When DynDNS shut down its free plans, it left behind a big hole. DynDNS was always a top mention for free dynamic DNSes, but now that it’s gone, are there any good alternatives? Sure there are.
Dynamic DNSes, also known as DDNS, allow a single web address to point to a changing IP address, which is great for home users since IP addresses don’t always stay the same. If you want to remote connect to your PC or set up a home web server, then a dynamic DNS is one of the easiest ways to set things up.
So what are the alternatives to DynDNS for a free dynamic DNS? Are they worth using? Here’s everything you need to know.
1. Dynu
Dynu’s dynamic DNS service allows both top-level domains (using your own domain) and third-level domains (grabbing a subdomain on dynu.com). Top-level domains will work no matter which country the domain belongs to. Coupled with its convenience features, Dynu is easily the best free dynamic DNS service today.
The great thing is that Dynu makes setup easy by providing a Dynu Client that runs on your computer in the background. Any time your IP address changes, the client will automatically update Dynu so you don’t ever have to worry about being out of sync.
Free accounts can have up to 4 subdomains. Upgrade to a paid account for $9.99 per year to unlock 500 subdomains total and advanced Dynu features like unlimited aliases, unlimited MX records, unlimited custom DNS records, wildcard aliases, enterprise-level round robin support, backup and restore, and much more.
2. afraid.org
Don’t let the strange name of afraid.org scare you away. This dynamic DNS service—they also offer other kinds of free hosting as well—is easily one of the best free dynamic DNS services out there.
You get five free subdomains on afraid.org’s domain options. You can also use an unlimited number of your own domains if you want, plus 20 subdomains for each one. Account setup takes less than five minutes, DNS pointing is instant, and there are over 90,000 domains to choose from thanks to their shared domain pool. URL redirection is available as well.
Premium accounts, which are $5 per month, get an additional 50 subdomains, a wildcard DNS, and three stealth flags to hide your domains from any kind of sharing mechanism through the service.
3. DuckDNS
DuckDNS is a dynamic DNS service built using Amazon’s AWS infrastructure. Their website is extremely basic, but that’s fine because dynamic DNS is such a simple service that it doesn’t really call for extravagance. DuckDNS is really one of the best free dynamic DNS providers.
That being said, the weak design of their website is indicative of what they offer: DuckDNS only does one thing and they focus all of their efforts on it. It makes sense once you realize that DuckDNS is only run by two software engineers (albeit engineers with a lot of industry experience).
What’s great is that they have a bunch of written tutorials that will help you get DuckDNS set up on a variety of platforms ranging from Windows, OS X, and Linux all the way to DD-WRT, Amazon EC2, and even Raspberry Pi.
Accounts can have up to four subdomains on duckdns.org, though you can unlock more by donating to the team. Plus, they keep as little of your data as possible and store all necessary details in a private database that will never be sold.
4. No-IP
No-IP was always one of DynDNS’s biggest competitors in the free dynamic DNS market (DynDNS launched 1998, No-IP launched 1999), and when DynDNS went down it was in a good position to take the crown. Unfortunately, it has slowly shifted toward becoming a premium service in the past few years.
For Free users, you get three subdomains on a limited selection of domain name options, but these subdomains will never expire as long as you confirm activity every 30 days. You also get port forwarding and URL forwarding, which can be useful depending on your use case. It’s a pretty basic but robust package.
For $24.95 per year, you can upgrade to 25 subdomains on 80+ domain names options and eliminate the need to confirm activity to keep your subdomains. If you want to use your own domain, you’ll need to upgrade to the $29.95 per year package, which also bumps the subdomains total up to 50.
5. Securepoint DynDNS
While the Securepoint DynDNS website isn’t easy to navigate, their free dynamic DNS service is worth the effort. You’ll see what they offer right on the front page: free and secure dynamic DNS for absolutely free, even if you aren’t a Securepoint customer.
As a free user, you’ll be able to create up to 5 hosts using Securepoint DynDNS, and you have the option of 10 different domains as the base for your dynamic DNS addresses. Securepoint DynDNS uses an update token system for security (only the host who knows the update token can update dynamic DNS settings) and supports IPv6 addresses.
All in all, it’s a pretty simple service without any bells or whistles. Note that Securepoint is a German company, which won’t affect you in terms of the efficacy of dynamic DNS, but is something you may want to be aware of.
Which Free Dynamic DNS Service Is Right for You?
If you ever want to set up some kind of server on the web using a home box, there’s a good chance you’ll have to deal with a dynamic IP address that could change at any moment. A dynamic DNS allows you to use one single address that can point to you regardless of what your IP address actually is.
There are plenty of options out there for a free dynamic DNS, so why not give one of these a try? And if you run into any issues, you may want to check out our guide to diagnosing home network problems.
Image Credits: Imagentle/Shutterstock
Read the full article: The 5 Best Dynamic DNS Providers You Can Lookup for Free