Overview
Hurricane Electric, a large internet backbone and colocation provider, runs a free DNS hosting portal at dns.he.net. You can host multiple domains per account, manage forward and reverse zones, and serve queries over both IPv4 and IPv6 from geographically diverse servers.
Supported records include A, AAAA, ALIAS, CNAME, CAA, MX, NS, TXT, SRV, SSHFP, NAPTR, LOC and PTR. Reverse zones have a 'smart mode' and several delegation formats (RFC 2317, RFC 4183 and others), which is why network operators use it for IPv6 reverse DNS. It can also act as a slave (secondary) for zones hosted elsewhere.
Dynamic DNS works with ddclient and simple HTTP calls, including dynamic TXT records for Let's Encrypt DNS-01 validation. The service is free with no SLA, the portal still calls itself an open beta, and DNSSEC signing is not listed as a feature.
Record changes may take a few minutes to propagate as TTLs expire, so wait before requesting a DNS-01 certificate after updating a dynamic TXT record.
Pricing and plans
checked 28 Sept 2026Free tier · no card
Free DNS hosting for multiple domains per account, forward and reverse zones, dynamic DNS and slave zones; no paid tier or SLA.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free DNS | $0 | Multiple domains, forward and reverse zones, dynamic DNS, slave support |
What it does
- Dual-stack DNS
- Queries answered over both IPv4 and native IPv6.
- Reverse DNS
- Smart-mode IPv4 and IPv6 reverse zones with Standard, RFC 4183, RFC 2317 and DeGroot formats.
- Record types
- Includes ALIAS, CAA, SSHFP, NAPTR, LOC and SPF records.
- Dynamic DNS
- ddclient-compatible updates for A/AAAA and dynamic TXT records for DNS-01 challenges.
- Slave zones
- Act as a secondary for zones mastered elsewhere.
- Delegation checks
- Sanity checks for forward and reverse zone delegation.
Strengths and limitations
Strengths
- Completely free, run by an established network operator.
- Strong IPv6 and reverse DNS support.
- Secondary (slave) zone support for redundancy with another provider.
- Dynamic TXT records for certificate automation.
Limitations
- No SLA and no paid support option.
- DNSSEC is not listed among its features.
- No traffic steering, geo routing or failover.
- The portal still describes the service as an open beta.
Who it suits
Good for
- Home labs and hobby projects
- Network operators managing IPv6 reverse DNS
- A free secondary DNS alongside another provider
Look elsewhere if
- Businesses needing an SLA or DNSSEC
- Apps needing health-checked failover
Alternatives to Hurricane Electric Free DNS
| Tool | From | Free option | Stages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon CloudFront CDN with bundled WAF and DNS plans | $15/mo | Free tier | |
| Bunny CDN Pay-as-you-go CDN with DNS and WAF | Usage-based | ||
| Cloudflare CDN, DNS, WAF and DDoS protection | $20/mo | Free tier | |
| ClouDNS Managed DNS with free and low-cost plans | $2.95/mo | Free tier | |
| deSEC Free DNSSEC-signed DNS hosting | — | Free tier | |
| DNSimple DNS hosting and domain management | $0.5/mo |
Questions
Is Hurricane Electric DNS free?
Yes. dns.he.net is a free DNS hosting service.
Does Hurricane Electric DNS support dynamic DNS?
Yes, including dynamic TXT records for Let's Encrypt DNS-01 validation.
Can Hurricane Electric act as secondary DNS?
Yes. The service supports slave zones.
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