Cloudflare DNS vs Amazon Route 53: privacy compared
Cloudflare DNS and Amazon Route 53 are both rated in DNS hosting against the same 12 public criteria. Cloudflare DNS does better on no ads or data sales and DNSSEC. Amazon Route 53 does better on security headers. Cloudflare DNS is based in the United States (Five Eyes); Amazon Route 53 is based in the United States (Five Eyes).
| Criterion | Cloudflare DNS Our pick | Amazon Route 53 |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | Grade C C (66/100) | Grade D D (52/100) |
| Jurisdiction | United States Five Eyes | United States Five Eyes |
| Open source Is all the source code needed to run the product public? | No | No |
| No trackers or telemetry Are the website and apps free of third-party trackers, with any analytics anonymous and any telemetry off by default? | No | No source |
| No ads or data sales Is the product funded without advertising, ad targeting or selling user data? | Yes source | No source |
| Independent audit Has an independent security or privacy audit been published within the last three years? | Partial source | Partial source |
| Transparency report Does the provider regularly publish how many government and legal requests it receives and how it responds? | Yes source | Yes source |
| Tells users about requests Does the provider promise to tell users about requests for their data, unless a court forbids it? | Yes source | Yes source |
| TLS configuration Does the website pass the Qualys SSL Labs test with a grade of A or better? | Yes source | Yes source |
| Security headers Does the website pass the Mozilla HTTP Observatory test with a grade of A or better? | Partial source | Yes source |
| Modern web standards Does the website score 90% or higher on the Internet.nl website test? | Not tested yet | Not tested yet |
| DNSSEC Can DNSSEC be turned on for hosted zones? | Yes source | Partial source |
| API access Can records be managed through an API on every plan? | Yes source | Yes source |
| Two-factor login Do accounts support two-factor authentication with an authenticator app or security key? | Yes source | Yes source |
Summaries
Cloudflare DNS. Cloudflare DNS scores 66 out of 100 (grade C) on the DNS hosting criteria. It meets 7 of 11 criteria: no ads or data sales, transparency report, tells users about requests, TLS configuration, DNSSEC, API access and two-factor login. It partly meets independent audit and security headers. It does not meet open source and no trackers or telemetry. It is based in the United States: Five Eyes member; subject to the US CLOUD Act. Automated tests: SSL Labs grade A and Mozilla HTTP Observatory grade B+.
Amazon Route 53. Amazon Route 53 scores 52 out of 100 (grade D) on the DNS hosting criteria. It meets 6 of 11 criteria: transparency report, tells users about requests, TLS configuration, security headers, API access and two-factor login. It partly meets independent audit and DNSSEC. It does not meet open source, no trackers or telemetry and no ads or data sales. It is based in the United States: Five Eyes member; subject to the US CLOUD Act. Automated tests: SSL Labs grade A+ and Mozilla HTTP Observatory grade A+.