Everyone that runs a web server or even a site needs to run a DNS check from time to time. For a long time I have been a happy user of a site DNSstuff.com. But couple of months ago they started charging for their main check called DNSReport.
For few queries a month I'm not willing to subscribe for $80 a year, and I'm certainly not alone.
Finally I have done some research and tried to find alternatives. Here are the results with ratings, where 10/10 is what DNSReport gave us.
Clear design, errors and warning are nicely visible. Quite fast too. Too bad it check for only basic stuff.
AJAXy. Only reports error and/or warning. Had a batch mode for multiple domains and desktop program which I don't want to even try. DNS test should be available anywhere anytime.
Simple, powerful, web2.0-ish. Results are almost identical to DNSReport, it's just that the explanations are not that concise. For example, it says my SOA REFRESH is not ok, but I don't get any recommendations on how to fix it.
Only stand alone tools, not DNSReport- like check. Trace and ping are nice though.
Solid report, too bad it is terribly hard to read.
Similar to Network tools, it only has standalone tools, but no big all-round DNS test. Boring.
Too simple. Only lists DNS entries.
The report looks remarkably similar to that of the original, but the site looks terribly like a scam. I'm kind of scared to enter my domain name in there. If this is real test, please pimp it up a bit!
Doesn't really belong on the list, but it is a nice tool anyway. I use it for port forwarding tests and reverse IP domain check.
My pick is intoDNS. If I need a second opinion, I'll go for CheckDNS.net or pingability. For port scanning and trace router I like you get signal the best.