Cloudflare DNS vs Hetzner DNS: privacy compared
Cloudflare DNS and Hetzner DNS are both rated in DNS hosting against the same 12 public criteria. Cloudflare DNS is based in the United States (Five Eyes); Hetzner DNS is based in Germany (Fourteen Eyes).
| Criterion | Cloudflare DNS Our pick | Hetzner DNS |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | Grade C C (67/100) | Grade D D (43/100) |
| Jurisdiction | United States Five Eyes | Germany Fourteen 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 | Partial source |
| No ads or data sales Is the product funded without advertising, ad targeting or selling user data? | Yes source | Yes 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 | No |
| Tells users about requests Does the provider promise to tell users about requests for their data, unless a court forbids it? | Yes source | No |
| 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 | No source |
| Modern web standards Does the website score 90% or higher on the Internet.nl website test? | Yes source | Partial source |
| DNSSEC Can DNSSEC be turned on for hosted zones? | Yes source | No 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 |
Which is more private, Cloudflare DNS or Hetzner DNS?
Cloudflare DNS scores higher on the public criteria: 67 out of 100, against 43 for Hetzner DNS. Cloudflare DNS does better on transparency report, tells users about requests, security headers, modern web standards and DNSSEC. Hetzner DNS does better on no trackers or telemetry. How scoring works
Summaries
Cloudflare DNS. Cloudflare DNS scores 67 out of 100 (grade C) on the DNS hosting criteria. It meets 8 of 12 criteria: no ads or data sales, transparency report, tells users about requests, TLS configuration, modern web standards, 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, Mozilla HTTP Observatory grade B+ and Internet.nl website score 93%.
Hetzner DNS. Hetzner DNS scores 43 out of 100 (grade D) on the DNS hosting criteria. It meets 4 of 12 criteria: no ads or data sales, TLS configuration, API access and two-factor login. It partly meets no trackers or telemetry, independent audit and modern web standards. It does not meet open source, transparency report, tells users about requests, security headers and DNSSEC. It is based in Germany: Fourteen Eyes member; EU member (GDPR). Automated tests: SSL Labs grade A, Mozilla HTTP Observatory grade D and Internet.nl website score 76%.