Cloudflare DNS vs AWS Route 53 vs NS1 Connect: Real Authoritative DNS Cost per 1 Billion Queries in 2026
Prices checked: October 2, 2026.
Short answer
For 1 billion authoritative DNS queries a month across 10 zones:
| Provider | Monthly cost | Label |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare DNS (Free plan) | $0 | OFFICIAL (no per-query charge on any self-serve plan) |
| AWS Route 53, simple routing | $405 | ILLUSTRATIVE from OFFICIAL rates |
| AWS Route 53, latency-based routing | $605 | ILLUSTRATIVE |
| AWS Route 53, geolocation routing | $705 | ILLUSTRATIVE |
| AWS Route 53, IP-based routing | $805 | ILLUSTRATIVE |
| AWS Route 53, all queries to Alias records for AWS resources | $5 | ILLUSTRATIVE |
| NS1 Connect Standard | From $349/month (up to 1B queries); price at 1B not published | QUOTE-ONLY at 1B |
Cloudflare doesn't charge per DNS query, so a billion queries costs nothing on the Free plan. Route 53 charges $0.40 per million for standard queries, and more for smart routing. NS1 sells plan bands sized by query volume. Its Standard plan covers up to 1 billion queries, but the price at the top of that band is quote-only.
Native billing units
| Provider | Billed on | Rates | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare | Plan per domain | Free $0; Pro $20–$25; Business $200–$250; Enterprise custom. DNS on all plans; no per-query fee listed | OFFICIAL |
| Route 53 hosted zones | Zone-month | $0.50 each for the first 25; $0.10 each after | OFFICIAL |
| Route 53 standard queries | Per million | $0.40 (first 1B/month); $0.20 (over 1B) | OFFICIAL |
| Route 53 latency-based | Per million | $0.60 / $0.30 | OFFICIAL |
| Route 53 geolocation / geoproximity | Per million | $0.70 / $0.35 | OFFICIAL |
| Route 53 IP-based | Per million | $0.80 / $0.40 | OFFICIAL |
| Route 53 Alias queries to AWS resources | Per query | Free | OFFICIAL |
| Route 53 health checks | Per check-month | AWS endpoints $0.50 (first 50 free); non-AWS $0.75; optional features $1–$2 each | OFFICIAL |
| NS1 Connect Essentials | Plan | $99/month list (promo $69.30); 30–80M queries; 1,000 records; 1 steering chain | OFFICIAL |
| NS1 Connect Standard | Plan | From $349/month list (promo from $244.30); 50M–1B queries; 1,000–10,000 records; 1–100 steering chains | OFFICIAL (starting price) |
| NS1 Connect Premium | Plan | Custom | QUOTE-ONLY |
Route 53 at 1 billion queries (ILLUSTRATIVE)
| Item | Simple | Latency | Geo | IP-based |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 hosted zones | $5 | $5 | $5 | $5 |
| 1,000 million queries | $400 | $600 | $700 | $800 |
| Total | $405 | $605 | $705 | $805 |
Real traffic mixes routing types. Here's a typical blend:
- 60% simple
- 30% latency-based
- 10% health-checked failover to non-AWS endpoints (20 health checks)
That works out to:
- 600M × $0.40/M = $240
- 300M × $0.60/M = $180
- 100M × $0.40/M = $40
- 20 × $0.75 = $15 in health checks
- $5 in zones
Total: $480/month.
Above 1 billion queries, rates halve. At 5 billion simple queries: $400 + 4,000 × $0.20 = $1,200, plus zones.
NS1 Connect at 1 billion queries
NS1's Standard plan advertises up to 1 billion queries a month, starting at $349 (list). The published page doesn't show how the price climbs from the 50M entry point to the 1B ceiling, or any overage rate. At 1 billion queries, treat NS1 as QUOTE-ONLY. Expect more than the $349 starting figure, and compare against Route 53's $405–$805 for the same volume.
NS1's strengths are advanced traffic steering (filter chains), multi-CDN routing and API-driven automation.
Where the cost catches you
- Route 53 smart routing doubles the per-query rate. Moving everything from simple to geolocation routing takes 1B queries from $400 to $700.
- Low TTLs multiply queries. Dropping TTLs from 300 s to 30 s can increase resolver queries several-fold. On Route 53, that's a direct cost increase. On Cloudflare, it costs nothing extra.
- Alias records are the Route 53 cost hack. Queries answered by Alias records pointing at AWS resources (ELB, CloudFront, API Gateway, S3 websites) are free.
- Route 53 health checks add up at scale. 200 non-AWS health checks with two optional features each come to 200 × ($0.75 + $4.00) = $950/month, more than the query bill.
- Cloudflare's free DNS has a scope. Full setup means Cloudflare is your authoritative nameserver. Some enterprise options, such as dedicated nameserver offerings and secondary DNS, are contract features.
- NS1 bands are sized by query volume. Crossing a band edge can force a plan upgrade. Size the plan with headroom for traffic spikes.
Which one fits
- Lowest cost at any query volume: Cloudflare DNS.
- AWS-heavy infrastructure using Alias records: Route 53. Alias-heavy zones can cost little more than the zone fees.
- Complex traffic steering across CDNs, clouds and data centers: NS1 Connect. Budget for a quote at billion-query scale.
- Resilience through multiple DNS providers: pairing Cloudflare with Route 53 or NS1 is common. The second provider's bill depends on the share of queries it answers.
Assumptions
- 1,000,000,000 queries/month; 10 hosted zones; list prices
- Route 53 query prices for AWS Regions; NS1 list prices without promotions unless stated
- Excludes registrar fees and taxes
Pricing sources
- Amazon Route 53 pricing: https://aws.amazon.com/route53/pricing/
- Cloudflare plans: https://www.cloudflare.com/plans/
- Cloudflare DNS: https://www.cloudflare.com/application-services/products/dns/
- Cloudflare DNS docs: https://developers.cloudflare.com/dns/
- IBM NS1 Connect pricing: https://www.ibm.com/products/ns1-connect/pricing