NS1 (IBM) Pricing 2026
Complete pricing guide with plans, hidden costs, and cost analysis
NS1 (IBM) has a free plan. Paid plans start at $99/per month (Essentials) and go up to $349/per month.
NS1 (IBM) costs Free to $349 per per month as of May 2026, with 4 plans available including a free tier. Plans: Free Developer (free), Essentials at $99/per month, and Standard at $349/per month. Enterprise pricing is available on request. The median contract is $36,473/year based on 30 verified purchases.
Use the interactive pricing calculator to estimate your exact cost based on team size and requirements.
- Free tier: Yes
NS1 (IBM) offers 4 pricing tiers: Free Developer, Essentials, Standard, Premium. A free plan is available. Paid plans include Essentials at $99/user/month, Standard at $349/user/month. The Essentials plan is small to mid-size businesses.
Compared to other dns management software, NS1 (IBM) is positioned at the premium price point.
- Median contract: $36,473/yr from 30 purchases 0
- 5 documented hidden costs beyond list price
How much does NS1 (IBM) cost?
NS1 (IBM) Pricing Overview
NS1 (IBM) has 4 pricing plans, including a free tier. Paid plans range from $0 to $349/per month. The Free Developer plan is free and is best for developers and small teams. The Essentials plan costs $99/per month, best for small to mid-size businesses. The Standard plan costs $349/per month, best for mid-size businesses needing scalable authoritative dns. The Premium plan requires contacting sales for a custom quote and is designed for enterprises with high dns demands.
The median NS1 (IBM) customer pays $36,473/year based on 30 verified purchases.
There are at least 5 documented hidden costs beyond NS1 (IBM)'s list price, including implementation, training, and add-on fees.
This pricing was last verified in April 28, 2026 from 1 independent sources.
NS1 (IBM) pricing starts with a Free Developer plan at no cost for development and testing. The Essentials plan runs $99/month ($1,188/year) for small to mid-size businesses, while the Standard plan is $349/month ($4,188/year) for mid-size organizations needing scalable authoritative DNS. The Premium plan uses custom pricing for enterprises with high DNS demands, scoped to zone count, query volume, and advanced feature requirements.
How NS1 (IBM) Pricing Compares
Compare NS1 (IBM) pricing against top alternatives in DNS Management.
All NS1 (IBM) Plans & Pricing
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free Developer | Free | Free | Developers and small teams |
| Essentials | $99 /user/month | $1188 /user/year | Small to mid-size businesses |
| Standard | $349 /user/month | $4188 /user/year | Mid-size businesses needing scalable authoritative DNS |
| Premium | Contact Sales | Contact Sales | Enterprises with high DNS demands |
View all features by plan
Free Developer
- Full authoritative DNS capabilities
- Unlimited API access
- Limited traffic scale
- Can be used in production
Essentials
- 30-80M DNS queries/month
- 1000 DNS records
- 2 health check monitors
- 1 traffic filter chain
- 5 HTTPS redirects
- Activity log, Query reporting, DNSSEC, HTTP redirects
Standard
- 50M - 1BN DNS queries/month
- 1000 - 10,000 DNS records
- 2 - 100 health check monitors
- 1-100 traffic filter chains
- 50 HTTPS redirects
- Unlimited zone backup/restore
- Spike protection (DDoS + NXD)
- Primary and secondary DNS support
Premium
- Custom DNS queries/month
- Custom DNS records
- Custom number of monitors
- Custom number of filter chains
- Unlimited HTTPS redirects
- Unlimited zone backup/restore
- Spike protection (DDoS + NXD)
- Custom Pulsar (RUM/Multi-CDN)
- Custom DNS insights
- Custom Dedicated DNS
- Custom DNS for China
Compare NS1 (IBM) vs Alternatives
Before committing to NS1 (IBM), compare pricing with these 3 alternatives in the same category.
What Companies Actually Pay for NS1 (IBM)
The median NS1 (IBM) buyer pays $36,473/year based on 30 verified purchase transactions.
NS1 (IBM) Year 1 Total Cost by Company Size
Real deployment costs including licenses, implementation, training, and admin — not just the sticker price.
Small development team or startup using NS1 for authoritative DNS and basic traffic steering across fewer than 50 zones with moderate query volume.
Mid-sized company using NS1 for multi-region DNS management, traffic steering, and application resilience across 100+ zones with standard enterprise query volume.
Large enterprise with high transaction volumes, extensive Filter Chains usage, and mission-critical uptime requirements across hundreds of zones.
Extrapolated from Vendr median and Reddit pricing discussions
How NS1 (IBM) Pricing Compares
| Software | Starting Price | Top Price |
|---|---|---|
| NS1 (IBM) | Free | $349/per month |
| AWS Route 53 | $0.4/per month | $0.8/per month |
| Constellix | $5/per month | $25/per month |
| DNS Made Easy | Free | $175/per month |
| Oracle Dyn DNS | $100/per month | $2000/per month |
Detailed pricing comparisons:
NS1 (IBM) Contract Terms
NS1 (IBM) contracts do not auto-renew. Changes require advance notice. These terms are sourced from verified buyer experiences.
How to Negotiate NS1 (IBM) Pricing
NS1 (IBM) contracts are negotiable. These 4 tactics are sourced from real buyer experiences and procurement specialists.
Push back on annual price increases by citing budget limitations. Multiple buyers successfully negotiated flat renewals by emphasizing budget constraints when NS1 proposed the standard 5% uplift.
Vendr community insights - multiple successful negotiationsSince IBM acquisition, NS1 pushes standard uplifts. Buyers report success getting uplifts waived by pushing back twice and citing budget constraints.
Vendr - uplift waived after two rounds of pushbackFor high-volume usage, negotiate lower monthly rates for transactions and Filter Chains by demonstrating scale. One buyer reduced per-transaction costs through volume commitments.
Vendr community insightIf experiencing unresolved service problems, use these as leverage to remove contractual increases or negotiate better terms.
Vendr - buyer removed contractual increase due to unresolved service issuesNS1 (IBM) Pricing FAQ
01 Does NS1 offer a free tier?
Yes, NS1 offers a free Developer account with full authoritative DNS capabilities and unlimited API access, though traffic scale is limited. This can be used in production as a primary or secondary DNS solution.
02 How is NS1 Premium pricing calculated?
Premium pricing is based on monthly query volume and total DNS records. Additional services like traffic steering, Dedicated DNS, DNS for China, and DNS Insights are priced through query volumes. Enterprise users report costs around $30,000 monthly for large-scale deployments.
03 Can I use NS1 with AWS?
Yes, the Essentials plan is available for purchase directly through AWS Marketplace, making it easy to integrate with existing AWS infrastructure and billing.
04 What is the typical annual cost for NS1?
Based on Vendr marketplace data from 30 purchases, the median buyer pays $36,473 per year. Pricing varies significantly based on zone count, query volume, and feature requirements, ranging from basic plans to enterprise deployments exceeding $270,000 annually.
05 Will my pricing increase after the first year?
Since IBM's acquisition of NS1, the company has implemented a standard 5% annual uplift on renewals. However, multiple buyers have successfully negotiated flat renewals by pushing back and citing budget constraints, so price increases are negotiable.
06 How can I get a better price on NS1?
Leverage budget constraints when negotiating - this has proven highly effective for removing annual uplifts. If you have high query volumes, negotiate economies of scale for transaction rates. Consider pushing back multiple times on standard uplift proposals, as buyers report success after second rounds of negotiation.
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