CDN / DNS / Security · Germany (DE)
Hetzner DNS
Free German DNS from Europe's most privacy-respecting infrastructure company.
The switch
Cloudflare→Hetzner DNSalso replaces AWS CloudFront
About
Free authoritative DNS service from Hetzner, Germany's leading independent hosting company. No tracking, no logging beyond operational necessity, GDPR-native. Pairs naturally with Hetzner Cloud for a fully EU-sovereign infrastructure stack.
Why we recommend it
- Completely free authoritative DNS
- No query logging beyond operational need
- GDPR-native — German family-owned company
- Pairs with Hetzner Cloud for full EU stack
- No VC pressure, no data monetisation
EU vs USA
Hetzner DNS vs Cloudflare
Side-by-side on jurisdiction, data residency, and the rules that decide who can actually read your data.
Criteria
🇪🇺 Hetzner DNS
🇺🇸 Cloudflare
Headquarters
Gunzenhausen, Germany
San Francisco, CA, USA
Jurisdiction
Germany (GDPR)
USA (CLOUD Act, FISA 702)
Data location
Germany, Finland
Global, US-controlled
GDPR-native
Yes
No
CLOUD Act / FISA exposed
No
Yes
Ad tracking
No
No
End-to-end encryption
No
No
Open source
No
No
Ownership
Hetzner Online GmbH (private, family-owned)
Cloudflare Inc. (NYSE:NET)
Founded
1997
2009
Compare head-to-head