DNSimple vs Google Cloud DNS
SEPT 2026 auditA comparison of DNSimple and Google Cloud DNS built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
Choose DNSimple if…
Teams that want DNS as a product rather than a loss leader: $0.50 per zone, 50,000 queries each, an API, domain registration and access control — priced openly at every tier including the overage rate.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Choose Google Cloud DNS if…
An estate already on Google Cloud, where DNS should be another line on the same bill and another resource in the same IAM. Zones are billed by the hour and queries by the million, with no plan to pick and no minimum to clear.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Consider something else if…
- DNSimple: The zones are yours and the budget is nothing. Cloudflare and bunny.net charge neither per zone nor per query, and DNSimple's entry plan publishes 'No SLA' in those words — so you are paying for the product and the tooling rather than for a commitment.
- Google Cloud DNS: You want to know what a month costs without doing arithmetic. A zone priced at $0.000273973 an hour is roughly twenty cents a month, and routing-policy queries cost nearly twice a regular one — both true, neither obvious, and both free elsewhere.
3 sourced criteria separate them — see where, with sources, below.
Pick the criteria you care about. The chart counts how many of them lean toward each provider — the same read as scanning the bars below, just totalled for the ones you chose.
DNSimple 0
Google Cloud DNS 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | DNSimple | Google Cloud DNS |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Free tier | No | No |
| Entry paid plan | $0.50 per hosted zone per month on Solo, which is free for one user; 50,000 queries per zone per month are included, then $0.80 per million. Teams is $29/month including one seat, with 500,000 queries per zone and $0.60 per million after. | No minimum and no plan. A managed zone costs $0.000273973 an hour — about $0.20 a month — and queries are $0.40 per million up to a billion, $0.20 above that. No magnitude is recorded because an hourly zone rate is not a monthly plan fee. |
| Pricing model | Per zone and per query, with the seat free on Solo. Both meters loosen as the plan rises: Teams doubles nothing but raises the included queries tenfold and lowers the overage rate. | Two meters, one of them hourly. Managed zones are billed per hour — $0.000273973 for the first 25, falling twice above that — and queries by the million, with routing-policy queries priced higher than regular ones. |
| Infrastructure | ||
| Uptime SLA | None on Solo, stated in those words on the pricing page. Higher plans are where an SLA appears. | 100% for the Google-managed authoritative name servers, stated as a Service Level Objective rather than a percentage below it. |
| Compliance | ||
| DNSSEC | Supported — Listed under DNS Security beside DDoS protection | Supported — Cloud DNS creates and rotates the keys and signs the zone itself |
Where they differ.
Entry paid plan
- DNSimple
- $0.50 per hosted zone per month on Solo, which is free for one user; 50,000 queries per zone per month are included, then $0.80 per million. Teams is $29/month including one seat, with 500,000 queries per zone and $0.60 per million after.
- Google Cloud DNS
- No minimum and no plan. A managed zone costs $0.000273973 an hour — about $0.20 a month — and queries are $0.40 per million up to a billion, $0.20 above that. No magnitude is recorded because an hourly zone rate is not a monthly plan fee.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- DNSimple Pricing ↗
“Solo Free For 1 user $0.50 per hosted zone per month 50,000 queries per zone per month included, then $0.80 per million queries”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- Cloud DNS pricing ↗
“Regular queries 0 count to 1,000,000,000 count $0.40 / 1,000,000 count, per 1 month / account 1,000,000,000 count and above $0.20 /”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
Pricing model
- DNSimple
- Per zone and per query, with the seat free on Solo. Both meters loosen as the plan rises: Teams doubles nothing but raises the included queries tenfold and lowers the overage rate.
- Google Cloud DNS
- Two meters, one of them hourly. Managed zones are billed per hour — $0.000273973 for the first 25, falling twice above that — and queries by the million, with routing-policy queries priced higher than regular ones.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- DNSimple Pricing ↗
“Most Popular Teams $ 29 USD /month Includes 1 seat $0.50 per hosted zone per month 500,000 queries per zone per month included, then $0.60 per million queries”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- Cloud DNS pricing ↗
“Managed zone pricing Hourly Hourly Monthly Monthly Item Price (USD) Managed zones 0 month to 25 month $0.000273973 / 1 hour, per 1 month / account”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
Uptime SLA
- DNSimple
- None on Solo, stated in those words on the pricing page. Higher plans are where an SLA appears.
- Google Cloud DNS
- 100% for the Google-managed authoritative name servers, stated as a Service Level Objective rather than a percentage below it.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- DNSimple Pricing ↗
“Register, transfer, renew domains 100 DNS records per zone 1 user Let's Encrypt SSL Certificates HTTP Redirects Anycast DNS No SLA”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- Cloud DNS Service Level Agreement ↗
“the Google managed Authoritative Name Servers to Customer of 100% (the "Service Level Objective" or "SLO")”
Read 2026-09-15 · official site
When these numbers change, hear about it. Sources are re-checked monthly; a repricing goes out as a short note.
Documented by only one.
These criteria are published by one provider and not the other. An absence here means we have not found a source, not that the feature is missing.
Questions this comparison answers.
Entry paid plan: DNSimple or Google Cloud DNS?
DNSimple: $0.50 per hosted zone per month on Solo, which is free for one user; 50,000 queries per zone per month are included, then $0.80 per million. Teams is $29/month including one seat, with 500,000 queries per zone and $0.60 per million after.
Google Cloud DNS: No minimum and no plan. A managed zone costs $0.000273973 an hour — about $0.20 a month — and queries are $0.40 per million up to a billion, $0.20 above that. No magnitude is recorded because an hourly zone rate is not a monthly plan fee.
Should I choose DNSimple or Google Cloud DNS?
Pick DNSimple if Teams that want DNS as a product rather than a loss leader: $0.50 per zone, 50,000 queries each, an API, domain registration and access control — priced openly at every tier including the overage rate.
Pick Google Cloud DNS if An estate already on Google Cloud, where DNS should be another line on the same bill and another resource in the same IAM. Zones are billed by the hour and queries by the million, with no plan to pick and no minimum to clear.