Cancel
You must select at least 2 products to compare!
Cloudflare Logo
51,295 views|32,327 comparisons
Quad9 DNS Logo
32,026 views|27,134 comparisons
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Jul 30, 2023

We compared Cloudflare DNS and Quad9 in several parameters based on reviews we have collected from users and you can find our conclusion below:

  • Ease of Deployment: Cloudflare DNS offers a user-friendly initial setup that can be completed in a few hours. It provides helpful documentation covering their functionality and API for advanced users. Quad9's setup process is uncomplicated and can be finished in less than an hour. Louis Geoffroy, the President at IDEBUG, told us that it was "straightforward if you know what you're doing, and it's easy to use overall."

  • Features: Cloudflare DNS excels in quick DNS record refreshing, easy domain registration, IP address protection, Office 365 integration, caching capabilities, DNS proxy, and DDoS protection. Cloudflare users also shared with us that they are seeing low latency performance and that they found Cloudflare API to be useful. For Quad9, we did not receive enough information about valuable features.Benoit Tellier, an IT Telehealth Specialist mentioned that "The most valuable feature of Quad9 is that it is a free solution".

  • What needs improvement: Cloudflare DNS could improve its API, SSO, and active directory integrations. Users also mention limitations in the free plan and issues with server downtime indications. Quad9 could enhance its offerings by adding personalized DNS filtering and improving responsiveness.

  • Pricing and ROI: The cost of setting up Cloudflare DNS varies based on usage. On the other hand, Quad9 is completely free to use. Both solutions provide security advantages that make it difficult to assess the financial return on investment. Since Quad9 is the free option, it yields positive results.

  • Service and Support: Cloudflare DNS receives praise for its dependable and satisfactory customer service. Users appreciate the highly regarded documentation that contributes to positive experiences. Quad9's website is considered practical and effective in providing the necessary information.

Based on user feedback, Cloudflare DNS is a highly recommended solution. Users appreciate its easy setup, quick DNS record updates, strong security features, worldwide coverage, scalability, reasonable pricing, compatibility with Office 365, caching ability, and minimal latency. They also value the Cloudflare API for creating distinct environments and updating zone codes. On the other hand, Quad9 is regarded as simple to configure and cost-effective, but it lacks personalized DNS filtering and raises concerns about performance and responsiveness.

To learn more, read our detailed Cloudflare DNS vs. Quad9 Report (Updated: March 2024).
763,955 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"Its most significant benefit to date is the speed with which it refreshes DNS records on the internet once you change it. If you are changing a website or registering a new record, it is very quick.""It is a stable solution. I rate the stability a ten out of ten...I rate the scalability a ten out of ten.""The most valuable feature of Cloudflare DNS is security.""The solution is stable, and the DNS servers are simple to use.""The most valuable feature of Cloudflare DNS is its global reach and it is always evolving.""Cloudflare DNS is widely used, and it's good for websites. If we use Cloudflare DNS and update one record, it updates in their office instantly.""The most valuable features of the solution are performance and security.""The attacker won't have details since my public IP is anonymous. It offers us good privacy."

More Cloudflare DNS Pros →

"Setting up Quad9 is straightforward if you know what you're doing, and it's easy to use overall.""The most valuable feature of Quad9 is that it is a free solution."

More Quad9 Pros →

Cons
"Areas like how assessment, discovery, and payload are dealt with and how it all comes into your organization can be considered when trying to make suggestions to Cloudflare for improvements.""Cloudflare doesn't have a reverse lookup. We can only do a DNS lookup to get the IP address from the hostname. It doesn't work if you want to look up the hostname from an IPA address.""The solution could be more user-friendly.""Cloudflare's free plan is limited to 5,000 records for their free plan. They should increase that. For example, if I create a domain called abc.com and a subdomain called a.abc.com, my record count will be two. I can make a maximum of 5,000 subdomains. However, if we use our own DNS hosted on another provider, there is no limit. Their free plan also lacks name server customization.""The analytics, basically the dashboard, doesn't have much to it.""Cloudflare should add more documentation and pricing to the cloud version.""We have noticed multiple instances where Cloudflare falsely indicates that our servers are down, even when there is no actual load on them. This makes it challenging for us to identify the exact issue.""There might be helpful if there was some web application firewall feature."

More Cloudflare DNS Cons →

"It used to work fine for all the devices, but it started to slow and become non-responsive. I would have to reload the page two or three times before all the pages loaded. With OpenDNS, I only need to load the page once.""Quad9 could improve by having more free features, such as custom DNS filtering."

More Quad9 Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "That is one of the great features. I was able to access the majority of the features and services for free."
  • "When you compare Cloudflare DNS to other solutions, such as Akamai, the price is reasonable."
  • "The price of the solution is expensive."
  • "We are using the free version."
  • "The pricing depends on the usage, but the cheapest would be around 5,000 USD a month."
  • "The product's pricing is minimal compared to other products."
  • "A free version of the solution is available."
  • "We are using the free tier of the solution."
  • More Cloudflare DNS Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The price of Quad9 is free."
  • More Quad9 Pricing and Cost Advice →

    report
    Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Managed DNS solutions are best for your needs.
    763,955 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Cloudflare DNS is a very fast, very reliable public DNS resolver. It is an enterprise-grade authoritative DNS service that offers great redundancy and advanced security with built-in unmetered and… more »
    Top Answer:The most valuable features of the solution are performance and security.
    Top Answer:Setting up Quad9 is straightforward if you know what you're doing, and it's easy to use overall.
    Top Answer:We've had performance problems with Quad9. It isn't responding fast enough.
    Ranking
    1st
    out of 24 in Managed DNS
    Views
    51,295
    Comparisons
    32,327
    Reviews
    13
    Average Words per Review
    462
    Rating
    8.5
    3rd
    out of 24 in Managed DNS
    Views
    32,026
    Comparisons
    27,134
    Reviews
    2
    Average Words per Review
    331
    Rating
    6.0
    Comparisons
    Learn More
    Overview

    Powering over 38% of managed DNS domains, Cloudflare runs one of the largest authoritative DNS networks in the world. With an average of a few milliseconds query speed, we have the fastest performance of any managed DNS provider. DNS updates happen within seconds, making DNS propagation delays a thing of the past.

    Quad9 is a free, recursive DNS service that replaces your ISP's or company's default domain name server (DNS) settings. Quad9 blocks lookups of malicious host names from an up-to-date list of threats when your computer makes any internet transaction that uses the DNS.

    This blocking action protects your computer, mobile device, or IoT systems against a variety of risks, including malware, phishing, spyware, C2 command-and-control domains, exploit kit-compromised sites, and botnets. It can also boost performance while ensuring privacy.

    Quad9’s service uses threat intelligence from a variety of sources, including:

    • Cisco
    • F-Secure
    • Netlab
    • IBM X-Force
    • Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG)

    Quad9 employs DNSSEC, which assures that the results supplied are accurate. It also filters out websites that have been categorized as hazardous using blacklists provided by various security suppliers.

    Quad9 supports DNS over TLS (DoT) and DNS over HTTPS (DoH). It’s been increasingly obvious in recent years that standard DNS has significant security flaws due to a lack of encryption. As a result, it is more susceptible to DNS hijacking. Quad9 users are effectively protected from cyber criminals as well as government censorship.

    The Quad9 service is run by the Quad9 Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Switzerland whose purpose is to make the internet a safer and more reliable place for everyone.

    Quad9 Features

    Quad9 has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

    • Privacy: Quad9 is the custodian of a worldwide DNS infrastructure that allows people to communicate and participate in governance and civil society more easily. Quad9 protects their users' privacy by not collecting personal data; Quad9 protects their consumers' privacy by preventing connections between their devices and harmful Internet sites. Quad9 provides users with performance by placing servers in hundreds of communities all over the world to deliver service on a local level. Because of their non-commercial position, they are able to give equal emphasis to regions that are otherwise underserved.
    • Addresses: Quad9 offers a number of distinct recursive DNS service options. Each has its own IP address (or, in certain situations, hostname), which you may use to configure your devices.
    • Threat blocking: Both commercial and publically available threat intelligence feeds have been merged by Quad9. Each was picked based on its shown ability to identify threats and provide a comprehensive set of capabilities for detecting exploits, malware, ransomware, spyware, and other potentially hazardous websites. Quad9’s threat intelligence (TI) partners provide us with data on feeds that are rapidly updated and dispersed as new domain-based risks emerge, and these domains or hosts are updated in their lists.
    • Locations: Quad9 systems are available in more than 150 places in 90 countries, with significant expansion planned. Quad9's servers are primarily positioned at internet exchange points, which are the locations with the highest concentration of interconnections within a typical network region.
    Sample Customers
    GoDaddy, Nasdaq, Zendesk, DigitalOcean, OK Cupid, Cisco, Udacity, LogMeIn, Library of Congress
    CISCO, Netlab, proofpoint
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm40%
    Comms Service Provider20%
    Healthcare Company10%
    Retailer10%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Comms Service Provider16%
    Computer Software Company15%
    Media Company8%
    Government6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Comms Service Provider20%
    Computer Software Company14%
    Media Company10%
    Government6%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business29%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise57%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business34%
    Midsize Enterprise19%
    Large Enterprise47%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business36%
    Midsize Enterprise20%
    Large Enterprise44%
    Buyer's Guide
    Cloudflare DNS vs. Quad9
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Cloudflare DNS vs. Quad9 and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    763,955 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Cloudflare DNS is ranked 1st in Managed DNS with 13 reviews while Quad9 is ranked 3rd in Managed DNS with 2 reviews. Cloudflare DNS is rated 8.6, while Quad9 is rated 6.0. The top reviewer of Cloudflare DNS writes "A stable, affordable, and easy-to-install product that provides resiliency and protects from threats". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Quad9 writes "No maintenance required, free service, but more free features would help". Cloudflare DNS is most compared with Azure DNS, Google Cloud DNS, Cisco Umbrella, Amazon Route 53 and Hurricane Electric Free DNS, whereas Quad9 is most compared with Google Cloud DNS, Cisco Umbrella, Verisign Public DNS, Neustar UltraDNS and Hurricane Electric Free DNS. See our Cloudflare DNS vs. Quad9 report.

    See our list of best Managed DNS vendors.

    We monitor all Managed DNS reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.