# Cloudflare DNS vs Unbound

| Attribute | Cloudflare DNS | Unbound |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 51.7 (62% (medium)) | 47.7 (16% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | - | 84 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | - | 0 |
| adoption.github_stars | - | 4,817 |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"on_prem":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. | A free DNS resolver software that encrypts user queries and validates domain lookups. Designed for privacy and performance, it supports modern encrypted DNS protocols and works across Linux, BSD, and macOS systems. |
| integrations.count | 2 | - |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Terraform"},{"name":"Ansible"}]` | - |
| language.primary | - | C |
| license.spdx | - | BSD-3-Clause |
| market.availability | `{"hqCountry":"US","primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"hqCountry":"NL","primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` | `{"cli":true,"mac":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://nlnetlabs.nl/projects/unbound/about/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-20T16:34:32.426Z"}` |
| 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 | - |
| release.cadence_days | - | 52 |
| release.history | - | `[{"url":"https://github.com/NLnetLabs/unbound/releases/tag/release-1.26.0","date":"2026-08-04T08:00:13Z","type":"stable","version":"release-1.26.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/NLnetLabs/unbound/releases/tag/release-1.25.2","date":"2026-07-22T09:18:40Z","type":"stable","version":"release-1.25.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/NLnetLabs/unbound/releases/tag/release-1.25.1","date":"2026-05-20T09:17:20Z","type":"stable","version":"release-1.25.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/NLnetLabs/unbound/releases/tag/release-1.25.0","date":"2026-04-29T09:56:24Z","type":"stable","version":"release-1.25.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/NLnetLabs/unbound/releases/tag/release-1.24.2","date":"2025-11-26T11:22:30Z","type":"stable","version":"release-1.24.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/NLnetLabs/unbound/releases/tag/release-1.24.1","date":"2025-10-22T10:28:00Z","type":"stable","version":"release-1.24.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/NLnetLabs/unbound/releases/tag/release-1.24.0","date":"2025-09-18T08:36:55Z","type":"stable","version":"release-1.24.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/NLnetLabs/unbound/releases/tag/release-1.23.1","date":"2025-07-16T09:20:27Z","type":"stable","version":"release-1.23.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/NLnetLabs/unbound/releases/tag/release-1.23.0","date":"2025-04-24T08:07:21Z","type":"stable","version":"release-1.23.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/NLnetLabs/unbound/releases/tag/release-1.22.0","date":"2024-10-17T08:43:37Z","type":"stable","version":"release-1.22.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/NLnetLabs/unbound/releases/tag/release-1.21.1","date":"2024-10-04T10:42:01Z","type":"stable","version":"release-1.21.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/NLnetLabs/unbound/releases/tag/release-1.21.0","date":"2024-08-15T08:56:18Z","type":"stable","version":"release-1.21.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/NLnetLabs/unbound/releases/tag/release-1.20.0","date":"2024-05-08T09:06:15Z","type":"stable","version":"release-1.20.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/NLnetLabs/unbound/releases/tag/release-1.19.3","date":"2024-03-14T09:26:00Z","type":"stable","version":"release-1.19.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/NLnetLabs/unbound/releases/tag/release-1.19.2","date":"2024-03-07T09:09:39Z","type":"stable","version":"release-1.19.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/NLnetLabs/unbound/releases/tag/release-1.19.1","date":"2024-02-13T12:54:31Z","type":"stable","version":"release-1.19.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/NLnetLabs/unbound/releases/tag/release-1.19.0","date":"2023-11-08T09:54:09Z","type":"stable","version":"release-1.19.0"}]` |
| reliability.sla_pct | 100 | - |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.gdpr | yes | - |
| security.pci | yes | - |
| security.vulnerabilities | - | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2FNLNetLabs%2Funbound&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T15:22:46.178Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*