Alibaba Cloud DNS vs Azure Traffic Manager

Alibaba Cloud DNS8.9Visit Azure Traffic Manager8.8Visit

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

vs

Azure Traffic Manager #6 in GeoDNS Services 8.8/10 Paid ✓ 0 of 4 features Visit Microsoft

• Alibaba Cloud DNS fits best

  Budget-conscious teams needing broad DNS traffic controls

• Azure Traffic Manager fits best

  Azure users routing across Azure and external endpoints

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Side by side

Feature	Alibaba Cloud DNS 8.9/10 Visit ↗	Azure Traffic Manager 8.8/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	8.9	8.8
Ranking	#5 in GeoDNS Services	#6 in GeoDNS Services
Best for	Budget-conscious teams needing broad DNS traffic controls	Azure users routing across Azure and external endpoints
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Paid
Starting price	$7/site/yr	Not checked yet
Free plan	✓ (best)	—
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud	Cloud
Platforms	Web	Web
Features Alibaba Cloud DNS 1/4 · Azure Traffic Manager 0/4
Health checks	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Failover routing	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
DNSSEC support	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Query logging	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
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	Offers geographic, subnet, latency, weighted, priority, and multivalue routing. Monitors endpoint health and directs new DNS-resolved connections away from failures. Supports Azure, external, and nested endpoints with HTTP, HTTPS, and TCP probes.
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	Operates at the DNS layer rather than proxying application traffic. Usage-based pricing spans queries, monitored endpoints, add-ons, and optional features. Documentation is the listed support channel.
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 →	Azure Traffic Manager is a cloud DNS-based traffic load balancer for globally distributed applications and hybrid deployments. It routes DNS-resolved requests among public-facing endpoints in Azure or outside Azure, and is suited to teams… 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

• Azure Traffic Manager — where it wins

  • Offers geographic, subnet, latency, weighted, priority, and multivalue routing.
  • Monitors endpoint health and directs new DNS-resolved connections away from failures.
  • Supports Azure, external, and nested endpoints with HTTP, HTTPS, and TCP probes.

  Where it doesn't

  • Operates at the DNS layer rather than proxying application traffic.
  • Usage-based pricing spans queries, monitored endpoints, add-ons, and optional features.
  • Documentation is the listed support channel.

• 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 →
• Azure Traffic Manager8.8/10 · Paid

  A flexible DNS routing service for directing traffic across Azure and external endpoints.

  Visit MicrosoftFull verdict →