--- title: FreeDNS | daily.dev description: This is a free DNS hosting service offering dynamic, static, and premium DNS options for managing domains and subdomains. Users can update their IP via a... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/freedns-zaus0a7tw twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: FreeDNS | daily.dev og:description: This is a free DNS hosting service offering dynamic, static, and premium DNS options for managing domains and subdomains. Users can update their IP via a... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/freedns-zaus0a7tw og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/ZAuS0a7tW.png og:image:alt: FreeDNS og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # FreeDNS **[Hacker News](https://daily.dev/sources/hn)** · 1 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary This is a free DNS hosting service offering dynamic, static, and premium DNS options for managing domains and subdomains. Users can update their IP via a simple curl command to sync.afraid.org, with IPv6 support through a v6 subdomain. The service also hosts a shared registry of 23,236 domains that hosts can be attached to. Other features include reverse IPv6 DNS, URL redirection, and DD-WRT router integration guides. The platform reports 7,161,419 members, 13,834,397 DNS records, and 1,275,999 zones. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How do I update my dynamic DNS IP address using a simple command line tool? You can update a dynamic DNS record with a single curl request to a unique sync URL, for example 'curl https://sync.afraid.org/u/TOKEN/'. This updates the associated hostname to your current public IP. For IPv6, the same approach works by prefixing the URL with 'v6', as in 'curl https://v6.sync.afraid.org/u/TOKEN/'. _daily.dev surfaces practical dynamic DNS setups for developers automating home or server IP updates._ ### Is there a free DNS hosting service that supports IPv6 reverse DNS? Yes, a free DNS hosting service exists that supports forward and reverse IPv6 DNS hosting alongside standard subdomain and domain hosting. It also provides free and premium URL redirection, dynamic DNS updates, and a shared registry of over 23,000 domains members can attach custom hosts to without owning the domain themselves. _Developers comparing DNS hosting options can track free and premium offerings like this via daily.dev._ ## Community take How the wider developer community reacted, aggregated from 2 discussions and 52 comments across hackernews (as of 2026-10-24). **TL;DR:** Longtime users praise FreeDNS as a remarkably durable, no-frills service (dynamic DNS, backup DNS, free subdomains) that's been reliable for 15-25 years, while others raise practical concerns about sustainability, public suffix list omission, and certificate issuance limits. **Sentiment:** 55% positive · 35% mixed · 10% skeptical **The case for** - Many commenters report using the service reliably for 15-25 years with little change. - It's praised as a solid backup DNS option and cheaper than standing up new DNS servers. - Useful for dynamic DNS to home servers and for free subdomains to attach to. - Its dated web UI is considered fast and functional, prompting nostalgia for pre-SPA web design. **The pushback** - Domains are missing from the public suffix list, creating potential cookie-security issues across shared subdomains. - Getting free HTTPS certificates is hard because Let's Encrypt rate-limits are hit due to heavy issuance volume on shared domains. - Free subdomains attract abuse, leading to the domains being blocked on various blocklists. - Some question long-term sustainability and continuity plans if the maintainer stops or the service is sold. - The site was reported as being overloaded/down at the time of discussion. **By community** - hackernews (mixed): Nostalgic praise for the service's longevity and old-school design mixes with pointed concerns about sustainability, public suffix list issues, and certificate limits. **Hottest debate:** Whether raising concerns about the service's long-term continuity/guarantees is a fair ask or an entitled demand on a free project. **Open questions** - What happens to the service's domains and users if the maintainer stops or the project is sold? - Why hasn't the project pursued public suffix list inclusion or Let's Encrypt rate-limit exemptions? **Highlights** > I've used FreeDNS on occasion for test domain names, one-off experiments, and similar. I'm very appreciative this exists, but there are some pain points that similar services handle better. The domains are missing from the public suffix list. This impacts how cookies are handled by the domain names, with concerns the browser will allow software to set the cookie on the shared domain name instead of the subdomain. This can be a security problem. Getting added to the PSL may not happen: https://github.com/publicsuffix/list/pull/79 It can be difficult to get a free HTTPS certificate for your subdomain. Let's Encrypt applies per-domain name rate limits and these domain names see lots of issuance requests. There's a process to lift those limits, but last I checked FreeDNS didn't use it. You can still, of course, pay for a certificate. There's tons of abuse on free domains so you may find that your domain is blocked on various lists. Here are some compelling alternatives I use now, which manage these issues better: * https://messwithdns.net/ - Exceptionally well-made DNS console for learning DNS * https://open-domains.com/ - Uses Cloudflare, great Discord group * Even more: https://free.hrsn.dev/#/?id=domains > — [8organicbits on hackernews · 1 comments](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50223665) > I'm super grateful for free projects, but people gotta understand that depending on the type of project users still need some kind of guarantees before they can invest time in them. And this has nothing to do with "being pessimistic". And if maintainers can give good answers to such questions, then this will only make their project stronger and everybody more happy. > — [amelius on hackernews · 1 comments](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50223949) > "gotta understand", "free projects", "need some kind of guarantees", "'invest' time", "give good answers". Do you hear yourself? > — [Wolfbeta on hackernews · 2 comments](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50224208) > Site has been hugged to death. Free services are never free. It is only free because someone else is paying. I don’t use this but hoping that someone else will donate is not sustainable for them and unrealistic in the long term. Maybe they should start charging. > — [rvz on hackernews · 2 comments](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50222823) > This is one of the most solid and longest lasting services online. Have been using it for almost two decades I think and nothing's changed. > — [hattmall on hackernews · 1 comments](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50222523) **Source threads** - [hackernews](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50222133) · 181 points · 52 comments - [hackernews](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42845619) · 2 points · 0 comments ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [How to get a free .arpa domain](https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-get-a-free-arpa-domain-eklhgco0c) · Lobsters · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [VirtualHost And Subdomains](https://daily.dev/posts/virtualhost-and-subdomains-a2adtn2yh) · InfoSec Write-ups · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [I gave my home lab hostnames and domain names, and now I never think about IP addresses again](https://daily.dev/posts/i-gave-my-home-lab-hostnames-and-domain-names-and-now-i-never-think-about-ip-addresses-again-dri9pdqbi) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [GitHub - resumex/doom-over-dns: Play Doom entirely from DNS records. \(PowerShell 7\+\)](https://daily.dev/posts/github---resumex-doom-over-dns-play-doom-entirely-from-dns-records-powershell-7--d2obb9twi) · Hacker News · 15 upvotes · 1 comments - [DNS basics and how DNS works in Neeto](https://daily.dev/posts/dns-basics-and-how-dns-works-in-neeto-pcrypngcl) · BigBinary · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#dns](https://daily.dev/tags/dns) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/freedns-zaus0a7tw) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"FreeDNS","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/freedns-zaus0a7tw","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/freedns-zaus0a7tw"},"datePublished":"2026-10-24T16:31:17.218Z","dateModified":"2026-10-24T19:47:12.674Z","description":"This is a free DNS hosting service offering dynamic, static, and premium DNS options for managing domains and subdomains. 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This updates the associated hostname to your current public IP. For IPv6, the same approach works by prefixing the URL with 'v6', as in 'curl https://v6.sync.afraid.org/u/TOKEN/'. daily.dev surfaces practical dynamic DNS setups for developers automating home or server IP updates."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Is there a free DNS hosting service that supports IPv6 reverse DNS?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Yes, a free DNS hosting service exists that supports forward and reverse IPv6 DNS hosting alongside standard subdomain and domain hosting. It also provides free and premium URL redirection, dynamic DNS updates, and a shared registry of over 23,000 domains members can attach custom hosts to without owning the domain themselves. Developers comparing DNS hosting options can track free and premium offerings like this via daily.dev."}}]} ```