DNS Monitoring
Every A, MX, NS, and TXT change on a timeline — with the risky ones flagged.
DNSSEC signatures are watched too, so a silent failure never takes the domain down unnoticed.
What Certly watches
Record changes on a timeline
A, MX, NS, and TXT records are recorded newest-first. A misconfiguration or a hijacked record shows up as a dated entry instead of a mystery outage.
Risky changes flagged
Not every edit deserves a page. Certly marks the changes that tend to break things — nameserver swaps, MX removals — so routine edits stay quiet.
DNSSEC signature monitoring
Certly tracks RRSIG expiry and ignores healthy key rotation, alerting you only when signatures stall or fail validation.
Email spoofing checks
Your DMARC and SPF records are inspected, so you find out if someone else can send mail in your name.
Domain suspension detection
Registry status codes and NXDOMAIN responses are checked on every run, so you get the reason, not just a site that has gone dark.
Alerts where you already work
Slack, Discord, email, or your own webhook — staged at 30, 14, 7, and 1 day before a certificate or domain expires.
Why DNS deserves its own monitor
Uptime checks tell you the site is down. They do not tell you that a nameserver changed at 2am, or that a DNSSEC signature quietly expired. Those are the failures that take the longest to diagnose.
| Certly | Uptime monitor | |
|---|---|---|
| Tells you the site is unreachable | Yes | Yes |
| Shows which DNS record changed, and when | Yes — dated timeline | No |
| Catches DNSSEC signature expiry | Yes | No |
| Warns before a domain expires | Yes — 30 / 14 / 7 / 1 day | No |
| Detects registry suspension | Yes | No |
| Agent to install | None | Varies |
Who it's for
Teams with more than one registrar
Domains spread across registrars and DNS providers are the ones that lapse. One timeline covers all of them.
Agencies managing client domains
Group monitored sites by client and catch a bad record before the client notices. Client grouping and 150 monitored sites come with the Business plan.
Anyone who has run DNSSEC
A stalled signature resolves as SERVFAIL everywhere at once, and nothing in your own logs explains it. Certly watches the signature, not just the site.
Plans that include DNS monitoring
Pro
Billed monthly. Yearly billing is $120 — $10/mo.
- DNS & DNSSEC monitoring
- 25 monitored sites
- Checks every 6 hours
- Email, Slack, Discord, webhook
- Staged alerts at 30 / 14 / 7 / 1 day
- 90-day history
Business
Billed monthly. Yearly billing is $390 — $32.50/mo.
- Everything in Pro
- 150 monitored sites
- 1-year history
- Client grouping
The free plan covers certificate and domain expiry for 2 sites but does not include DNS or DNSSEC monitoring.
All prices in USD. The
Certly pricing page
has the full plan comparison.
FAQ
Which DNS records does Certly monitor?
Changes to your A, MX, NS, and TXT records are recorded newest-first on a timeline, with the risky ones flagged. Certly also inspects your DMARC and SPF records so you find out if someone else can send mail in your name.
Is DNS monitoring included in the free plan?
No. The free plan covers certificate and domain expiry plus domain suspension alerts for 2 sites. DNS and DNSSEC monitoring start on the Pro plan at $12 per month.
How does DNSSEC monitoring work?
DNSSEC fails quietly and takes the whole domain down with it. Certly tracks RRSIG expiry, ignores healthy key rotation so you are not paged for normal operations, and alerts you when signatures stall or fail validation.
How often are DNS records checked?
Pro and Business plans check every 6 hours. The free plan checks daily but does not include DNS monitoring.
Do I need to install an agent?
No. Certly is a hosted service with nothing to install and no agent to run. Add a domain and it starts checking from the outside, the same way a visitor's resolver would.
Where do the alerts go?
Slack, Discord, email, or your own webhook on the Pro and Business plans. The free plan is email only.
Related
SSL certificate expiration monitoring
Certificate lifetimes are shrinking to 47 days by 2029. See how Certly watches expiry.
Certly overview
Full feature list, pricing, and FAQ on the main Certly page.