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RedundantDNS vs DNSControl
DNSControl, open-sourced by Stack Exchange, describes zones in a JavaScript DSL and pushes them with dnscontrol push to many providers. Like octoDNS, it is a good tool that assumes a team runs it.
Side by side
| Aspect | DNSControl | RedundantDNS |
|---|---|---|
| Where the zone lives | dnsconfig.js in your repository | Canonical zone in RedundantDNS (dashboard, API, Terraform, MCP) |
| When changes apply | When someone runs push (usually CI) | On every change, with a verify read-back per provider |
| Drift between runs | Undetected until the next preview | Detected by verify and probes; alert, reconcile or adopt |
| Nameserver monitoring | Not included | Per-nameserver probes from each probe region |
| Credentials | In your CI secrets | Encrypted per organization, write-only; or in your own bucket |
| Price | Free (open source); you pay in pipeline and team time | Free plan for one zone; paid plans from $29/month (draft) |
Facts about other products as of 2026-09-23. Tell us if something changed: we will fix it.
Which one to choose
Choose DNSControl when
You like DNS as code in JavaScript, have a pipeline for it and need a provider RedundantDNS does not support.
Choose RedundantDNS when
You want the zone kept in sync and watched all the time, not only when a pipeline runs, and you want alerts when a provider drifts or stops answering.
You can keep a code workflow with RedundantDNS: the Terraform provider and the API cover zones, records, connections and attachments.
Put your zone on two providers
Start with one zone and two providers you already have. Free, no card.