# Cloudflare DNS vs CoreDNS

| Attribute | Cloudflare DNS | CoreDNS |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 51.7 (62% (medium)) | 57.8 (28% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | - | 91 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | - | 1,324 |
| adoption.github_stars | - | 14,279 |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | A nameserver system that converts domain names to IP addresses using a global network infrastructure to deliver rapid, resilient query responses. Includes a fully-featured, unrestricted API for infrastructure-as-code automation. | An open-source DNS server designed for containerized and cloud-native deployments, offering DNS resolution and service discovery through a plugin-based architecture. Provides direct integration with Kubernetes and support for major cloud platforms. |
| integrations.count | 2 | 4 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Terraform"},{"name":"Ansible"}]` | `[{"name":"Kubernetes"},{"name":"etcd"},{"name":"Microsoft Azure DNS"},{"name":"GCP Cloud DNS"}]` |
| language.primary | - | Go |
| license.spdx | - | Apache-2.0 |
| market.availability | `{"hqCountry":"US","primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` | `{"cli":true,"linux":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Free","summary":"$0/month","features":["Fast DNS","Unmetered DDoS Protection","CDN","Universal SSL Certificate","Free Managed Ruleset"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Personal or hobby projects that aren't business-critical","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Pro","summary":"$20/month (annual) or $25/month (monthly)","features":["Fast DNS","Unmetered DDoS Protection","CDN","Universal SSL Certificate","Free Managed Ruleset","Lossless Image Optimization","Accelerated Mobile Pages","PCI DSS 4.0 Compliance","100% Uptime SLA","1x Uptime Service Credits","SSO Support"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":20,"period":"month","currency":"USD","plus_note":"billed annually"},{"kind":"fixed","amount":25,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Professional websites that aren't business-critical","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Business","summary":"$200/month (annual) or $250/month (monthly)","features":["Fast DNS","Unmetered DDoS Protection","CDN","Universal SSL Certificate","Free Managed Ruleset","Lossless Image Optimization","Accelerated Mobile Pages","PCI DSS 4.0 Compliance","100% Uptime SLA","10x (Standard) or 25x (Premium) Uptime Service Credits","SSO Support"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":200,"period":"month","currency":"USD","plus_note":"billed annually"},{"kind":"fixed","amount":250,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Small businesses operating online","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Contract","summary":"Custom pricing, billed annually","commitment":"annual","description":"Mission-critical applications that are core to your business","contactSales":true}],"summary":"Free tier available; paid plans from $20/month billed annually","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.cloudflare.com/plans","retrievedAt":"2026-08-18T22:37:17.966Z","startingPrice":{"amount":20,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://coredns.io","retrievedAt":"2026-08-20T16:32:08.922Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | mid | free |
| pricing.starting_price | `{"amount":20,"currency":"USD"}` | - |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| release.cadence_days | - | 39 |
| release.history | - | `[{"url":"https://github.com/coredns/coredns/releases/tag/v1.14.7","date":"2026-08-19T01:39:14Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.14.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/coredns/coredns/releases/tag/v1.14.6","date":"2026-07-10T05:51:46Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.14.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/coredns/coredns/releases/tag/v1.14.5","date":"2026-07-10T00:35:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.14.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/coredns/coredns/releases/tag/v1.14.4","date":"2026-06-09T07:23:24Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.14.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/coredns/coredns/releases/tag/v1.14.3","date":"2026-04-22T12:43:18Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.14.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/coredns/coredns/releases/tag/v1.14.2","date":"2026-03-06T06:34:58Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.14.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/coredns/coredns/releases/tag/v1.14.1","date":"2026-01-16T05:35:34Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.14.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/coredns/coredns/releases/tag/v1.14.0","date":"2026-01-08T01:10:06Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.14.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/coredns/coredns/releases/tag/v1.13.2","date":"2025-12-10T03:15:05Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.13.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/coredns/coredns/releases/tag/v1.13.1","date":"2025-10-08T20:47:23Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.13.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/coredns/coredns/releases/tag/v1.13.0","date":"2025-10-06T07:03:18Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.13.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/coredns/coredns/releases/tag/v1.12.4","date":"2025-09-09T00:12:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.12.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/coredns/coredns/releases/tag/v1.12.3","date":"2025-08-05T17:24:51Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.12.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/coredns/coredns/releases/tag/v1.12.2","date":"2025-06-06T11:42:00Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.12.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/coredns/coredns/releases/tag/v1.12.1","date":"2025-03-31T20:26:21Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.12.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/coredns/coredns/releases/tag/v1.12.0","date":"2024-11-21T19:41:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.12.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/coredns/coredns/releases/tag/v1.11.4","date":"2024-11-13T03:07:13Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.11.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/coredns/coredns/releases/tag/v1.11.3","date":"2024-07-29T17:29:13Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.11.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/coredns/coredns/releases/tag/v1.11.1","date":"2023-08-15T20:00:30Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.11.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/coredns/coredns/releases/tag/v1.11.0","date":"2023-08-08T14:15:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.11.0"}]` |
| reliability.sla_pct | 100 | - |
| security.gdpr | yes | - |
| security.pci | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | - | 8.2 |
| security.vulnerabilities | - | `{"count":16,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fcoredns%2Fcoredns&per_page=100","last_12m":9,"max_severity":"HIGH"}` |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T17:06:26.865Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*