Alibaba Cloud DNS vs Alibaba Cloud Global Traffic Manager

Alibaba Cloud DNS8.9Visit AGAlibaba Cloud Global Traffic Manager8.6Visit

Higher score Alibaba Cloud DNS #5 in GeoDNS Services 8.9/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 1 of 4 features Visit Alibaba Cloud

vs

AG Alibaba Cloud Global Traffic Manager #8 in GeoDNS Services 8.6/10 Paid ✓ 3 of 4 features Visit Alibaba Cloud

• Alibaba Cloud DNS fits best

  Budget-conscious teams needing broad DNS traffic controls

• Alibaba Cloud Global Traffic Manager fits best

  Teams routing traffic across regions or providers

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Side by side

Feature	Alibaba Cloud DNS 8.9/10 Visit ↗	AGAlibaba Cloud Global Traffic Manager 8.6/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	8.9	8.6
Ranking	#5 in GeoDNS Services	#8 in GeoDNS Services
Best for	Budget-conscious teams needing broad DNS traffic controls	Teams routing traffic across regions or providers
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Paid
Starting price	$7/site/yr	$20/mo
Free plan	✓ (best)	—
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud	Cloud
Platforms	Web	Web
Integrations	3 integrations	2 integrations
Features Alibaba Cloud DNS 1/4 · Alibaba Cloud Global Traffic Manager 3/4
Health checks	✓	✓
Failover routing	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
DNSSEC support	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Query logging	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
Specs
Routing methods	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Health-check regions	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Steering rules	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Routes DNS by geography, region, ISP, or custom IP ranges Supports weighted routing, health checks, and automatic failover Offers API access, SDKs, DNSSEC, and Secondary DNS	Routes by geography, proximity, weight, sequence, or round-robin policy Checks endpoints from multiple regions using ICMP, TCP, or HTTP/HTTPS Removes unhealthy addresses and can switch traffic to a backup pool
Cons	Free Edition has no SLA guarantee and a daily query limit Health checks and advanced steering require separately billed Global Traffic Manager Enterprise-verified users cannot buy new Personal Edition instances	GTM returns DNS endpoints; it does not proxy application traffic Additional detection-task packages add to the monthly subscription cost DNS traffic analysis and resolution logs are billable options
Our verdict	Alibaba Cloud DNS provides managed public and private DNS for individuals, developers, and enterprises. Its public DNS service combines authoritative record management with resolution policies based on geography, region, ISP, and custom IP… Read the review →	Alibaba Cloud Global Traffic Manager (GTM) is a cloud-based DNS traffic management service for applications and websites spread across multiple endpoints. Teams can route requests geographically or by proximity, and use weighted,… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Alibaba Cloud DNS — where it wins

  • Routes DNS by geography, region, ISP, or custom IP ranges
  • Supports weighted routing, health checks, and automatic failover
  • Offers API access, SDKs, DNSSEC, and Secondary DNS

  Where it doesn't

  • Free Edition has no SLA guarantee and a daily query limit
  • Health checks and advanced steering require separately billed Global Traffic Manager
  • Enterprise-verified users cannot buy new Personal Edition instances

• Alibaba Cloud Global Traffic Manager — where it wins

  • Routes by geography, proximity, weight, sequence, or round-robin policy
  • Checks endpoints from multiple regions using ICMP, TCP, or HTTP/HTTPS
  • Removes unhealthy addresses and can switch traffic to a backup pool

  Where it doesn't

  • GTM returns DNS endpoints; it does not proxy application traffic
  • Additional detection-task packages add to the monthly subscription cost
  • DNS traffic analysis and resolution logs are billable options

• Alibaba Cloud DNS8.9/10 · Free plan

  Broad DNS steering and failover, with paid tiers ranging from $7 to $4,287 per domain yearly.

  Visit Alibaba CloudFull verdict →
• AGAlibaba Cloud Global Traffic Manager8.6/10 · Paid

  A DNS traffic manager for regional routing and endpoint failover, priced from $20 per month.

  Visit Alibaba CloudFull verdict →