When managing multiple domains (like your case with ~100 domains), DNS hosting becomes critical for website availability and performance. FreeDNS from Afraid.org is a common starting point, but as you've experienced, reliability issues with DNS propagation can cause frustrating accessibility problems - where sites work via IP but not domain resolution.

Cloudflare DNS offers a completely free tier with:

• Anycast network with 200+ locations
• API for scripted management (Python example below)
• Web interface and zone file imports

# Python example for Cloudflare API
import requests

headers = {
    'X-Auth-Email': 'your@email.com',
    'X-Auth-Key': 'your_api_key',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
}

response = requests.get(
    'https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/zones',
    headers=headers
)
print(response.json())

For more advanced needs with 100+ domains:

• Amazon Route 53: $0.50 per domain/month + $0.40 per million queries
• Google Cloud DNS: $0.20 per zone/month + $0.40 per million queries

Offers completely free DNS hosting with:

• Support for DNSSEC
• IPv6 support
• Web interface and dynamic DNS

When switching providers for multiple domains:

1. Export all zone files from current provider
2. Verify TTL values (set low before migration)
3. Use API scripts to bulk import records
4. Monitor DNS propagation with tools like DNS Checker

For API-driven management, consider this bash script template for bulk operations:

#!/bin/bash
# Bulk DNS record migrator
DOMAINS=$(cat domains.txt)

for DOMAIN in $DOMAINS
do
    # Export from old provider
    curl -X GET "https://oldprovider/api/export/$DOMAIN" > $DOMAIN.zone
    
    # Import to new provider
    curl -X POST "https://newprovider/api/import" \
         -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY" \
         -F "zonefile=@$DOMAIN.zone"
done

As developers managing multiple domains, we often face reliability issues with free DNS providers. When visitors report access problems while direct IP connections work, it's typically a DNS propagation or availability issue. Having managed ~100 domains myself, I've tested numerous solutions and want to share practical findings.

Cloudflare DNS offers free plans with:

• Anycast network with 100% uptime SLA
• API for programmatic management
• Bulk domain support via Terraform

# Terraform example for Cloudflare DNS
resource "cloudflare_record" "www" {
  zone_id = var.cloudflare_zone_id
  name    = "www"
  value   = "192.0.2.1"
  type    = "A"
  ttl     = 3600
}

For $5/month, DigitalOcean DNS provides:

• Global anycast network
• REST API with rate limiting
• 1000+ domains per account

# Python script for DigitalOcean API
import requests
headers = {
    "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY",
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
}
data = {
    "type": "A",
    "name": "www",
    "data": "192.0.2.1",
    "ttl": 3600
}
response = requests.post(
    "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/domains/example.com/records",
    headers=headers,
    json=data
)

Free for personal use with:

• IPv6 support
• Dynamic DNS capabilities
• Web interface + email updates

When switching providers:

1. Lower TTL values 24h before migration
2. Use dig +trace to verify propagation
3. Implement health checks using Python:

import dns.resolver
def check_dns(domain, record_type="A"):
    try:
        answers = dns.resolver.resolve(domain, record_type)
        return [rdata.address for rdata in answers]
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"DNS resolution failed: {e}")
        return False

For bulk management, consider using Ansible playbooks or Terraform modules to automate DNS record deployment across multiple providers.