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DNS

Compare DNS providers

Edge DNS against Cloudflare, Route 53 and DNSimple

Edge is free like Cloudflare, and includes geo-routing that others gate or meter. Where a competitor is ahead, we say so. Switching in either direction is one registrar change.
See the comparisonAdd your domain

Feature comparison

Edge, Cloudflare, Route 53 and DNSimple

Edge DNS compared with Cloudflare DNS, AWS Route 53 and DNSimple
CloudflareRoute 53DNSimple
PriceFreeFree$0.50/zone + usageFrom $5/zone
ZonesUp to 50 freeUnlimitedPay per zonePer domain
Queries1M/zone/mo, soft limitUnmetered$0.40 per millionIncluded
Anycast PoPs50+300+50+30+
Propagation<5 seconds<5 seconds~60 seconds<5 seconds
Geo-routingEnterprise
ALIAS / apex flattening
API access
Health-check failoverRoadmapPaid add-on$0.50/checkIncluded
DNSSECRoadmap
AI zone analysis

Competitor details from public pricing pages at the time of writing. Check each provider for current terms.

Monthly cost

What a real portfolio costs

Monthly DNS cost scenarios
ScenarioCloudflareRoute 53DNSimple
10 domains, 10M queries/mo$0$0$9$50
50 domains, 50M queries/mo$0$0$35$250
50 domains with geo-routing$0Enterprise$50Not available

Route 53: $0.50 per hosted zone for the first 25, $0.10 after; $0.40 per million standard queries, $0.70 per million geo queries. DNSimple from $5 per zone.

Head to head

The detailed comparisons

Provider by provider: what each includes, what it costs and when it's the better pick.

Fair's fair

When Edge isn't the right call

We'd rather you pick the right provider than find out later.

  • You need DNSSEC or health-check failover today

    Both are on our roadmap. Cloudflare, Route 53 and DNSimple offer them now.

  • You manage hundreds of domains for free

    Edge's free tier stops at 50 zones and Cloudflare's doesn't. Talk to us about volume.

  • Your stack lives entirely inside AWS

    Route 53's alias records to AWS resources and private hosted zones are hard to replicate elsewhere.

Switching

Move without a minute of downtime

Old and new providers answer identically during the switch, so visitors never notice.
  1. 01

    Export and import

    Export a BIND zone file from your current provider and import it into Edge.
  2. 02

    Check the answers

    Query your Edge nameservers directly and compare with what's live today.
  3. 03

    Switch nameservers

    Update them at your registrar, then verify. Caches roll over within the TTL.
Migrate a zone
# 1. import the zone you exported
edge dns import zone-abc123 --file example.com.zone --format bind

# 2. compare answers before switching
dig @ns1-a7k2q9.edge.network example.com MX +short
dig example.com MX +short

Rather not do it yourself? Our DNS team will run the migration.

Try it on one domain

Add a zone, compare the answers, switch when you're ready. Free for up to 50 zones.

Add your domainSee pricing

Free for everyone with a verified email. No card required.