Cloudflare DNS vs Alibaba Cloud DNS

Cloudflare DNS9.4Visit Alibaba Cloud DNS9.0Visit

Higher score Cloudflare DNS #1 in Anycast DNS Services 9.4/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 5 features Visit Cloudflare

vs

Alibaba Cloud DNS #3 in Anycast DNS Services 9.0/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 5 features Visit Alibaba Cloud

• Cloudflare DNS fits best

  Teams seeking managed anycast DNS and API automation

• Alibaba Cloud DNS fits best

  Budget-conscious teams needing advanced DNS routing

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Side by side

Feature	Cloudflare DNS 9.4/10 Visit ↗	Alibaba Cloud DNS 9.0/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.4	9.0
Ranking	#1 in Anycast DNS Services	#3 in Anycast DNS Services
Best for	Teams seeking managed anycast DNS and API automation	Budget-conscious teams needing advanced DNS routing
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Free plan + paid
Starting price	$20/mo	$7/site/yr
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud	Cloud
Platforms	Web	Web
Integrations	2 integrations	3 integrations
Features Cloudflare DNS 4/5 · Alibaba Cloud DNS 4/5
DNSSEC signing	✓	✓
Geo-based steering	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
DNS health checks	✓	✓
Secondary DNS	✓	✓
API access	✓	✓
Specs
Anycast locations	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Free plan includes DNS and authoritative record management Supports DNSSEC, CNAME flattening, and DNS analytics API automation plus Terraform and Ansible integrations	Free edition plus a $7-per-domain annual entry plan Geographic, ISP, latency, weighted, and custom-range routing Health checks, failover, DNSSEC, APIs, SDKs, and Secondary DNS
Cons	Health checks and traffic steering require the Load Balancing add-on Secondary DNS is available to Enterprise customers Pro and Business are billed annually at their listed prices	Free Edition has no SLA guarantee and a daily query limit Global Traffic Manager is separately activated and billed Premium Edition costs $4,287 per domain per year
Our verdict	Cloudflare DNS provides authoritative DNS hosting and record management, serving responses through Cloudflare’s global network. It is suited to teams that want managed anycast DNS, DNSSEC, analytics, and API automation, with a free plan… Read the review →	Alibaba Cloud DNS provides managed authoritative DNS for individuals, developers, and enterprises. It supports public and private zones, records including A, AAAA, CAA, MX, CNAME, TXT, NS, and SRV, plus intelligent resolution by geography,… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Cloudflare DNS — where it wins

  • Free plan includes DNS and authoritative record management
  • Supports DNSSEC, CNAME flattening, and DNS analytics
  • API automation plus Terraform and Ansible integrations

  Where it doesn't

  • Health checks and traffic steering require the Load Balancing add-on
  • Secondary DNS is available to Enterprise customers
  • Pro and Business are billed annually at their listed prices

• Alibaba Cloud DNS — where it wins

  • Free edition plus a $7-per-domain annual entry plan
  • Geographic, ISP, latency, weighted, and custom-range routing
  • Health checks, failover, DNSSEC, APIs, SDKs, and Secondary DNS

  Where it doesn't

  • Free Edition has no SLA guarantee and a daily query limit
  • Global Traffic Manager is separately activated and billed
  • Premium Edition costs $4,287 per domain per year

• Cloudflare DNS9.4/10 · Free plan

  Free authoritative DNS with advanced steering and failover through a separate add-on.

  Visit CloudflareFull verdict →
• Alibaba Cloud DNS9.0/10 · Free plan

  A low-cost entry point to advanced DNS routing, health checks, and automation.

  Visit Alibaba CloudFull verdict →