNS and WAF | Usage-based | Free tier | |
| Bunny CDN Pay-as-you-go CDN with DNS and WAF | Usage-based |
Questions
Is ClouDNS free?
Yes, the Free DNS plan is permanent with 1 zone, 50 records and 500K queries a month on unicast servers.
How much is ClouDNS Premium?
Premium S is $2.95/mo (billed yearly), Premium M $4.95/mo and Premium L $14.95/mo.
Does ClouDNS support DNSSEC?
Yes, on Premium plans; the free plan does not include it.
Does ClouDNS offer DNS failover?
Yes. Premium plans include 1 to 3 failover checks.
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