Free DNS Report alternatives

Everyone that runs a web server or even a site needs to run a DNS check from time to time. For a long time I have been a happy user of a site DNSstuff.com. But couple of months ago they started charging for their main check called DNSReport.

For few queries a month I'm not willing to subscribe for $80 a year, and I'm certainly not alone.

Finally I have done some research and tried to find alternatives. Here are the results with ratings, where 10/10 is what DNSReport gave us.

CheckDNS.net - 7/10 - Sample

Clear design, errors and warning are nicely visible. Quite fast too. Too bad it check for only basic stuff.

ZoneCheck - 6/10

AJAXy. Only reports error and/or warning. Had a batch mode for multiple domains and desktop program which I don't want to even try. DNS test should be available anywhere anytime.

intoDNS - 8/10 - Sample

Simple, powerful, web2.0-ish. Results are almost identical to DNSReport, it's just that the explanations are not that concise. For example, it says my SOA REFRESH is not ok, but I don't get any recommendations on how to fix it.

Network Tools - 5/10

Only stand alone tools, not DNSReport- like check. Trace and ping are nice though.

pingability - 7/10 - Sample

Solid report, too bad it is terribly hard to read.

iptools.com - 4/10

Similar to Network tools, it only has standalone tools, but no big all-round DNS test. Boring.

DomainTools - 2/10 - Sample

Too simple. Only lists DNS entries.

Free DNS Report - 8/10 (scam?) - Sample

The report looks remarkably similar to that of the original, but the site looks terribly like a scam. I'm kind of scared to enter my domain name in there. If this is real test, please pimp it up a bit!

you get signal - not rated

Doesn't really belong on the list, but it is a nice tool anyway. I use it for port forwarding tests and reverse IP domain check.

 

My pick is intoDNS. If I need a second opinion, I'll go for CheckDNS.net or pingability. For port scanning and trace router I like you get signal the best.