Why would I pay for DNS when Cloudflare is free?

Cloudflare’s free DNS is cross-subsidised by the rest of the Cloudflare product stack. That’s fine if you’re using those products, but it means your DNS provider is optimising for features you may not need (CDN, WAF, Zero Trust) while gating what you might actually want (per-zone SLA, ISPmanager API, predictable support SLAs) behind Enterprise. NexDNS is priced as just DNS hosting – the whole product is the DNS.

Can I keep Cloudflare’s CDN / WAF and just move DNS to NexDNS?

No – Cloudflare’s CDN and WAF require Cloudflare to be authoritative for the zone. If DNS is elsewhere, you’d need to switch to a different CDN (Fastly, bunny.net, etc.) or self-host. If you only use Cloudflare for DNS, migration is straightforward.

Does NexDNS have anycast DNS like Cloudflare?

No. NexDNS uses unicast nameservers in two independent EU locations – Germany and the Netherlands – not an anycast network. Every zone is served from both locations, so a resolver always has more than one nameserver to reach. If you specifically need a global anycast footprint, Cloudflare is the better fit there.

Does NexDNS support DNSSEC like Cloudflare?

Yes. DNSSEC is included on Pro plans and above and is signed automatically – you just copy the DS record to your registrar. Cloudflare also offers DNSSEC on their free tier. Both use modern algorithms (ECDSA P-256).

Is there a Terraform provider for NexDNS like cloudflare/cloudflare?

Yes – the nexdns/nexdns provider is on the Terraform Registry with the same shape: nexdns_zone and nexdns_record resources. Migration from Cloudflare’s Terraform provider is mostly rename + attribute remapping; the octodns-nexdns provider offers an alternative declarative YAML workflow.

Pay-per-zone alternative

NexDNS vs Cloudflare DNS

Authoritative DNS without the Cloudflare ecosystem lock-in – pay for the zones you host, keep your traffic routing independent.

At a glance

NexDNS · Cloudflare DNS

Deployment model: SaaS (managed)

SaaS (managed, anycast)
Setup time: Sign up and create a zone in 2 minutes

Register domain with Cloudflare or change NS
DNSSEC: Automatic signing on Pro and above

Automatic signing (free)
Pricing from: 6.90 €/mo (Pro plan)

Free for DNS, but paid Cloudflare plans gate advanced features

compare.cloudflare-dns.intro

Feature comparison

How NexDNS stacks up against Cloudflare DNS across the dimensions that matter.

Capability	NexDNS	Cloudflare DNS
Deployment model	SaaS (managed)	SaaS (managed, anycast)
Setup time	Sign up and create a zone in 2 minutes	Register domain with Cloudflare or change NS
Maintenance	Zero – fully managed	Zero – fully managed
DNSSEC	Automatic signing on Pro and above	Automatic signing (free)
API	REST API + ISPmanager / DNSmanager XML API compatibility	REST API (Cloudflare API v4)
CLI tool	Official `nexdns` Go CLI with DNS-as-Code YAML	`flarectl` and community tools
Terraform provider	Official provider on Registry	Official provider (`cloudflare/cloudflare`)
ISPmanager compatibility	Full	None
Record types	A, AAAA, MX, CNAME, TXT, SRV, NS, CAA, PTR, ALIAS, TLSA, DS	A, AAAA, MX, CNAME, TXT, NS, SRV, CAA, SPF, URI, HTTPS, SVCB
Pricing from	6.90 €/mo (Pro plan)	Free for DNS, but paid Cloudflare plans gate advanced features

Choose NexDNS if…

You run ISPmanager and need a DNS backend that speaks its native API
You want predictable monthly pricing without upsell funnels
You prefer not to route control-plane or traffic decisions through Cloudflare
You need dedicated EU nameservers rather than shared free-tier anycast infrastructure
You need DNS-as-Code via Terraform, OctoDNS, or a proper CLI

Choose Cloudflare if…

You’re already using Cloudflare’s CDN / WAF / Zero Trust and want DNS in the same dashboard
Budget is zero – Cloudflare’s DNS is free for any number of zones
You want Cloudflare’s anycast network as authoritative infrastructure

Migrating from Cloudflare DNS

Export your zone from Cloudflare as a BIND file (Cloudflare dashboard → DNS → Export) and import into NexDNS via the panel or nexdns zone import <domain> cloudflare-export.txt. Update the NS records at your registrar to NexDNS nameservers. Cloudflare-proxied A / AAAA records need to be re-pointed to your real origin IPs before migrating, or Cloudflare’s proxy will stop working as soon as NS records flip.

Zone import guide Bulk import via CLI →

Frequently Asked Questions

The most common questions, answered.

Browse documentation

: Cloudflare’s free DNS is cross-subsidised by the rest of the Cloudflare product stack. That’s fine if you’re using those products, but it means your DNS provider is optimising for features you may not need (CDN, WAF, Zero Trust) while gating what you might actually want (per-zone SLA, ISPmanager API, predictable support SLAs) behind Enterprise. NexDNS is priced as just DNS hosting – the whole product is the DNS.
: No – Cloudflare’s CDN and WAF require Cloudflare to be authoritative for the zone. If DNS is elsewhere, you’d need to switch to a different CDN (Fastly, bunny.net, etc.) or self-host. If you only use Cloudflare for DNS, migration is straightforward.
: No. NexDNS uses unicast nameservers in two independent EU locations – Germany and the Netherlands – not an anycast network. Every zone is served from both locations, so a resolver always has more than one nameserver to reach. If you specifically need a global anycast footprint, Cloudflare is the better fit there.
: Yes. DNSSEC is included on Pro plans and above and is signed automatically – you just copy the DS record to your registrar. Cloudflare also offers DNSSEC on their free tier. Both use modern algorithms (ECDSA P-256).
: Yes – the nexdns/nexdns provider is on the Terraform Registry with the same shape: nexdns_zone and nexdns_record resources. Migration from Cloudflare’s Terraform provider is mostly rename + attribute remapping; the octodns-nexdns provider offers an alternative declarative YAML workflow.

DNS without ecosystem lock-in

Spin up a NexDNS account, import your Cloudflare zone, and test before you cut over.