--- title: DNS Monitoring & Record Change Alerts description: DNS monitoring by WatchFor. Check A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, TXT, SOA, SRV, PTR and CAA records from multiple locations, compare answers with the values you expect to catch hijacked or changed records, and get alerts via email, Slack and Discord when a lookup fails or slows down. canonical: https://watchfor.io/dns-monitoring --- # DNS Monitoring & Record Validation Know when your domain's records stop resolving, slow down or return values you didn't set. Every alert is confirmed from several locations first. [Get started for free](/auth/sign-up)[View pricing](/pricing) ## DNS Monitoring Features What the DNS monitor checks, and how it alerts you ### Ten Record Types Check A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, TXT, SOA, SRV, PTR or CAA records. Each check stores what came back, so you can see exactly what was resolved. ### Fast Confirmation A failed lookup starts re-checks every 30 seconds from other locations. A real failure is confirmed within minutes, and a one-off blip never pages anyone. ### Your Choice of Resolver Ask the probe location's own resolver, Cloudflare, Google, Quad9, OpenDNS or any IP you give it, including your own authoritative name server, to catch a stale zone. ### Expected Records List the values a record should return and pick how to compare them: exact, contains, must not contain, or regex. An answer that doesn't match opens an incident. ### Lookup Time Every check records how long resolution took. Alert when it crosses your threshold (1000 ms by default) to catch a slow resolver or an overloaded name server. ### Alert Rules Separate rules for failed lookups, slow lookups, empty answers, resolver errors and unexpected records, each with its own severity. Alerts go to email, Slack, Discord, webhooks and more. ### Multi-Location Checks Run the same lookup from several regions, as many as your plan allows. After a zone change, the Probes tab shows which locations already see the new records. ### Every Answer Stored Each check keeps the records it returned and whether they matched. When an answer changes, the incident's root cause shows how it differs from what you expected. ## A closer look Alert on slow lookups, empty answers, resolver errors or unexpected IPs. Each check stores the answer and whether it matched the expected values. ## Why Choose Our DNS Monitoring Solution? Most DNS incidents are a record someone changed by mistake, a registrar account that was taken over, or a resolver that stopped answering. A DNS monitor with expected values catches all three: it looks up your records on a schedule, compares the answer with what you set, and alerts you once the failure is confirmed from another location. Need a one-time propagation check? Use our [free DNS propagation checker](/dns-propagation-checker). [Start monitoring now](/auth/sign-up) A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, TXT, SOA, SRV, PTR and CAA records Expected values matched exactly, by substring or by regex Catch hijacked or changed records as soon as the answer differs Query any resolver, including your own authoritative server Lookup time on every check, with a threshold alert Checks from several regions, confirmed before anyone is paged Every check keeps the records it returned Alerts via email, Slack, Discord, webhooks and more ## How DNS Monitoring Works From domain to alert in four steps 1 ### Add Your Domain Enter the domain and pick the record type to check: A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, TXT, SOA, SRV, PTR or CAA. Add expected values if you want the answer validated. 2 ### Configure Validation Pick the resolver, set the lookup time threshold, and turn on the rules you want: empty answers, resolver errors and expected records. 3 ### Monitor Continuously Probe locations in the regions you chose run the lookup on your interval, store the answer and the time it took, and compare it with your expected values. 4 ### Get Alerted A failure is re-checked from other locations first. Once it's confirmed, an incident opens with its root cause and you're notified on your channels. ## DNS Monitoring Use Cases Protect your domains and ensure DNS reliability ### Domain Security Set the values your A, AAAA, CNAME or NS records should return. If a taken-over registrar account or a bad API call points them somewhere else, the Expected DNS Records rule opens an incident, and its root cause shows what came back instead. ### Email Deliverability Watch your MX records and the TXT record that holds your SPF policy with expected values, so a DNS edit that drops your mail host doesn't go unnoticed. For SPF lookup limits, DMARC policy and DKIM selectors, the email policy monitor checks the records in detail. ### Multi-Domain Management Keep every domain and subdomain in one dashboard, grouped with tags and sharing the same alert channels. Each monitor checks one name and one record type, so add one for each record you care about. ### Migration & Changes Before a cutover, add the new values as expected records and check from several regions: the Probes tab shows which locations already resolve them. Point one monitor at the old provider's name server and one at the new provider's to compare the two zones directly. ## Frequently asked questions Everything you need to know about DNS monitoring. [All questions→](/faq)[Ask us directly](/contact) What is DNS monitoring? DNS monitoring looks up your domain's records on a schedule and checks the answer. It tells you when a lookup fails, slows down, comes back empty or returns values you didn't expect, so a broken or hijacked record is caught before your users run into it. How does DNS monitoring work? What DNS record types can I monitor? How often are DNS checks performed? What happens when DNS records change unexpectedly? Can DNS monitoring detect hijacking attempts? Can I check DNS propagation? Can you monitor DNSSEC? Can I monitor nameserver availability? What metrics are tracked for DNS monitoring? ## From our blog Guides, deep-dives, and best practices from the WatchFor team [Security ### How to detect DNS hijacking before your customers do Oct 03, 2026·12 min readRead article](/blog/detect-dns-hijacking)[Networking ### DNS propagation is a myth: what's actually happening when your record 'takes 48 hours' Aug 23, 2026·4 min readRead article](/blog/dns-propagation-myths)[Networking ### How DNS Works (and What 'Propagation' Really Means) Jun 12, 2026·4 min readRead article](/blog/how-dns-works) ## Ready to Start Monitoring Your DNS? Catch hijacked records, botched changes and failing lookups before your users do. DNS monitors are included from the Starter plan; you can sign up for free and upgrade when you add your first one. [Get started for free](/auth/sign-up)[View documentation](/docs/monitors/network#dns) --- Canonical page: https://watchfor.io/dns-monitoring · Site guide: https://watchfor.io/llms.txt