Alternatives to dnsx
Query DNS records in bulk from the command line. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
dnsx
Query DNS records in bulk from the command line.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as dnsx.
doggo
Look up DNS records with a readable command-line client.
doggo is a GPL-3.0 DNS client with readable output and encrypted transports, suited to individual lookups rather than bulk querying of many hosts.
BIND 9
Open-source DNS server software from ISC that also provides the dig command-line query tool.
BIND 9 provides the standard dig tool for DNS troubleshooting as part of a larger DNS server package, without dnsx's bulk querying.
q
A small command-line DNS client supporting UDP, TCP, DoT, DoH, DoQ, ODoH and DNSCrypt.
q is a GPL-3.0 command-line DNS client supporting DoT, DoH, DoQ, ODoH and DNSCrypt, built for individual queries rather than bulk runs, and without a Windows build.
Also worth comparing
These listings name dnsx as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
DNSRecon
A Python command-line script for DNS enumeration, record lookups, zone transfer checks and subdomain brute-forcing.
dnsx is an MIT-licensed Go command-line tool for bulk DNS queries with custom resolvers, focused on record lookups rather than zone transfer checks.
Subfinder
Find subdomains using passive online data sources.
dnsx is an MIT-licensed tool from the same ecosystem that queries DNS records in bulk, useful for resolving candidates rather than gathering them from passive sources.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
httpx
Inspect HTTP services with ProjectDiscovery's command-line toolkit.
DNSChecker
A web tool that checks DNS propagation by querying public resolvers in many countries.
tlsx
Inspect TLS connections and certificates from the terminal.
Naabu
Discover listening network ports with a command-line scanner.
Katana
Map links and pages with a configurable web crawler.
