9 Cloudflare alternatives for DNS — pricing, free tiers, and tech support (detailed)

Cloudflare’s DNS is fast, feature-rich, and has a generous free plan — but it isn’t the only game in town. Below I walk through 9 well-known alternatives you can use for authoritative DNS (and in some cases managed DNS+traffic steering). For each provider I give a quick summary, the pricing highlights, whether there’s a free tier, and what to expect from support / SLAs — so you can pick the right fit for hobby sites, small business, or enterprise. (All pricing and feature notes come from the providers’ public pages as of the time I checked; follow the links in each section for the official, up-to-date details.)

1) Amazon Route 53 (AWS)

Quick take: Global, highly reliable, pay-as-you-go DNS with advanced routing policies and deep AWS integration — great if you already run infrastructure on AWS.
Pricing highlights: charged per hosted zone + per DNS query; standard queries are priced per million queries (examples from AWS docs: roughly $0.70 / million queries for the first 1B in some query types; exact tiers depend on query type and region). See AWS Route 53 pricing for full breakdown. (Amazon Web Services, Inc.)
Free tier: No permanent free tier for Route 53 DNS (AWS does offer some credits for new accounts in broader AWS free offers, but Route 53 itself is billed). (Amazon Web Services, Inc.)
Tech support / SLA: AWS offers paid Support Plans (Basic, Developer, Business, Enterprise) with varying response times and guidance; Route 53 has high availability and integrates with AWS Shield for DDoS protection. SLA details and support plan options are on AWS support pages. (Amazon Web Services, Inc.)

2) Google Cloud DNS

Quick take: Simple, scalable managed DNS with predictable pricing and strong performance — an easy pick if you’re on Google Cloud.
Pricing highlights: managed zone fees (e.g., ~$0.20/month per zone for 0–25 zones; volume discounts beyond that) plus per-query charges. Exact tiered prices are on Google Cloud DNS pricing pages. (Google Cloud Documentation)
Free tier: No forever-free DNS tier, but Google Cloud offers new customers credits (e.g., $300 new-user credit) you can spend on Cloud DNS and other services. (Google Cloud)
Tech support / SLA: Google Cloud offers paid support plans (Basic, Development, Production, Enterprise) with SLAs and response times depending on plan. Cloud DNS is backed by Google’s global network. (Google Cloud Documentation)

3) Microsoft Azure DNS

Quick take: Managed DNS tightly integrated with Azure services; straightforward billing by zones + queries. Good if you live in the Azure ecosystem.
Pricing highlights: billed per DNS zone (daily proration) and per million queries; no upfront fees — pay for what you use. See Azure DNS pricing page for details and region specifics. (Microsoft Azure)
Free tier: No permanent free DNS tier; Azure offers a free account credit ($200 for new users) and some always-free services, but Azure DNS itself is pay-as-you-go. (Microsoft Azure)
Tech support / SLA: Azure Support plans (Developer, Standard, Professional Direct, Premier) provide different response times; Azure has SLAs for DNS availability documented online. (Microsoft Azure)

4) NS1 (now part of IBM / NS1 Connect)

Quick take: Smart DNS and traffic-steering for performance-sensitive applications; advanced features like sophisticated filtering, geotargeting, and API automation. Favoured by performance-minded teams.
Pricing highlights: NS1 is generally usage/query-volume based and offers packaged plans (they emphasize tailored plans and enterprise quotes). There’s an Essentials/Starter offering but detailed pricing is typically via request/quote; see NS1 product/pricing. (IBM)
Free tier: No widely-advertised forever-free plan for production use; often a free trial or demo is available. (IBM)
Tech support / SLA: NS1 offers enterprise support tiers and SLAs. Support levels, onboarding assistance, and advanced features (SLA, traffic steering, health checks) are part of paid plans; contact sales for exact SLAs. (IBM)

5) DNS Made Easy

Quick take: Purpose-built managed DNS provider with long history, focus on reliability and simple pricing tiers — popular with agencies and SMBs who want high-performance DNS without a cloud vendor lock-in.
Pricing highlights: tiered monthly plans (examples: DNS-5 ≈ $18.75/mo, DNS-25 ≈ $56.25/mo, DNS-50 ≈ $175/mo when billed monthly/annually as shown on their site). Plans bundle domains/zones, record limits, query allowances, failover, analytics, and different support tiers. (DNS Made Easy)
Free tier: No permanent free tier for production; DNS Made Easy is paid service with a 100% SLA promise on appropriate plans. (DNS Made Easy)
Tech support / SLA: They advertise enterprise SLAs and elevated support for higher plans (phone support, ticket prioritization, SSO/DNSSEC for top tiers). Exact support features depend on the plan. (DNS Made Easy)

6) DNSimple

Quick take: Developer-friendly DNS + domain management with a clean API, automation features, and team collaboration tools — nice for small engineering teams.
Pricing highlights: DNSimple offers subscription plans (for example, Teams/Business tiers). One common pricing note: $29 base/month for certain team plans (with additional seat fees), and also per-zone pricing is referenced on site; they publish plan pages with features and costs. (DNSimple)
Free tier: DNSimple does not have an unrestricted free production tier; they do offer trials and pay monthly plans suited to teams and resellers. (DNSimple)
Tech support / SLA: DNSimple provides email/support and paid plans include higher support levels and team seats; enterprise customers can get enhanced SLAs. See DNSimple support pages for exact details. (DNSimple Help)

7) Hurricane Electric — Free DNS (HE.net)

Quick take: A free and reliable DNS hosting service (authoritative only) offered by Hurricane Electric — great for hobby projects, labs, and anyone who wants a straightforward free authoritative host.
Pricing highlights: Free — no cost for their basic DNS hosting portal. (Hurricane Electric offers many other paid networking services separately but their DNS service is publicly available for free.) (Hurricane Electric DNS)
Free tier: Yes — fully free authoritative DNS hosting via their portal. Good feature set for a free service (basic records management, forward/reverse support). (Hurricane Electric DNS)
Tech support / SLA: Because the DNS offering is free, formal commercial SLAs and enterprise support are not part of the free DNS product; for mission-critical or enterprise support you’d look to paid managed DNS vendors. For community/free services, support is usually via documentation and community channels. (Hurricane Electric DNS)

8) Dyn / Oracle DNS (Dyn Managed DNS)

Quick take: Once a standalone giant, Dyn now sits under Oracle — enterprise DNS with robust traffic management and large-scale customers. Good for enterprises needing global traffic steering.
Pricing highlights: Enterprise / quote-based — Oracle/Dyn sells managed DNS as part of larger performance/security bundles, and pricing is typically by volume and feature set; you must contact sales. (Historical Dyn pages and Oracle product pages are the sources.) (IO River)
Free tier: No. Dyn is an enterprise paid product. (IO River)
Tech support / SLA: Enterprise support with contractual SLAs (contact Oracle for specifics). (IO River)

9) Registrar DNS (Namecheap, GoDaddy, etc.) — built-in DNS hosting

Quick take: If you buy domains from registrars like Namecheap or GoDaddy, you usually get DNS hosting included in your domain purchase. It’s convenient and cheap, but not as feature-rich or performant as dedicated managed DNS with anycast and global traffic steering.
Pricing highlights: registrars include basic DNS for free with domain registration (the domain cost itself varies by TLD). Advanced DNS features (DNSSEC, premium DNS, DDoS protection) may be offered as paid add-ons. (See the individual registrar’s DNS/premium DNS pages.) (IO River)
Free tier: Yes — basic DNS is typically included for free with a registered domain. (IO River)
Tech support / SLA: Registrar support varies widely — usually email/phone support for domain issues; premium DNS add-ons may include upgraded support. For critical performance/SLA needs, a specialized managed DNS provider is recommended. (IO River)

How to pick — short buying guide

• Hobby / blog / small business on a budget: start with the registrar’s free DNS, Hurricane Electric (free), or a low-cost DNS hosting plan.
• If you already use a cloud provider: use the cloud vendor’s DNS (Route 53, Google Cloud DNS, Azure DNS) for tight integration and predictable per-use billing.
• Need advanced traffic steering or geotargeting: NS1, Dyn/Oracle, or Route 53’s advanced routing policies are better choices.
• Need developer automation and easy API: DNSimple and DNS Made Easy both provide good APIs and developer tooling.
• Enterprise SLA / global scale: NS1, Dyn (Oracle), and Route 53 have enterprise support, custom SLAs, and paid support plans.

Notes about pricing and support

• Prices change: DNS pricing models are sometimes per-zone + per-query or monthly subscription tiers; some vendors require contacting sales for volume discounts. Always check the provider’s pricing page and region-specific notes before committing. (Links above point to each vendor’s official pricing page.) (Amazon Web Services, Inc.)
• Support quality varies: free DNS services generally do not provide commercial SLAs or 24/7 enterprise support. Paid tiers bring faster response times, phone support, and contractual SLAs. If uptime is business-critical, budget for a paid plan with an SLA and test support responsiveness during your evaluation period. (DNS Made Easy)