NS1

What NS1 does

NS1, operating as IBM NS1 Connect following its acquisition by IBM, provides an intelligent DNS traffic control platform for enterprise organizations and DevOps/platform engineering teams. The platform positions DNS as a real-time decision layer rather than a passive resolver, routing users to the best endpoint based on performance, availability, and geography. Core technology is built on a global anycast network with 26+ points of presence distributed across six continents, proprietary Filter Chains and ASN-based routing for granular traffic steering, real-time health checks with automatic failover, and DDoS protection capable of absorbing up to 50x normal load. An API-first architecture integrates natively with Terraform, Ansible, and CI/CD pipelines, and Cloud Sync enables multi-provider failover across AWS Route 53, Cloudflare, Azure DNS, and Google Cloud DNS.

The product portfolio centers on IBM NS1 Connect as the core platform, with DNS Insights offered as an add-on module for deeper analytics and observability. A 100% uptime SLA is provided on the Premium tier. The business model is subscription-based recurring revenue across three tiers (Essential, Standard, Premium), with optional performance and security add-ons and annual billing that offers cost savings for committed customers. Go-to-market is hybrid: IBM's enterprise direct sales force for large accounts, a self-serve PLG motion with free trial and API-driven adoption, AWS Marketplace listing for cloud-credit procurement, and the broader IBM partner ecosystem. Named enterprise customers include Netlify, Dropbox, Catchpoint, GlobalDots, and IO River, with documented outcomes including 10-15% DNS latency reduction for global users at Dropbox and 100% uptime at Catchpoint and IO River. The company is headquartered in New York, was founded in 2013, and operates with 51-100 employees as part of IBM's portfolio.

Name

NS1

Website

https://ns1.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

IBM NS1 Connect is an intelligent DNS traffic control platform that serves enterprise organizations and DevOps teams with real-time traffic steering, DDoS protection, and API-first automation across a 26+ PoP global anycast network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

DNS Traffic Management

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182), Security Systems Services (except Locksmiths) (561621)

SIC

Computer Communications Equipment (3576), Communications Services, Nec (4899)

akta.pro primary industry

Resilient DNS, Traffic Management & Global Load Balancing (HDABAIAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

IP Address Management (IPAM) & DNS/DHCP (DDI) (HDAFAMAE), DNS Security & Protective DNS (HDADABAF)

Keywords

• DNS traffic management
• Intelligent DNS platform
• Application delivery control
• Global server load balancing
• Managed DNS services

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. DNS Hosting and Traffic Management Subscription: Subscription-based recurring revenue from DNS hosting services with tiered plans (Essential, Standard, Premium). Revenue is generated through monthly or annual subscriptions with additional add-on charges for performance and security features.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

IBM NS1 Connect is an intelligent DNS platform that transforms DNS into a real-time traffic control plane. It provides intelligent traffic steering across a global anycast network (26+ PoPs), DDoS protection, real-time health checks, multi-CDN steering, API-first automation, and a 100% SLA. A DNS Insights add-on extends analytics and observability over DNS infrastructure.

Product overview

IBM NS1 Connect is a unified intelligent DNS platform that transforms DNS into a real-time traffic control plane. The core offering is IBM NS1 Connect itself, which provides intelligent traffic steering, DDoS protection, API-first automation, and global server load balancing. DNS Insights is available as an add-on module to extend visibility and analytics capabilities. Together, these products enable organizations to prevent outages, optimize latency, and automate traffic control across multi-CDN and multi-cloud environments.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• IBM NS1 Connect

Quantifiable outcome

• 10-15% reduction in DNS latency for global users
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability2 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• IGITcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2024IGIT collaborated with NS1 and Cisco in August 2024 to expand DNS security offerings. This strategic partnership combines NS1's intelligent DNS capabilities with IGIT's solutions and Cisco's security infrastructure to deliver comprehensive DNS security to enterprise customers.
• CiscocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2024Three-way partnership with IGIT and NS1 to expand DNS security offerings. Cisco's security infrastructure combined with NS1's DNS platform creates integrated security solutions for enterprise customers.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Cloudflare: Cloudflare is a direct competitor offering authoritative DNS, anycast network, DDoS protection, and traffic steering as part of its integrated edge platform. NS1 explicitly integrates with Cloudflare ("Cloudflare handles the traffic, IBM NS1 Connect controls it"), highlighting their direct overlap in DNS and traffic management for enterprise customers.
• Akamai (Edge DNS / App & API Protector): Akamai offers Edge DNS, Global Traffic Management, and application security products that directly compete with NS1 Connect's intelligent DNS and traffic steering capabilities. Both target large enterprises requiring high-availability, globally distributed DNS infrastructure with intelligent routing and DDoS mitigation.
• UltraDNS (Vercara): UltraDNS is a direct competitor in the enterprise authoritative DNS and traffic management market, offering global load balancing, geo-routing, and DDoS protection. NS1 and UltraDNS compete for the same enterprise customers requiring high-availability DNS outside of hyperscaler ecosystems.
• Constellix (Tiggee): Constellix is a direct peer in the intelligent DNS and traffic steering market, offering real-time traffic routing, health checks, and multi-CDN optimization. Both companies target similar DevOps and enterprise buyer personas with API-first DNS management and global anycast infrastructure.
• Infoblox: Infoblox is a leader in DDI (DNS, DHCP, and IPAM) for enterprise on-premises and hybrid environments, with overlap into DNS security and traffic management. NS1's historical DDI heritage and continued IPAM-adjacent capabilities make Infoblox a directly comparable peer, particularly in enterprise network operations.

Broad incumbents

• Amazon Route 53: AWS Route 53 is the dominant cloud-native DNS service bundled into the AWS ecosystem. While NS1 integrates with Route 53 via Cloud Sync for failover, Route 53 represents the broad incumbent alternative that most AWS-native customers will default to, competing head-to-head on cost and ecosystem convenience.
• Microsoft Azure DNS / Azure Traffic Manager: Azure DNS and Azure Traffic Manager are bundled cloud DNS and traffic management services competing with NS1 within Microsoft Azure environments. As a broad incumbent, Microsoft can offer these capabilities at minimal incremental cost to Azure customers, applying pricing pressure to NS1 in Microsoft-centric enterprises.
• Google Cloud DNS: Google Cloud DNS is a managed authoritative DNS service within the Google Cloud Platform, competing with NS1 for cloud-native enterprise workloads. NS1 integrates with Google Cloud DNS via DNS-AID, but Google's bundled offering applies direct competitive pressure on price and procurement convenience.
• F5 (Distributed Cloud / BIG-IP DNS): F5 offers BIG-IP DNS (formerly F5 BIG-IP GTM) and Distributed Cloud DNS for global server load balancing and traffic management. As a broad incumbent in application delivery, F5 competes with NS1 in enterprise GSLB and intelligent traffic steering use cases, particularly for customers with existing F5 infrastructure investments.

Emerging players

• DNSFilter: DNSFilter is an emerging player focused on DNS-layer security, content filtering, and threat protection, with partial overlap to NS1's DDoS protection and security capabilities. While more focused on security/RBI use cases, DNSFilter represents a relevant emerging competitor in the DNS security segment of the market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ns1
• Facebookfacebook.com/nsoneinc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors15 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments2 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about NS1