FreeDNS by afraid.org
The most recommended of 3 dynamic DNS services
People recommend it for free DNS hosting that has run for about 25 years, with reliable backup nameservers and dynamic DNS. The web interface is dated and some features are harder to use than similar services.
People recommend it for free DNS hosting that has run for about 25 years, with reliable backup nameservers and dynamic DNS. The web interface is dated and some features are harder to use than similar services.
22 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 19
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 86%
Recommended in 1 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Owned for 20 years
Median of the 5 owners who said how long they have had it.
Each square is one year.
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 19 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 6.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 1 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Long-running, reliable, free DNS
“The operators of this gratis, ~quarter-century-old service are doing just fine without bothering to please users like yourself.”
Comment from 24 Oct 2026 in “FreeDNS” “their history is a better indicator of the future than just a bunch of feel-good words”
Comment from 24 Oct 2026 in “FreeDNS” “I was using this in like middle school in 2006 or so to run my sites.”
Comment from 25 Oct 2026 in “FreeDNS” - Comment from 24 Oct 2026 in “FreeDNS”
- Comment from 24 Oct 2026 in “FreeDNS”
- Comment from 25 Oct 2026 in “FreeDNS”
Dynamic DNS and backup nameservers
“I have a couple domains (notably BBS.io) with them for people to use as ddns sub domains.”
Comment from 24 Oct 2026 in “FreeDNS” “Their backup DNS service is great, so you can run your own DNS with just one server.”
Comment from 24 Oct 2026 in “FreeDNS” “I've been using them as a secondary and for dynamic dns since”
Comment from 24 Oct 2026 in “FreeDNS” Simple, robust, reliable service
“The services are incredibly simple but finding a service that your server actually supports is a gamble.”
Comment from 25 Oct 2026 in “FreeDNS” “Branded nameservers are great, the web ui is janky and dated but seriously robust.”
Comment from 24 Oct 2026 in “FreeDNS”
Other dynamic DNS services people recommend
The two most recommended other dynamic DNS services, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FreeDNS by afraid.orgThis page | 19 | 3 | 86% | 1 | 20 yrs5 owners | — |
| DynIP dynamic DNS | 14 | 4 | 78% | 1 | — | — |
| DNSimple | 5 | 4 | 56% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
20 of the 22 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“If I knew self-hosting BIND was that easy I wouldn't have used FreeDNS.”
“The services are incredibly simple but finding a service that your server actually supports is a gamble.”
“Both are probably just old and reliable”
“I was using this in like middle school in 2006 or so to run my sites.”
“this seems like a terrible 'feature'”
“not an issue once. Josh replied to emails then and replies today still”
“The operators of this gratis, ~quarter-century-old service are doing just fine without bothering to please users like yourself.”
“I literally launched my development and web career on the back of this service”
“Branded nameservers are great, the web ui is janky and dated but seriously robust.”
“there are some pain points that similar services handle better”
“Every once in a while, HN surfaces absolute gems like this. Bookmarked and thanks to esher!”
“Their backup DNS service is great, so you can run your own DNS with just one server.”
“I have a couple domains (notably BBS.io) with them for people to use as ddns sub domains.”
“I've been using them as a secondary and for dynamic dns since”
“their history is a better indicator of the future than just a bunch of feel-good words”
“it's fairly decent on readability and minimalism”
““hoping” that someone else will donate is not sustainable for them and unrealistic in the long term.”
“Happy freeloader for something like 15 years, can recommend”
“the paid version is significantly cheaper than spinning up a new domain server”
“one of the most solid and longest lasting services online”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.