NS1 vs Cloudflare
A detailed comparison to help you choose between NS1 and Cloudflare.
Quick Verdict
4.1/5
NS1
208 reviews
4.4/5
Cloudflare
122 reviews
Cloudflare is rated higher (4.4 vs 4.1). NS1 (now IBM) provides intelligent DNS with filter chains for complex traffic steering. Pulsar performance insights, DDOS protection, and anycast routing. Used by LinkedIn, Yelp, and Dropbox. Cloudflare provides distributed content delivery, DDoS mitigation, and R2 object storage. Designed for developers and enterprises needing reliable infrastructure with minimal latency.
NS1 Intelligent DNS with advanced traffic steering | Cloudflare Global CDN and DDoS protection with object storage | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 4.1 (208 reviews) | 4.4 (122 reviews)✓ |
| Pricing model | freemium | freemium |
| Starting price | Free tier available | Free tier available |
| Best for | Large enterprises needing intelligent DNS traffic steering with real-time performance optimization | Teams building web applications requiring global distribution, DDoS protection, and cost-efficient object storage without egress fees. |
| Specifications (entry plan) | ||
| CPU cores | — | 0 vCPU |
| RAM | — | 0 GB |
| Storage | — | 0 GB |
| Bandwidth | — | 0 TB/mo |
| SLA uptime | — | 99.99% |
| Data-center count | — | 300 |
| 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 tierapi access | free tiers3 compatibleddos protectioneu datacenterus datacenterapac datacenterapi accessipv6terraform provider |
| Visit NS1 → | Visit Cloudflare → | |
NS1
Pros
- + Most advanced traffic steering in market
- + Pulsar real-time performance data
- + IBM acquisition adds stability
Cons
- - Complex for simple DNS needs
- - IBM acquisition may affect direction
Cloudflare
Pros
- + Remove egress fees with R2 object storage pricing model
- + Deploy content globally with automatic edge caching
- + Mitigate DDoS attacks with Anycast network
- + Integrate security and performance in one platform
Cons
- - R2 has limited regional availability compared to AWS S3
- - Steeper learning curve for complex configuration options
- - Egress costs still apply for some traffic patterns outside R2
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