How many domains use Cloudflare DNS?

Cloudflare DNS share: how it is measured

It comes from the delegation pass, which reads each domain’s nameserver records and attributes the delegation to the DNS operator that runs them. Every domain in the census is measured directly and counted once.

Cloudflare is large enough that its defaults are visible in internet-wide statistics. Controls it enables by default show high adoption among its domains; controls it leaves to the customer look like the rest of the internet.

The figure is an absolute count of domains rather than a sample scaled up. A domain the census could not decide on is left out rather than estimated.

It moves when operators sign zones, publish issuance restrictions, or change delegation. A large DNS provider can shift a percentage point on its own by changing one default for every customer at once. The number is recomputed from the raw evidence at every edition. What it cannot tell you is where one particular domain stands: for that, see fix your DNS records.

the full grading methodology · the underlying dataset, published open with the counts behind every percentage. If a figure here disagrees with one elsewhere on the site, the dataset is canonical and we would like to know.

Cloudflare DNS share: how to cite it

Please cite Defaults.Exposed and link this page. The citation below carries the date.

Defaults.Exposed, "How many domains use Cloudflare DNS?" (as of October 12, 2026). https://defaults.exposed/stats/how-many-domains-use-cloudflare-dns

Permalink: https://defaults.exposed/stats/how-many-domains-use-cloudflare-dns · Machine-readable: /stats/s/cloudflare-dns-share.json · Licence: open data

Methodology: how we grade the internet · Source data: census data and downloads. Updated with each census edition.

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