Compare DNS services (Route 53, Azure DNS, Cloud DNS) features and pricing.
Last verified: April 2026
| Feature | AWS | Azure | GCP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Service name | Amazon Route 53 | Azure DNS | Cloud DNS |
| Global anycast network | Yes, globally distributed authoritative DNS | Yes, hosted on Azure global network | Yes, served from Google edge locations worldwide |
| SLA | 100% availability SLA | 100% availability SLA | 100% availability SLA |
| Feature | AWS | Azure | GCP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hosted zone cost | $0.50/zone/month (first 25 zones) | $0.50/zone/month | $0.20/zone/month |
| Query pricing | $0.40 per million queries (standard); $0.60 latency-based | $0.40 per million queries | $0.20 per million queries (first 1B); $0.10 after |
| Feature | AWS | Azure | GCP |
|---|---|---|---|
| DNSSEC | Yes, DNSSEC signing for public hosted zones | Yes, DNSSEC support for public zones | Yes, managed DNSSEC for public zones |
| Private zones | Yes, private hosted zones associated with VPCs | Yes, Azure Private DNS zones linked to VNets | Yes, private managed zones for VPC networks |
| Feature | AWS | Azure | GCP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health checks | Yes, built-in health checks with endpoint monitoring and failover | Via Azure Traffic Manager health probes (separate service) | No built-in DNS health checks; use Cloud Load Balancing for failover |
| Routing policies | Simple, weighted, latency-based, geolocation, geoproximity, failover, multivalue answer | Via Traffic Manager: priority, weighted, performance, geographic, multivalue, subnet | Weighted round-robin, geolocation, failover routing policies |
| Alias / CNAME-like records | Alias records (free queries for AWS resources, zone apex support) | Alias record sets pointing to Azure resources (Traffic Manager, CDN, Public IP) | Standard CNAME records only; no zone-apex alias equivalent |
| Feature | AWS | Azure | GCP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Record types supported | A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, PTR, SOA, SRV, TXT, CAA, NAPTR, DS | A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, PTR, SOA, SRV, TXT, CAA | A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, PTR, SOA, SRV, TXT, CAA, DNSKEY, DS, IPSECKEY, SSHFP, TLSA |
| API / CLI support | AWS CLI, SDKs (Boto3, etc.), REST API | Azure CLI, Azure PowerShell, SDKs, REST API | gcloud CLI, client libraries, REST API |
| Terraform support | Yes, aws_route53_zone and aws_route53_record resources | Yes, azurerm_dns_zone and azurerm_dns_*_record resources | Yes, google_dns_managed_zone and google_dns_record_set resources |
| Domain registration | Yes, Route 53 Registrar supports domain registration and transfer | No, use Azure App Service Domains or third-party registrar | No, use Cloud Domains (separate service) or third-party registrar |
| Logging and monitoring | DNS query logging to CloudWatch Logs; CloudTrail for API calls | Activity logs and Azure Monitor diagnostic logs for DNS zones | Cloud Logging for DNS queries; Cloud Monitoring metrics |
[
{
"feature": "Service name",
"category": "General",
"aws": "Amazon Route 53",
"azure": "Azure DNS",
"gcp": "Cloud DNS"
},
{
"feature": "Global anycast network",
"category": "General",
"aws": "Yes, globally distributed authoritative DNS",
"azure": "Yes, hosted on Azure global network",
"gcp": "Yes, served from Google edge locations worldwide"
},
{
"feature": "SLA",
"category": "General",
"aws": "100% availability SLA",
"azure": "100% availability SLA",
"gcp": "100% availability SLA"
},
{
"feature": "Hosted zone cost",
"category": "Pricing",
"aws": "$0.50/zone/month (first 25 zones)",
"azure": "$0.50/zone/month",
"gcp": "$0.20/zone/month"
},
{
"feature": "Query pricing",
"category": "Pricing",
"aws": "$0.40 per million queries (standard); $0.60 latency-based",
"azure": "$0.40 per million queries",
"gcp": "$0.20 per million queries (first 1B); $0.10 after"
},
{
"feature": "DNSSEC",
"category": "Security",
"aws": "Yes, DNSSEC signing for public hosted zones",
"azure": "Yes, DNSSEC support for public zones",
"gcp": "Yes, managed DNSSEC for public zones"
},
{
"feature": "Private zones",
"category": "Security",
"aws": "Yes, private hosted zones associated with VPCs",
"azure": "Yes, Azure Private DNS zones linked to VNets",
"gcp": "Yes, private managed zones for VPC networks"
},
{
"feature": "Health checks",
"category": "Routing",
"aws": "Yes, built-in health checks with endpoint monitoring and failover",
"azure": "Via Azure Traffic Manager health probes (separate service)",
"gcp": "No built-in DNS health checks; use Cloud Load Balancing for failover"
},
{
"feature": "Routing policies",
"category": "Routing",
"aws": "Simple, weighted, latency-based, geolocation, geoproximity, failover, multivalue answer",
"azure": "Via Traffic Manager: priority, weighted, performance, geographic, multivalue, subnet",
"gcp": "Weighted round-robin, geolocation, failover routing policies"
},
{
"feature": "Alias / CNAME-like records",
"category": "Routing",
"aws": "Alias records (free queries for AWS resources, zone apex support)",
"azure": "Alias record sets pointing to Azure resources (Traffic Manager, CDN, Public IP)",
"gcp": "Standard CNAME records only; no zone-apex alias equivalent"
},
{
"feature": "Record types supported",
"category": "Features",
"aws": "A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, PTR, SOA, SRV, TXT, CAA, NAPTR, DS",
"azure": "A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, PTR, SOA, SRV, TXT, CAA",
"gcp": "A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, PTR, SOA, SRV, TXT, CAA, DNSKEY, DS, IPSECKEY, SSHFP, TLSA"
},
{
"feature": "API / CLI support",
"category": "Features",
"aws": "AWS CLI, SDKs (Boto3, etc.), REST API",
"azure": "Azure CLI, Azure PowerShell, SDKs, REST API",
"gcp": "gcloud CLI, client libraries, REST API"
},
{
"feature": "Terraform support",
"category": "Features",
"aws": "Yes, aws_route53_zone and aws_route53_record resources",
"azure": "Yes, azurerm_dns_zone and azurerm_dns_*_record resources",
"gcp": "Yes, google_dns_managed_zone and google_dns_record_set resources"
},
{
"feature": "Domain registration",
"category": "Features",
"aws": "Yes, Route 53 Registrar supports domain registration and transfer",
"azure": "No, use Azure App Service Domains or third-party registrar",
"gcp": "No, use Cloud Domains (separate service) or third-party registrar"
},
{
"feature": "Logging and monitoring",
"category": "Features",
"aws": "DNS query logging to CloudWatch Logs; CloudTrail for API calls",
"azure": "Activity logs and Azure Monitor diagnostic logs for DNS zones",
"gcp": "Cloud Logging for DNS queries; Cloud Monitoring metrics"
}
]The Multi-Cloud DNS Compare tool compares managed DNS services across AWS (Route 53), Azure (Azure DNS), and GCP (Cloud DNS). It covers hosted zone management, record types, routing policies, DNSSEC support, health checks, pricing models, and integration with other cloud services. The tool helps you evaluate DNS hosting options.
Route 53 charges $0.50/zone/month and $0.40/million queries. Azure DNS charges $0.50/zone and $0.40/million queries. Cloud DNS charges $0.20/zone and $0.40/million queries. Cloud DNS has the cheapest per-zone pricing. All three offer free private/internal DNS resolution within their respective cloud networks.
Route 53 offers the most routing options: simple, weighted, latency-based, failover, geolocation, geoproximity, multivalue answer, and IP-based. Azure DNS supports basic record sets and Traffic Manager for advanced routing. Cloud DNS supports basic records with Cloud Load Balancing for advanced traffic management.
All three support DNSSEC for public zones. Route 53 supports DNSSEC signing with automatic key rotation. Azure DNS supports DNSSEC signing. Cloud DNS supports DNSSEC signing with KSK and ZSK management. Implementation complexity is similar across all three.
You are consolidating DNS management for 50 domains currently split across GoDaddy and Cloudflare. You need latency-based routing for your primary application and simple hosting for the rest. The comparison shows Route 53 offers native latency-based routing, while Azure DNS would require Traffic Manager at $0.75/million queries on top of DNS costs. You choose Route 53 for the primary app domain and Cloud DNS for the remaining 49 domains at $0.20/zone (saving $15/month over Route 53's $0.50/zone).
The comparison maps DNS service capabilities across providers in categories: hosted zone management, record types, routing policies, health checks, DNSSEC, private DNS, and pricing. Each capability is shown with the provider-specific implementation details and any limitations, enabling evaluation of which service best fits your DNS hosting requirements.
Route 53 is the only major cloud DNS service that includes health checks and failover routing natively. Azure DNS requires Traffic Manager (a separate service) for health-based routing, and GCP Cloud DNS requires Cloud Load Balancing. Factor in the additional service costs when comparing DNS solutions for high-availability architectures.
DNS propagation is not instant. TTL values determine how long resolvers cache records. During a failover event, if your TTL is 3600 seconds (1 hour), some users will still hit the failed endpoint for up to an hour. Set TTLs to 60 seconds for records involved in failover, but understand this increases query volume and cost.
All three providers charge roughly $0.40 per million queries, but Route 53 alias records for AWS services (ALB, CloudFront, S3) are free. If you host DNS on Route 53 and use AWS services behind alias records, your DNS query costs can be near zero. This is a meaningful advantage for AWS-heavy architectures.
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