FREE TOOL
Free DNS checker
Enter a domain and see what DNS resolvers around the world return for it - every record, every location, checked against the nameserver that holds the real answer.
The big picture
DNS doesn’t propagate. It expires.
When you change a DNS record, nothing gets pushed anywhere. The new value is on your domain’s authoritative nameserver straight away. What lags behind are the thousands of resolvers in between - your ISP’s, Google’s, Cloudflare’s - each holding a cached copy of the old answer until its TTL runs out. “Propagation” is just those caches expiring one by one, each on its own schedule.
That’s why “is it live yet?” has no single answer. Your laptop loads the new site, a client in Sydney still gets the old one, and mail to the new MX arrives for half your senders. Nothing is broken - some resolvers just haven’t asked again yet. The useful question isn’t “does it work for me?” It’s “what does the source of truth say, and who’s still behind?”
This checker asks both. It queries 53 public resolvers in 34 countries and the domain’s own authoritative nameserver at the same time, then marks every location as a match, a different answer, or no response. You see the real answer and how far it has spread, on one map. When a name is an alias, it shows the CNAME it goes through instead of a bare “no record”.
Checking one record is a type-and-read job - that’s this page, free, no account. Pointing a whole domain at new infrastructure - apex, www, HTTPS, every old URL redirected on launch day - is a different job. That’s Redirect Supply.
FAQs
Everything you might ask about checking DNS
Is it free? Do I need an account?
Free, and no - type a domain, hit Check. Nothing to sign up for.
What does “match” mean?
The resolver returned the same records as the domain’s authoritative nameserver - the server that holds the real answer. If that server can’t be reached, or the name is an alias into another zone, results are compared with the answer most resolvers agree on, and the page says so.
How long does DNS propagation take?
As long as the record’s TTL - the number of seconds resolvers are allowed to cache it. A TTL of 300 means most of the world catches up within five minutes; 86400 means up to a day. Planning a change? Lower the TTL ahead of time - at least as far ahead as the old TTL - and the switch reaches almost everyone at once.
Why does one location show a different answer?
Usually it’s still caching the old record and will catch up when the TTL expires. For A and AAAA records behind a CDN - Cloudflare, AWS, Google - answers vary by location on purpose, and the checker flags when that’s the case.
Why is there no CNAME on my root domain?
A root domain like example.com can’t have a CNAME - DNS rules don’t allow it. Most site builders, Framer included, use A records on the root and a CNAME on www. Check www.example.com to see it.
Which records can I check?
A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, TXT, SOA, CAA, SRV and PTR. For PTR (reverse DNS), enter an IP address instead of a domain.
Some resolvers show “No response”. Is my DNS broken?
Not if the rest answer. Public resolvers occasionally drop queries or rate-limit them. Run it again - if one location keeps failing while the authoritative answer looks right, it’s that resolver, not your domain.
What does “anycast” mean next to some resolvers?
Services like Google, Cloudflare and Quad9 answer from many locations under one IP address. Their answer comes from the node nearest to our server, so the pin marks the provider’s home city, not where the answer came from.
Can I share or save a result?
Yes - the domain and record type go into the address bar, so a copied link opens the same check. Download the full results as CSV or JSON with the buttons above the map.
Do you store what I check?
Only an anonymous log of which domains and record types are checked, to see how the tool is used. No IP addresses, no cookies, nothing tied to you.
Have more questions?
