Cloudflare DNS vs Google Cloud DNS

Cloudflare DNS9.4Visit Google Cloud DNS8.3Visit

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

vs

Google Cloud DNS #8 in Anycast DNS Services 8.3/10 From $0.20/mo ✓ 3 of 5 features Try Google Cloud DNS

• Cloudflare DNS fits best

  Teams seeking managed anycast DNS and API automation

• Google Cloud DNS fits best

  Google Cloud users needing low-cost managed DNS

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Side by side

Feature	Cloudflare DNS 9.4/10 Visit ↗	Google Cloud DNS 8.3/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.4	8.3
Ranking	#1 in Anycast DNS Services	#8 in Anycast DNS Services
Best for	Teams seeking managed anycast DNS and API automation	Google Cloud users needing low-cost managed DNS
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Paid
Starting price	$20/mo	$0.20/mo (best)
Free plan	✓ (best)	—
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud	Cloud
Platforms	Web	Web
Integrations	2 integrations	4 integrations
Features Cloudflare DNS 4/5 · Google Cloud DNS 3/5
DNSSEC signing	✓	✓
Geo-based steering	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
DNS health checks	✓	✓
Secondary DNS	✓ (best)	—
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	Managed DNSSEC with project- and zone-level IAM controls Advanced weighted, geolocation, and failover routing policies Integrates with GKE, VPC, Load Balancing, and REST APIs
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	No free plan Queries are billed separately from managed zones Does not provide secondary DNS
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 →	Google Cloud DNS is a managed authoritative DNS service for publishing and resolving domain records. It supports public zones visible on the internet and private zones restricted to selected Google Cloud VPC networks. Organizations can… 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

• Google Cloud DNS — where it wins

  • Managed DNSSEC with project- and zone-level IAM controls
  • Advanced weighted, geolocation, and failover routing policies
  • Integrates with GKE, VPC, Load Balancing, and REST APIs

  Where it doesn't

  • No free plan
  • Queries are billed separately from managed zones
  • Does not provide secondary DNS

• Cloudflare DNS9.4/10 · Free plan

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

  Visit CloudflareFull verdict →
• Google Cloud DNS8.3/10 · From $0.20/mo

  A paid managed DNS service with advanced routing, DNSSEC, health checks, and Google Cloud integration.

  Try Google Cloud DNSFull verdict →