SafeDNS
SafeDNS is a Virginia-based cloud cybersecurity company founded in 2010 that provides AI-powered DNS-layer web filtering and threat protection. It serves 4,000+ businesses and 6 million end users across 69 countries via tiered SaaS, OEM licensing, and channel partners.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2010
- HeadquartersAlexandria, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingSoftware
What SafeDNS does
SafeDNS is a Virginia-based, privately held cloud cybersecurity company founded in 2010 that delivers DNS-layer web filtering and threat protection. Its platform — anchored by ProtectiveDNS, AI/ML-driven content categorization across 66 categories, and AppBlocker for application-level control — processes more than 5 billion DNS queries per day, blocks 73 million threats daily, and draws on a database of 109+ million categorized internet resources updated daily. The Anycast network delivers sub-20ms latency globally, and the stack supports encrypted DNS (DoH/DoT/DNSSEC), roaming agents for Windows/macOS/Linux/iOS/Android, and SIEM integration via Amazon S3.
The company operates a multi-pronged commercial model: tiered SaaS subscriptions for business (Basic $1.2/user/month to Pro+ $2.6/user/month), a $500/year education/nonprofit plan covering up to 100 users, a per-access-point WiFi plan, and consumer subscriptions ($25.95–$35.95/year). Revenue is augmented by a three-tier channel partner program and 100+ OEM integrations via the Cat API (cloud REST) and on-premise SDK, where router manufacturers and security vendors license the categorization database. Customer segments span enterprise, SMB, education, healthcare, government, ISPs/telecom, MSPs/MSSPs, OEMs, nonprofits, and home users across 69 countries.
SafeDNS is bootstrapped (no disclosed funding), holds SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, HIPAA, CIPA, KCSIE, FERPA, and GDPR compliance positioning, and integrates content blocklists from IWF, Project Arachnid, BPjM, and UK Counter Terrorism Policing. Its go-to-market combines direct self-service for SMB and consumer, field sales for enterprise, and a layered channel for partners and ISPs. Revenue is not publicly disclosed; size indicators (11–50 employees, 4,000+ business customers, 6M protected users) place the company in the lower-middle-market SaaS tier.
SafeDNS firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- SafeDNS
- Legal name
- SafeDNS, Inc.
- Website
- https://safedns.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2010
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- SafeDNS is a Virginia-based cloud cybersecurity company founded in 2010 that provides AI-powered DNS-layer web filtering and threat protection. It serves 4,000+ businesses and 6 million end users across 69 countries via tiered SaaS, OEM licensing, and channel partners.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
SafeDNS industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Cloud DNS Security and Web Content Filtering
- NAICS
- Security Systems Services (except Locksmiths) (561621), Security Systems Services (56162), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518210)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)
- akta.pro primary industry
- DNS Security & Protective DNS (HDADABAF)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- DNS Security Appliances (HDAFAFAK), DDoS Mitigation & Scrubbing Appliances (HDAFAFAG), API Security & Service-to-Service Security (mTLS, Service Mesh Security) (HDABAHAN), Cloud Network Security (Microsegmentation, Cloud Firewall, WAF, DDoS) (HDABAHAJ)
Keywords
Where SafeDNS is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Alexandria
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
SafeDNS business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Business SaaS Subscriptions: Tiered per-user monthly subscriptions for business customers (Basic, Pro, Pro+) with minimum user requirements. Revenue generated through annual or monthly billing with discounts for annual commitments. Additional revenue from access point pricing for WiFi hotspot deployments.
- Education & Nonprofit Subscriptions: Flat-rate annual pricing for educational institutions and nonprofits (up to 100 users included), with per-user pricing for additional users. CIPA and regulatory compliance features included.
- Home Consumer Subscriptions: Annual and biennial subscription plans for individual households (Safe Home and Safe Family) with router-based filtering and agent support. No credit card required for trials.
- Partner/Reseller Licensing: Partners (MSPs, MSSPs, OEMs, resellers) purchase licenses at discounted rates with margins up to 30% through deal registration. Whitelabel licensing available for Gold tier partners. Standard 7% margin for non-registered deals.
- OEM Integration Licensing: OEM partners embed SafeDNS technology into their products (routers, security platforms, browsers) through API or SDK integration. Revenue generated through per-user or volume-based licensing agreements with 100+ OEM partners.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Basic - Essential DNS filtering for SMBs |
| Subscription | Annual | Pro - Advanced features for growing businesses |
| Subscription | Annual | Pro+ - Enterprise-grade with premium support |
| Subscription | Annual | Education & Nonprofit - Regulated compliance package |
| Unit Pricing | Annual | WiFi Hotspots - Per access point pricing |
| Subscription | Annual | Safe Home - Router-based family protection |
| Subscription | Annual | Safe Family - Comprehensive family safety with agents |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels5 records
SafeDNS product offering
Product offeringCore offering
SafeDNS delivers a cloud-based ProtectiveDNS service that blocks malware, phishing, ransomware, and botnets at the DNS layer in real time, paired with AI and ML-driven web content filtering across 66 categories. The platform is offered as a multi-tenant SaaS with per-user subscriptions, agent software for major operating systems, and Cat API and SDK integrations for partner and OEM embedding, serving enterprises, SMBs, education, ISPs, MSPs, and home users.
Product overview
SafeDNS is a cloud-based DNS filtering and cybersecurity platform that provides web security solutions across multiple deployment models. The core offering consists of ProtectiveDNS (cloud-based DNS security service) combined with Content Filtering capabilities powered by AI & ML. The product portfolio includes: (1) Core SaaS platform with multiple pricing tiers - Basic/Pro/Pro Plus for businesses, Education & Nonprofit plan, Wi-Fi Hotspots plan, and Home/Family consumer plans; (2) Agent software clients for Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, and iOS; (3) Developer products - Cat API (cloud-based REST) and Categorization SDK (local deployment for 50k+ users); (4) Feature modules including AppBlocker (80+ apps), Reports & Analytics (1-2 year archive), Safe Search enforcement, Internet Schedule, Roaming Clients, and SIEM integration via Amazon S3. The platform serves diverse verticals including enterprises, SMBs, MSPs, education, healthcare, hospitality, ISPs, telecoms, manufacturing, nonprofits, and OEMs across 69 countries.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Quantifiable outcome
- 73 million cyber threats blocked daily
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use SafeDNS
Customer profileNamed customers21 records
Segments11 records
Ideal customer profiles8 records
SafeDNS technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration1 record
AI capability3 records
Feature7 records
SafeDNS partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor, key account and partner.
- Internet Watch Foundation (IWF)coreIWF is a charitable organization that makes the internet a safer place by reducing the availability of child sexual abuse content. SafeDNS integrates IWF blocklists into their filtering database to prevent access to child sexual abuse material.
- Project Arachnid (Canadian Centre for Child Protection)coreProject Arachnid operates a continuous crawler that detects child sexual abuse material online. SafeDNS uses their blocklist to protect users from accessing illegal content, supporting Canadian regulations and child safety initiatives.
- BPjM (German Federal Agency for Media Rating)coreBPjM provides official German youth protection ratings. SafeDNS integrates BPjM blocklists to comply with German regulatory requirements for content filtering.
- Counter Terrorism Policing (UK)coreCounter Terrorism Policing works to prevent terrorism and protect the public. SafeDNS integrates their blocklists to filter terrorism and extremism-related content for UK customers.
- Friendly WiFiminorFriendly WiFi certification program for safe public Wi-Fi. SafeDNS participates to provide verified safe browsing environments for public Wi-Fi providers.
- VirusTotalcoreVirusTotal aggregates antivirus engines and website scanners. SafeDNS integrates VirusTotal scanning to enhance threat detection for malicious domains and URLs.
- Colombia Ministry of Information Technology and Communications (MinTIC)key accountGovernment ministry that selected SafeDNS through contractors like SDT Ingeniería for Colombia's free Wi-Fi initiative covering 290 zones in parks and tourist sites.
- KeeneticpartnerRouter manufacturer that integrates SafeDNS into their products for parental controls and content filtering capabilities.
- DovadopartnerRouter solutions provider that embeds SafeDNS for enhanced parental controls. Dovado offers routers with pre-integrated SafeDNS login credentials.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
SafeDNS competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- DNSFilter: A venture-backed direct competitor offering cloud-based DNS filtering and threat protection, explicitly listed as a comparison on SafeDNS's site. Targets the same SMB, MSP, and education segments with similar AI-driven categorization, often competing head-to-head in mid-market.
- Cisco Umbrella (formerly OpenDNS): DNS-layer security market leader acquired by Cisco, explicitly compared on SafeDNS's website. Competes directly on protective DNS, content filtering, and enterprise threat protection, with deep distribution through Cisco's enterprise sales force.
- Cloudflare Gateway: Cloudflare's DNS filtering and secure web gateway product, explicitly named as a SafeDNS competitor. Leverages Cloudflare's global Anycast network and pricing power to compete on DNS-layer security and content filtering for SMB through enterprise.
- NextDNS: A venture-backed modern DNS security and content filtering service, explicitly listed as a SafeDNS comparison. Closely matches SafeDNS on product positioning around DoH/DoT, privacy, and per-device protection for both consumers and businesses.
- WebTitan: DNS-based web content filtering solution targeting MSPs and SMBs, explicitly listed as a competitor by SafeDNS. Competes in the same channel-led distribution model with similar education, MSP, and Wi-Fi hotspot use cases.
- CleanBrowsing: A DNS-based content filtering service offering free and paid tiers, explicitly listed as a SafeDNS comparison. Targets similar MSP, ISP, and family/parental control segments with comparable Anycast-backed DNS filtering.
- ScoutDNS: A smaller direct competitor in DNS filtering that SafeDNS explicitly calls out on its comparison page. Competes in the MSP-led SMB and education segments with similar agent-based and network-level filtering products.
Broad incumbents
- Barracuda Web Security Gateway: Barracuda's broader web security and content filtering product, explicitly listed as a SafeDNS comparison. Targets enterprise and education segments across email, web, and network security, overlapping with SafeDNS in DNS/web filtering but as part of a larger portfolio.
- Webroot (OpenText) DNS Protection: Webroot's DNS protection offering (now part of OpenText) listed as a SafeDNS comparison. Provides DNS-layer security as part of a broader endpoint and threat intelligence suite, competing in MSP and SMB channels.
- Zscaler Internet Access: Zscaler's cloud-native SSE/SASE platform providing DNS filtering alongside SWG, CASB, and ZTNA. Overlaps with SafeDNS on enterprise DNS-layer security but as part of a broad zero-trust platform with multi-billion-dollar scale.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
SafeDNS social profiles
Digital presenceSafeDNS compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance8 records
SafeDNS financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
SafeDNS leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
SafeDNS funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
SafeDNS M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about SafeDNS
What does SafeDNS do?
SafeDNS delivers a cloud-based ProtectiveDNS service that blocks malware, phishing, ransomware, and botnets at the DNS layer in real time, paired with AI and ML-driven web content filtering across 66 categories. The platform is offered as a multi-tenant SaaS with per-user subscriptions, agent software for major operating systems, and Cat API and SDK integrations for partner and OEM embedding, serving enterprises, SMBs, education, ISPs, MSPs, and home users.
Is SafeDNS a public or private company?
SafeDNS is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was SafeDNS founded?
SafeDNS was founded in 2010. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is SafeDNS based?
SafeDNS is headquartered in Alexandria, United States, in the North America region.
How does SafeDNS make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Business SaaS Subscriptions are the primary driver. The others are education & Nonprofit Subscriptions, home Consumer Subscriptions, partner/Reseller Licensing and OEM Integration Licensing.
Who are SafeDNS's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are DNSFilter, Cisco Umbrella (formerly OpenDNS), Cloudflare Gateway, NextDNS, WebTitan, CleanBrowsing and ScoutDNS. Broad incumbents are Barracuda Web Security Gateway, Webroot (OpenText) DNS Protection and Zscaler Internet Access.
Does SafeDNS have an API?
Yes. SafeDNS offers two API/SDK products: (1) Cat API - a cloud-based REST API that is the fastest and simplest way to integrate database information, with the database located on SafeDNS servers, adding no pressure on user hardware. (2) SDK - for quick deployment with integration on user hardware, database on local servers, preferable for 50k+ users. Additionally, SafeDNS offers SIEM integration via Amazon S3, allowing connection to receive detailed query logs and security event data every 10 minutes to the user's bucket. Developer documentation is at docs.safedns.com.
What industry is SafeDNS in?
SafeDNS's product category is Cloud DNS Security and Web Content Filtering. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDADABAF, DNS Security & Protective DNS, with a secondary code of HDAFAFAK, DNS Security Appliances. Its NAICS code is 561621 and its SIC code is 7372.