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NSD vs Knot DNS: catalog facts
NSD	Knot DNS
Free Free and open source under the BSD license; paid support is available.	Free Free to download and use under the GPL 3 or later license.
Linux, Self-hosted	macOS, Linux, Command line
Very high query throughput Used by DNS root servers and TLD registries	Automatic DNSSEC signing IXFR, dynamic updates and response rate limiting
Authoritative only, with no recursive resolver Aimed at operators comfortable with DNS server configuration	Authoritative only, with no recursive resolver No Windows support
Downloadable app, Self-hosted	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: BSD	License: GPL-3.0-or-later
No account needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 2, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 2, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.