Cloudflare vs Cloudflare DNS
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Cloudflare and Cloudflare DNS.
Quick Verdict
4.3/5
Cloudflare
0 reviews
4.4/5
Cloudflare DNS
0 reviews
Cloudflare DNS is rated higher (4.4 vs 4.3). Global network that speeds up and protects websites with CDN caching, DDoS protection, free SSL and DNS. Free plan; Pro costs $20/month billed annually ($25 monthly). Cloudflare DNS provides authoritative DNS management for any domain — free forever. Anycast routing ensures fastest DNS resolution globally. DNS analytics, DNSSEC, and DDoS protection included.
Cloudflare Global CDN and DDoS protection with object storage | Cloudflare DNS Fastest and most trusted free DNS service | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 4.3 (0 reviews) | 4.4 (0 reviews)✓ |
| Pricing model | freemium | free |
| Starting price | From $20/mo | Free✓ |
| Best for | Websites and SaaS front ends that want a free or flat-priced global CDN with DDoS protection and TLS included — and can accept proxying all traffic through one vendor. | Anyone who owns a domain and wants fast, free, DNSSEC-capable authoritative DNS with a serious API behind it — the default we recommend before comparing anything else. |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ||
| DDoS protection | ||
| Automated backups | ||
| Snapshots | ||
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ||
| Free tier | ||
| Data-center locations | ||
| Regions | Global — 300+ cities | — |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tiers3 compatibleddos protectioneu datacenterus datacenterapac datacenterapi accessipv6terraform provider | free tierapi accessddos protection |
| Visit Cloudflare → | Visit Cloudflare DNS → | |
Cloudflare
Pros
- + Unmetered bandwidth and requests on every plan, including Free
- + Free managed WAF ruleset, Universal SSL and unmetered DDoS protection by default
- + 330+ city network with Anycast routing and no region pricing
- + Flat per-domain pricing is easy to budget; no egress surprises
- + Terraform provider and full API for configuration as code
Cons
- - No uptime SLA below the Business plan
- - Per-domain billing gets expensive for domain portfolios
- - Advanced WAF tuning and rate limiting are plan-gated
- - Proxy architecture is a concentration risk during network-level incidents
- - Large feature surface means caching misconfigurations can go unnoticed
Cloudflare DNS
Pros
- + Free authoritative DNS with unlimited records on every plan
- + DNSSEC, full API and Terraform provider included at no cost
- + 330+ city anycast network with fast global resolution
- + DNS-layer DDoS protection included
- + Registrar and CDN integration from one account
Cons
- - No contractual uptime SLA below the Business plan
- - Query and traffic data necessarily passes through a US-based provider
- - Domains on Cloudflare Registrar must use Cloudflare nameservers
- - Useful DNS analytics and WAF features sit on higher paid tiers
- - Network-level incidents affect all domains at once
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