DNS Comparison
Edge DNS vs Cloudflare DNS
A detailed, fair comparison of Edge DNS and Cloudflare DNS for authoritative DNS hosting.
How we compare to Cloudflare
Cloudflare runs one of the largest DNS platforms in the world, with over 300 anycast PoPs and free authoritative DNS for unlimited domains. Edge DNS is also free — up to 50 zones with unlimited records and a million queries a month per zone, no card required — so for most teams the price of both providers is the same: nothing.
Where the picture changes is when you need more than the basics. Health checks cost extra on Cloudflare, and geo-routing is reserved for the Enterprise tier. On Edge, both are included on every account, alongside the AI DNS Examiner — automated analysis of your zone configuration that no other provider in this comparison offers.
Edge DNS is also a genuinely standalone service. It works with any CDN, any host, and any cloud, so choosing it for DNS never becomes a decision about the rest of your stack.
Key Differences
-
Health checks included – an extra cost on Cloudflare -
Geo-routing on every account – Enterprise-only on Cloudflare -
AI DNS Examiner – automated analysis of your zone configuration -
Standalone DNS – use Edge DNS with any CDN, host, or provider
Feature Comparison
How Edge DNS and Cloudflare DNS compare feature by feature.
| Feature |
Edge
| Cloudflare |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Zones Included | Up to 50 | Unlimited |
| Records | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Queries Included | 1M/zone/month | Unlimited |
| Anycast PoPs | 50+ | 300+ |
| Propagation Time | <5 seconds | <5 seconds |
| DNSSEC | | |
| Health Checks | Included | Extra cost |
| Geo-routing | | Enterprise |
| ALIAS Records | | |
| API Access | | |
| DDoS Protection | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| AI DNS Examiner | | |
What's Included Free
Both providers offer free authoritative DNS. The difference is what sits inside the free tier: on Cloudflare, advanced features become a paid or Enterprise conversation; on Edge, they're included.
| Feature | Edge | Cloudflare |
|---|---|---|
| Authoritative DNS hosting | Free | Free |
| Health checks | Included | Extra cost |
| Geo-routing | Included | Enterprise tier |
| AI zone analysis (DNS Examiner) | Included | Not available |
When to Choose Edge
Both are excellent DNS providers. Here's when Edge makes more sense.
You need health checks
Edge includes health checks as standard, so you can route around failing endpoints without buying an add-on.
You want geo-routing without an enterprise contract
On Cloudflare, geo-routing is reserved for the Enterprise tier. On Edge, every account gets it.
You want DNS that stands alone
Edge DNS works with whatever sits behind it — any CDN, any host, any cloud. There's no pull towards adopting the rest of a proprietary stack.
Also weighing up AWS? See how Edge DNS compares to Route 53.
Ready to try Edge DNS?
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