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Comparison · Infra & APIs

DNSimple vs Incus

A side-by-side editorial comparison of DNSimple and Incus — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

DNSimple vs Incus: at a glance

FeatureDNSimpleIncus
SectorInfra & APIsInfra & APIs
Velocity score2.55.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesdns, domains, infrastructure, clicontainer manager, live migration, sr-iov, project isolation
Last editorial update2h ago2h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is DNSimple?

DNSimple's Erlang DNS stack now handles 14% more queries per second, with no C involved

DNSimple's latest post reports that its origin name servers use 12% less CPU per query and handle 14% more queries per second after rewriting hot paths in dns_erlang, the open-source library that decodes and encodes every query, without adding C. Name compression for long names is more than 20x faster, and the techniques made it upstream into Erlang/OTP and Elixir. It follows the August statement that a three-year migration finished and every query now runs on infrastructure DNSimple owns. Above that layer sit the official CLI launched in May, browser login from June, and Domain Trustee for restricted country-code TLDs.

Read the full DNSimple trajectory →

What is Incus?

Incus 7.6 fixes 18 security issues, eight critical, and adds SR-IOV NIC live migration

Incus 7.6, released October 30, carries 18 security fixes, eight rated critical, many of them about restricted projects reaching the default project or the host, plus an authentication bypass through unverified client certificate chains. Its features aim at larger environments: live migration for VMs using SR-IOV NICs, multifd for VM live migration, cluster healing options, compression for block volumes, and OIDC opaque tokens. 7.5 before it added live migration between projects, cluster metrics and NVIDIA GPU cliques. The 7.0 LTS branch received a second patch, 7.0.2, with no described changes.

Read the full Incus trajectory →

DNSimple vs Incus: editorial side-by-side

D
DNSimple
INFRA · APIS
2.5

DNSimple's Erlang DNS stack now handles 14% more queries per second, with no C involved

◆ Current state

DNSimple's latest post reports that its origin name servers use 12% less CPU per query and handle 14% more queries per second after rewriting hot paths in dns_erlang, the open-source library that decodes and encodes every query, without adding C. Name compression for long names is more than 20x faster, and the techniques made it upstream into Erlang/OTP and Elixir. It follows the August statement that a three-year migration finished and every query now runs on infrastructure DNSimple owns. Above that layer sit the official CLI launched in May, browser login from June, and Domain Trustee for restricted country-code TLDs.

◆ Where it's heading

The through-line is removing prerequisites — a token, a local presence, a third party in the query path — rather than adding product surface. The edge migration is the same instinct applied to the company's own dependencies: a registrar whose resolution ran partly on someone else's anycast could not fully own its availability story, and now it does. Automation remains the consistent audience for everything above the infrastructure line, with the CLI, structured output and the async Rust client all pointing at DNS managed from pipelines.

◆ Prediction

Owning the edge is the kind of investment that gets monetized next: expect DNSimple to start attaching claims it could not previously make — latency, availability, or region-level routing control — to the resolution service. What the post does not say is whether any of that reaches the product as configurable behaviour rather than background improvement.

I
Incus
INFRA · APIS
5.0

Incus 7.6 fixes 18 security issues, eight critical, and adds SR-IOV NIC live migration

◆ Current state

Incus 7.6, released October 30, carries 18 security fixes, eight rated critical, many of them about restricted projects reaching the default project or the host, plus an authentication bypass through unverified client certificate chains. Its features aim at larger environments: live migration for VMs using SR-IOV NICs, multifd for VM live migration, cluster healing options, compression for block volumes, and OIDC opaque tokens. 7.5 before it added live migration between projects, cluster metrics and NVIDIA GPU cliques. The 7.0 LTS branch received a second patch, 7.0.2, with no described changes.

◆ Where it's heading

Live migration is still the through-line: 7.4 made it near-live for dependent disks, 7.5 took it across projects, and 7.6 extends it to VMs using SR-IOV NICs. The other thread is multi-tenancy under scrutiny. The size of the 7.6 security batch, with several critical items in project isolation, shows that restricted projects are now being tested as a real boundary, and the release adds a build and threat model for Anthropic's OSS Scanner.

◆ Prediction

Expect a 7.6.x patch or further security fixes, because the project-isolation findings cover a wide surface. The monthly feature cadence should continue with more live-migration throughput work, given multifd and the throughput improvements in this release.

Alternatives to DNSimple and Incus

Other Infra & APIs products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either DNSimple or Incus.

See all DNSimple alternatives → · See all Incus alternatives →

Recent activity from DNSimple and Incus

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 2d agoIncus18 security fixes, SR-IOV NIC live migration and multifd
  2. 10d agoDNSimpleFaster DNS with dns_erlang ⚡
  3. 16d agoIncusSecond patch on the 7.0 LTS branch
  4. 1mo agoIncusLive migration across projects, cluster metrics, NVIDIA GPU cliques
  5. 2mo agoDNSimpleFully Independent DNS Edge
  6. 2mo agoIncusIncus 7.4 adds near-live migration and Secure Boot key management ⚡
  7. 3mo agoIncusNative Windows and macOS installers; QMP command timeouts
  8. 3mo agoDNSimpleNew case study: Always Beyond
  9. 3mo agoIncusFirst patch release on the 7.0 LTS branch
  10. 4mo agoDNSimpleDNSimple CLI is now available straight from your browser
  11. 5mo agoDNSimpleDomain Trustee now available ⚡
  12. 5mo agoDNSimpleThe DNSimple CLI is officially launched! ⚡

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between DNSimple and Incus?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Incus is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 2.5), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is DNSimple better than Incus?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Incus is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 2.5), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to DNSimple?

Top DNSimple alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "DNSimple alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/dnsimple for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to Incus?

Top Incus alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Incus alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/incus for the full list with editorial commentary on each.