Cloudflare DNS vs DNScale

Cloudflare DNS9.4Visit DNScale8.5Visit

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

vs

DNScale #7 in Anycast DNS Services 8.5/10 Free plan · 7-day trial Free planFree trial✓ 4 of 5 features Visit DNScale

• Cloudflare DNS fits best

  Teams seeking managed anycast DNS and API automation

• DNScale fits best

  Teams wanting free DNS with automation options

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Side by side

Feature	Cloudflare DNS 9.4/10 Visit ↗	DNScale 8.5/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.4	8.5
Ranking	#1 in Anycast DNS Services	#7 in Anycast DNS Services
Best for	Teams seeking managed anycast DNS and API automation	Teams wanting free DNS with automation options
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Free plan + paid
Starting price	$20/mo	€4.95/mo
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	—	7 days
Deployment	Cloud	Cloud
Platforms	Web	Web
Integrations	2 integrations	2 integrations
Features Cloudflare DNS 4/5 · DNScale 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 plan includes full API access and EU or global infrastructure DNSSEC, DDoS mitigation, analytics, Terraform, and DNSControl support Monthly plans scale from 1 to 250 zones with human support options
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	Traffic steering is limited to basic anycast and resolver-aware routing Self-serve AXFR/IXFR secondary DNS is not offered Free plan is limited to 1 zone and 25 records per zone
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 →	DNScale is a managed authoritative DNS service for teams operating production domains and infrastructure. It combines web-based zone and record management with a REST API, Terraform, and DNSControl automation. Teams can choose EU-only,… 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

• DNScale — where it wins

  • Free plan includes full API access and EU or global infrastructure
  • DNSSEC, DDoS mitigation, analytics, Terraform, and DNSControl support
  • Monthly plans scale from 1 to 250 zones with human support options

  Where it doesn't

  • Traffic steering is limited to basic anycast and resolver-aware routing
  • Self-serve AXFR/IXFR secondary DNS is not offered
  • Free plan is limited to 1 zone and 25 records per zone

• Cloudflare DNS9.4/10 · Free plan

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

  Visit CloudflareFull verdict →
• DNScale8.5/10 · Free plan · 7-day trial

  A low-cost managed DNS service with automation, DNSSEC, and basic traffic steering.

  Visit DNScaleFull verdict →