ClouDNS vs SecondDNS

ClouDNS9.4Visit SecondDNS8.6Visit

Higher score ClouDNS #1 in Secondary DNS Services 9.4/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 2 of 4 features Visit ClouDNS

vs

SecondDNS #7 in Secondary DNS Services 8.6/10 90-day trial Free trial✓ 2 of 4 features Visit SecondDNS

• ClouDNS fits best

  Broad secondary DNS with automation

• SecondDNS fits best

  Managed synchronization and monitoring

Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.

Side by side

Feature	ClouDNS 9.4/10 Visit ↗	SecondDNS 8.6/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.4	8.6
Ranking	#1 in Secondary DNS Services	#7 in Secondary DNS Services
Best for	Broad secondary DNS with automation	Managed synchronization and monitoring
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Paid
Starting price	$2.95/mo	€3/mo
Free plan	✓ (best)	—
Free trial	—	90 days
Deployment	Cloud	Cloud
Platforms	Web	Web
Integrations	4 integrations	6 integrations
Features ClouDNS 2/4 · SecondDNS 2/4
Health checks	✓	✓
DNSSEC support	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
API access	✓	✓
IPv6 support	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Specs
Transfer protocols	Not checked yet	Axfr_and_ixfr
Zone limit	Not checked yet	20 zones
Secondary nameservers	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Secondary DNS with Anycast, DNSSEC, monitoring, and backups GeoDNS, failover checks, and advanced traffic routing API access with WHMCS, Terraform, OctoDNS, and SAML SSO	AXFR and IXFR synchronization across paid tiers REST API, dashboard, health checks, and alerts Integrations for cPanel, Plesk, and monitoring tools
Cons	The Free DNS plan supports only 1 DNS zone and 50 DNS records Paid plans begin at Premium S, with 5 DNS zones and 1 failover check Plan capacity jumps from 400 zones on Premium L to unlimited on Enterprise	No ongoing free plan after the three-month trial IXFR starts only on Pro and higher plans Premium support and custom SLA require the top tier
Our verdict	ClouDNS is a managed DNS platform for businesses and organizations that host and route domain traffic. It combines web-based DNS zone and record management with Anycast DNS, GeoDNS, DNS failover checks, DNSSEC, secondary DNS, monitoring,… Read the review →	SecondDNS is a hosted secondary DNS service for developers, small businesses, agencies, hosting providers, and infrastructure teams. It keeps read-only copies of DNS zones synchronized from a primary server through AXFR, with IXFR… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• ClouDNS — where it wins

  • Secondary DNS with Anycast, DNSSEC, monitoring, and backups
  • GeoDNS, failover checks, and advanced traffic routing
  • API access with WHMCS, Terraform, OctoDNS, and SAML SSO

  Where it doesn't

  • The Free DNS plan supports only 1 DNS zone and 50 DNS records
  • Paid plans begin at Premium S, with 5 DNS zones and 1 failover check
  • Plan capacity jumps from 400 zones on Premium L to unlimited on Enterprise

• SecondDNS — where it wins

  • AXFR and IXFR synchronization across paid tiers
  • REST API, dashboard, health checks, and alerts
  • Integrations for cPanel, Plesk, and monitoring tools

  Where it doesn't

  • No ongoing free plan after the three-month trial
  • IXFR starts only on Pro and higher plans
  • Premium support and custom SLA require the top tier

• ClouDNS9.4/10 · Free plan

  A broad secondary DNS service with automation, routing, monitoring, and API access.

  Visit ClouDNSFull verdict →
• SecondDNS8.6/10 · 90-day trial

  A focused secondary DNS service with monitoring, automation, and hosting-panel integrations.

  Visit SecondDNSFull verdict →