Managed authoritative DNS · a Route 53 alternative
Managed DNS, without the Route 53 tax.
Drop anchor in a sheltered cove: self-service authoritative DNS with apex ALIAS flattening to any target. Import your Route 53 zones in one step, then manage them as code from Terraform, CloudFormation, or cert-manager — one flat price, no AWS account. Set sail.
Already serving authoritative DNS in production for Nightlamp, Steada, and Emcognito.
# Migrate a Route 53 zone in one call — your AWS keys never leave your shell. $ aws route53 list-resource-record-sets --hosted-zone-id Z123 > zone.json $ curl -s https://api.dnscove.com/api/import/route53 \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $DNSCOVE_TOKEN" -d "$(jq -Rs '{json:.}' zone.json)" → imported 24 records · verify ownership, then flip your nameservers nameservers: ns1.dnscove.com · ns2.dnscove.org
Why teams pick DNSCove
Served at the edge
Your zones answer from independent edge nodes in memory, with no dependency on the control plane to resolve.
One-step Route 53 import
Paste a hosted-zone export and DNSCove recreates every supported record. Prove ownership with a TXT record and cut over with zero downtime.
Apex ALIAS, flattened
Point your root domain at a CDN or load balancer. DNSCove resolves the target and keeps your apex A/AAAA fresh.
Apex ALIAS
A CNAME can't live at your root. This can.
Point yourdomain.com straight at a CloudFront distribution, a load balancer, or an S3 site — anywhere a plain CNAME is illegal at the apex. DNSCove resolves the target and answers your root with real, flattened A/AAAA records, then keeps them fresh as the upstream rotates IPs. The console shows you exactly what it's doing.
Add your first record →Docs & integrations
Wire it into the stack you already run.
Every endpoint, documented
Zones, records, tokens, and apex ALIAS over a clean JSON API — request and response shapes for each call.
Read the reference → QuickstartYour first zone in minutes
Create a zone, add records, prove ownership, and go live at the edge — the whole lifecycle over the API with nothing but curl.
Read the guide → Migrating from Route 53Bring your zones, zero downtime
Import a hosted zone in one call, verify ownership with a TXT record, and cut over your nameservers with no resolution gap.
Read the guide → Let's Encrypt (any server)Free wildcard TLS, anywhere
Issue and auto-renew Let's Encrypt certificates with certbot or acme.sh, using a scoped acme-dns01 token that can only touch _acme-challenge.
Read the guide → cert-manager (Kubernetes)Let's Encrypt on Kubernetes
Issue and renew certificates — wildcards included — with the DNSCove cert-manager DNS-01 webhook and a scoped, per-zone token.
Read the guide → Terraform / OpenTofuDNS as code
Manage zones and records from Terraform or OpenTofu — zones via the restapi provider, records via a reusable module, with least-privilege tokens.
Read the guide → CloudFormationZones in your stack
Drive zones and records from a CloudFormation stack with a Lambda-backed custom resource — full provider code and a ready-to-adapt template.
Read the guide →DNSCove vs Route 53
What you keep, and what you drop.
DNSCove is a flat-price Route 53 alternative. Import your Route 53 zones in one step, manage them as code from Terraform, CloudFormation, or cert-manager, put an apex ALIAS on any target, and pay one flat price with no AWS account.
| Feature | DNSCove | Amazon Route 53 |
|---|---|---|
| Migrate in from Route 53 | One-step zone import, zero-downtime cutover | n/a |
| Manage DNS as code | Terraform, CloudFormation, cert-manager | Terraform, CloudFormation, external-dns |
| Apex ALIAS / ANAME target | Any host — CDN, LB, or hostname | AWS-owned targets only |
| cert-manager DNS-01 solver | First-party webhook (wildcards included) | Community/external-dns |
| AWS account required | No | Yes |
| Pricing model | One flat price | Per hosted zone + per query |
| DNSSEC | Not yet — on the roadmap | Yes |
| Authoritative nameservers | 2 (ns1.dnscove.com · ns2.dnscove.org) | 4 per zone, anycast |
Is DNSCove a Route 53 alternative?
Yes. DNSCove is managed authoritative DNS you can migrate to from Route 53 in one step. You manage DNS through DNSCove's own JSON API, console, and IaC guides — it is not a drop-in Route 53 wire API, so you point your zones and records at DNSCove rather than swapping an AWS endpoint.
How do I migrate from Route 53 to DNSCove?
Export your hosted zone with aws route53 list-resource-record-sets, import it into DNSCove in one API call, then publish a _dnscove-challenge TXT on your current DNS to prove ownership. DNSCove starts serving your records before you move nameservers, so the cutover has zero downtime. See the Route 53 migration guide.
Does Terraform work with DNSCove?
Yes. Manage zones and records from Terraform or OpenTofu using the Mastercard/restapi provider for zones and a small reusable module for records against DNSCove's JSON API. A native provider is on the roadmap. See the Terraform guide.
Can I get Let's Encrypt certificates with DNSCove?
Yes — on any server, not only Kubernetes. Any ACME client (certbot, acme.sh, lego) can issue free Let's Encrypt certificates, wildcards included, through a scoped acme-dns01 token that can only write your _acme-challenge record. On Kubernetes, DNSCove also ships a cert-manager DNS-01 solver webhook. See the Let's Encrypt guide.
Does DNSCove work with cert-manager on Kubernetes?
Yes. DNSCove ships its own cert-manager ACME DNS-01 solver webhook — cert-manager bundles no DNSCove solver, so you install DNSCove's. It issues and auto-renews Let's Encrypt certificates, wildcards included, using a scoped per-zone acme-dns01 token stored as a Kubernetes Secret.
Can DNSCove put an ALIAS at my apex domain?
Yes, and to any target — not only AWS resources. DNSCove resolves the target (a CDN, load balancer, or any hostname) and keeps your apex A/AAAA records fresh. Route 53 only flattens ALIAS to AWS-owned targets.
Does DNSCove support ANAME records?
Yes. DNSCove's ALIAS record is what other DNS providers call ANAME and Route 53 calls an alias record — there is no separate ANAME type. ALIAS is valid at the zone apex, points at any hostname (a CDN, load balancer, or S3 site), and is flattened to fresh A/AAAA records at publish time. See the record type reference.
Does DNSCove support DNSSEC?
Not yet. DNSSEC is on the roadmap and not available in the current release. DNSCove today serves from two authoritative nameservers, ns1.dnscove.com and ns2.dnscove.org.
Bring a domain into the cove.
Create a zone, set two nameservers at your registrar, and watch it go live. Migrating from Route53? Bring your zones with you.
Get started →