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Subject: Cloudflare Nameservers

How are Cloudflare's nameservers different from the DNS provided by Google DNS or OpenDNS? Can I delegate to Cloudflare nameservers while still using my host’s DNS?

Hi My name is Ricardo Vicente and I am the Support engineer assigned to work with you on this support case.

Google and Cloudflare Nameservers serve different roles in the DNS landscape.

*Cloudflare Nameservers

Authoritative DNS. Cloudflare hosts your domain’s DNS records (A, CNAME, MX, etc.).

You delegate your domain to Cloudflare by pointing your domain registrar to Cloudflare’s nameservers (e.g., example.ns.cloudflare.com).

Cloudflare responds to DNS queries about your domain with the records you configure in our dashboard.

It also offers security features like DDoS protection, DNSSEC, and CDN integration.

*Google DNS / OpenDNS

Recursive DNS resolvers: These are used by clients (like your browser or operating system) to resolve domain names.

They don’t host DNS records — they query authoritative servers (like Cloudflare’s) to get the answer.

Examples:

So in short:

Cloudflare = authoritative DNS (for domain owners)

Google/OpenDNS = recursive DNS (for end users)

*Can You Delegate to Cloudflare While Still Using Your Host’s DNS?

Not directly. Here's why:

When you delegate your domain to Cloudflare’s nameservers, Cloudflare becomes the sole authoritative DNS provider.

Your host’s DNS (e.g., cPanel or GoDaddy DNS) is no longer queried unless you manually migrate all DNS records from your host to Cloudflare.

What You Can Do:

Import your host’s DNS records into Cloudflare during setup.

Continue managing DNS via Cloudflare’s dashboard.

If you need to keep using your host’s DNS, you’d have to delegate to your host’s nameservers instead, and not use Cloudflare’s.