Cloudflare DNS vs Google DNS. What’s best?

Regarding Domain Name System (DNS) servers, two of the most popular options are Google DNS and Cloudflare DNS. Both of these DNS services offer faster and more secure access to the internet than the DNS servers provided by most Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Here’s a detailed comparison of Google DNS and Cloudflare DNS.

Speed: In terms of speed, both Google DNS and Cloudflare DNS offer impressive performance. Google DNS has servers located in over 100 locations around the world, and Cloudflare DNS has servers in more than 200 cities. Both services use anycast routing to send user queries to the nearest available server, which can help reduce latency and improve speed.

Security: Both Google DNS and Cloudflare DNS offer enhanced security features. For instance, both services support DNS over HTTPS (DoH), which encrypts DNS queries and responses to protect users from eavesdropping and snooping. Additionally, both services offer DNSSEC, a protocol that helps prevent DNS spoofing and man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks.

Privacy: When it comes to privacy, Cloudflare DNS has a better reputation than Google DNS. This is because Google is primarily an advertising company and collects data from its users to serve personalized ads. While Google DNS promises not to collect any personally identifiable information (PII), some users may still be uncomfortable using a service provided by a company with a history of data collection.

On the other hand, Cloudflare DNS is known for its commitment to privacy. The company promises not to sell or share any user data with third parties. It has even launched a privacy-focused DNS resolver called 1.1.1.1 that does not log any user activity.

Reliability: Both Google DNS and Cloudflare DNS are highly reliable services, with server uptime of over 99.9%. However, Cloudflare DNS has a unique feature called DNS Resolver Autonomy, which allows users to switch to a backup resolver in case the primary resolver becomes unavailable. This can be especially useful in situations where the primary resolver is under a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack.

Customization: Google DNS and Cloudflare DNS both offer users the ability to customize their DNS settings. With Google DNS, users can specify their preferred IPv4 or IPv6 address, while Cloudflare DNS allows users to choose between a secure and a family-friendly resolver.

Conclusion:

Both are fantastic options, however, at Webhex we prefer to use Cloudflare due to personal preferences.