diff --git a/.github/workflows/end-to-end-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/end-to-end-tests.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d31f09b96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/end-to-end-tests.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+name: end to end test
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+  pull_request:
+    branches: [ master ]
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+jobs:
+  e2e-tests:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    steps:
+    - name: Checkout code
+      uses: actions/checkout@v4
+    - name: e2e
+      run: |
+        ./scripts/e2e-test.sh
diff --git a/e2e/deployment.yaml b/e2e/deployment.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0885e8a93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e/deployment.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  labels:
+    app: demo-app
+  name: demo-app
+spec:
+  replicas: 1
+  selector:
+    matchLabels:
+      app: demo-app
+  template:
+    metadata:
+      labels:
+        app: demo-app
+    spec:
+      containers:
+      - image: traefik/whoami:latest # minimal demo app
+        name: demo-app
diff --git a/e2e/provider/coredns.yaml b/e2e/provider/coredns.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..14d02737f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e/provider/coredns.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+---
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: ConfigMap
+metadata:
+  name: coredns
+  namespace: default
+data:
+  Corefile: |
+    external.dns:5353 {
+        errors
+        log
+        etcd {
+            stubzones
+            path /skydns
+            endpoint http://etcd-0.etcd:2379
+        }
+        cache 30
+        forward . /etc/resolv.conf
+    }
+---
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: coredns
+  namespace: default
+  labels:
+    app: coredns
+spec:
+  replicas: 1
+  selector:
+    matchLabels:
+      app: coredns
+  template:
+    metadata:
+      labels:
+        app: coredns
+    spec:
+      hostNetwork: true
+      dnsPolicy: Default
+      containers:
+      - name: coredns
+        image: coredns/coredns:1.13.1
+        args: [ "-conf", "/etc/coredns/Corefile" ]
+        volumeMounts:
+        - name: config-volume
+          mountPath: /etc/coredns
+        ports:
+        - containerPort: 5353
+          name: dns
+          protocol: UDP
+        - containerPort: 5353
+          name: dns-tcp
+          protocol: TCP
+        livenessProbe:
+          httpGet:
+            path: /health
+            port: 8080
+            scheme: HTTP
+          initialDelaySeconds: 60
+          timeoutSeconds: 5
+          successThreshold: 1
+          failureThreshold: 5
+        readinessProbe:
+          httpGet:
+            path: /ready
+            port: 8181
+            scheme: HTTP
+          initialDelaySeconds: 10
+          timeoutSeconds: 5
+          successThreshold: 1
+          failureThreshold: 5
+      volumes:
+      - name: config-volume
+        configMap:
+          name: coredns
+          items:
+          - key: Corefile
+            path: Corefile
+---
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Service
+metadata:
+  name: coredns
+  namespace: default
+  labels:
+    app: coredns
+spec:
+  selector:
+    app: coredns
+  ports:
+  - name: dns
+    port: 5353
+    targetPort: 5353
+    protocol: UDP
+  - name: dns-tcp
+    port: 5353
+    targetPort: 5353
+    protocol: TCP
diff --git a/e2e/provider/etcd.yaml b/e2e/provider/etcd.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6a58c2e3a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e/provider/etcd.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+---
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Service
+metadata:
+  name: etcd
+  namespace: default
+spec:
+  type: ClusterIP
+  clusterIP: None
+  selector:
+    app: etcd
+  publishNotReadyAddresses: true
+  ports:
+  - name: etcd-client
+    port: 2379
+  - name: etcd-server
+    port: 2380
+  - name: etcd-metrics
+    port: 8080
+---
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: StatefulSet
+metadata:
+  namespace: default
+  name: etcd
+spec:
+  serviceName: etcd
+  replicas: 1
+  podManagementPolicy: Parallel
+  updateStrategy:
+    type: RollingUpdate
+  selector:
+    matchLabels:
+      app: etcd
+  template:
+    metadata:
+      labels:
+        app: etcd
+      annotations:
+        serviceName: etcd
+    spec:
+      affinity:
+        podAntiAffinity:
+          requiredDuringSchedulingIgnoredDuringExecution:
+          - labelSelector:
+              matchExpressions:
+              - key: app
+                operator: In
+                values:
+                - etcd
+            topologyKey: "kubernetes.io/hostname"
+      containers:
+      - name: etcd
+        image: quay.io/coreos/etcd:v3.6.0
+        imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
+        ports:
+        - name: etcd-client
+          containerPort: 2379
+        - name: etcd-server
+          containerPort: 2380
+        - name: etcd-metrics
+          containerPort: 8080
+        readinessProbe:
+          httpGet:
+            path: /readyz
+            port: 8080
+          initialDelaySeconds: 10
+          periodSeconds: 5
+          timeoutSeconds: 5
+          successThreshold: 1
+          failureThreshold: 30
+        livenessProbe:
+          httpGet:
+            path: /livez
+            port: 8080
+          initialDelaySeconds: 15
+          periodSeconds: 10
+          timeoutSeconds: 5
+          failureThreshold: 3
+        env:
+        - name: K8S_NAMESPACE
+          valueFrom:
+            fieldRef:
+             fieldPath: metadata.namespace
+        - name: HOSTNAME
+          valueFrom:
+            fieldRef:
+             fieldPath: metadata.name
+        - name: SERVICE_NAME
+          valueFrom:
+            fieldRef:
+              fieldPath: metadata.annotations['serviceName']
+        - name: ETCDCTL_ENDPOINTS
+          value: $(HOSTNAME).$(SERVICE_NAME):2379
+        - name: URI_SCHEME
+          value: "http"
+        command:
+        - /usr/local/bin/etcd
+        args:
+        - --name=$(HOSTNAME)
+        - --data-dir=/data
+        - --wal-dir=/data/wal
+        - --listen-peer-urls=$(URI_SCHEME)://0.0.0.0:2380
+        - --listen-client-urls=$(URI_SCHEME)://0.0.0.0:2379
+        - --advertise-client-urls=$(URI_SCHEME)://$(HOSTNAME).$(SERVICE_NAME):2379
+        - --initial-cluster-state=new
+        - --initial-cluster-token=etcd-$(K8S_NAMESPACE)
+        - --initial-cluster=etcd-0=$(URI_SCHEME)://etcd-0.$(SERVICE_NAME):2380
+        - --initial-advertise-peer-urls=$(URI_SCHEME)://$(HOSTNAME).$(SERVICE_NAME):2380
+        - --listen-metrics-urls=http://0.0.0.0:8080
+        volumeMounts:
+        - name: etcd-data
+          mountPath: /data
+  volumeClaimTemplates:
+  - metadata:
+      name: etcd-data
+    spec:
+      accessModes: ["ReadWriteOnce"]
+      resources:
+        requests:
+          storage: 1Gi
diff --git a/e2e/service.yaml b/e2e/service.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9484d69b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e/service.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Service
+metadata:
+  labels:
+    app: demo-app
+  name: demo-app
+  annotations:
+    external-dns.alpha.kubernetes.io/hostname: externaldns-e2e.external.dns
+spec:
+  ports:
+  - port: 80
+    protocol: TCP
+    targetPort: 8080
+  selector:
+    app: demo-app
+  clusterIP: None
diff --git a/scripts/e2e-test.sh b/scripts/e2e-test.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..2e5ba4902
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/e2e-test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,226 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -e
+
+KO_VERSION="0.18.0"
+KIND_VERSION="0.30.0"
+ALPINE_VERSION="3.22"
+
+echo "Starting end-to-end tests for external-dns with local provider..."
+
+# Install kind
+echo "Installing kind..."
+curl -Lo ./kind https://kind.sigs.k8s.io/dl/v${KIND_VERSION}/kind-linux-amd64
+chmod +x ./kind
+sudo mv ./kind /usr/local/bin/kind
+
+# Create kind cluster
+echo "Creating kind cluster..."
+kind create cluster
+
+# Install kubectl
+echo "Installing kubectl..."
+curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl"
+chmod +x kubectl
+sudo mv kubectl /usr/local/bin/kubectl
+
+# Install ko
+echo "Installing ko..."
+curl -sSfL "https://github.com/ko-build/ko/releases/download/v${KO_VERSION}/ko_${KO_VERSION}_linux_x86_64.tar.gz" > ko.tar.gz
+tar xzf ko.tar.gz ko
+chmod +x ./ko
+sudo mv ko /usr/local/bin/ko
+
+# Build external-dns
+echo "Building external-dns..."
+# Use ko with --local to save the image to Docker daemon
+EXTERNAL_DNS_IMAGE_FULL=$(KO_DOCKER_REPO=ko.local VERSION=$(git describe --tags --always --dirty) \
+    ko build --tags "$(git describe --tags --always --dirty)" --bare --sbom none \
+    --platform=linux/amd64 --local .)
+echo "Built image: $EXTERNAL_DNS_IMAGE_FULL"
+
+# Extract image name and tag (strip the @sha256 digest for kind load and kustomize)
+EXTERNAL_DNS_IMAGE="${EXTERNAL_DNS_IMAGE_FULL%%@*}"
+echo "Using image reference: $EXTERNAL_DNS_IMAGE"
+
+# apply etcd deployment as provider
+echo "Applying etcd"
+kubectl apply -f e2e/provider/etcd.yaml
+
+# Build a DNS testing image with dig
+echo "Building DNS test image with dig..."
+docker build -t dns-test:v1 -f - . <<EOF
+FROM alpine:${ALPINE_VERSION}
+RUN apk add --no-cache bind-tools curl
+ENTRYPOINT ["sh"]
+EOF
+
+# Load all images into kind cluster
+echo "Loading Docker images into kind cluster..."
+kind load docker-image "$EXTERNAL_DNS_IMAGE"
+kind load docker-image dns-test:v1
+
+# Deploy ExternalDNS to the cluster
+echo "Deploying external-dns with custom arguments..."
+
+# Create temporary directory for kustomization
+TEMP_KUSTOMIZE_DIR=$(mktemp -d)
+cp -r kustomize/* "$TEMP_KUSTOMIZE_DIR/"
+
+# Create patch file on the fly
+cat <<EOF > "$TEMP_KUSTOMIZE_DIR/deployment-args-patch.yaml"
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: external-dns
+spec:
+  template:
+    spec:
+      hostNetwork: true
+      containers:
+        - name: external-dns
+          args:
+            - --source=service
+            - --provider=coredns
+            - --txt-owner-id=external.dns
+            - --policy=sync
+            - --log-level=debug
+          env:
+            - name: ETCD_URLS
+              value: http://etcd-0.etcd:2379
+EOF
+
+# Update kustomization.yaml to include the patch
+cat <<EOF > "$TEMP_KUSTOMIZE_DIR/kustomization.yaml"
+apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
+kind: Kustomization
+
+images:
+  - name: registry.k8s.io/external-dns/external-dns
+    newName: ${EXTERNAL_DNS_IMAGE%%:*}
+    newTag: ${EXTERNAL_DNS_IMAGE##*:}
+
+resources:
+  - ./external-dns-deployment.yaml
+  - ./external-dns-serviceaccount.yaml
+  - ./external-dns-clusterrole.yaml
+  - ./external-dns-clusterrolebinding.yaml
+
+patchesStrategicMerge:
+  - ./deployment-args-patch.yaml
+EOF
+
+# Apply the kustomization
+kubectl kustomize "$TEMP_KUSTOMIZE_DIR" | kubectl apply -f -
+
+# add a wait for the deployment to be available
+kubectl wait --for=condition=available --timeout=60s deployment/external-dns || true
+
+kubectl describe pods -l app=external-dns
+kubectl describe deployment external-dns
+kubectl logs -l app=external-dns
+
+# Cleanup temporary directory
+rm -rf "$TEMP_KUSTOMIZE_DIR"
+
+# Apply kubernetes yaml with service
+echo "Applying Kubernetes service..."
+kubectl apply -f e2e
+
+# Wait for convergence
+echo "Waiting for convergence (90 seconds)..."
+sleep 90  # normal loop is 60 seconds, this is enough and should not cause flakes
+
+# Check that the records are present
+echo "Checking services again..."
+kubectl get svc -owide
+kubectl logs -l app=external-dns
+
+# Check that the DNS records are present using our DNS server
+echo "Testing DNS server functionality..."
+
+# Get the node IP where the pod is running (since we're using hostNetwork)
+NODE_IP=$(kubectl get nodes -o jsonpath='{.items[0].status.addresses[?(@.type=="InternalIP")].address}')
+echo "Node IP: $NODE_IP"
+
+# Test our DNS server with dig
+echo "Testing DNS server with dig..."
+
+# Create DNS test job that uses dig to query our DNS server
+cat <<EOF | kubectl apply -f -
+apiVersion: batch/v1
+kind: Job
+metadata:
+  name: dns-server-test-job
+  labels:
+    app: dns-server-test
+spec:
+  backoffLimit: 3
+  template:
+    metadata:
+      labels:
+        app: dns-server-test
+    spec:
+      restartPolicy: Never
+      hostNetwork: true
+      containers:
+      - name: dns-server-test
+        image: dns-test:v1
+        command:
+        - /bin/sh
+        - -c
+        - |
+          echo "Testing DNS server at $NODE_IP:5353"
+
+          echo "=== Testing DNS server with dig ==="
+          echo "Querying: externaldns-e2e.external.dns A record"
+          if dig @$NODE_IP -p 5353 externaldns-e2e.external.dns A +short +timeout=5; then
+            echo "DNS query successful"
+            exit 0
+          else
+            echo "DNS query failed"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          echo "DNS server tests completed"
+          exit 0
+EOF
+
+# Wait for the job to complete
+echo "Waiting for DNS server test job to complete..."
+kubectl wait --for=condition=complete --timeout=90s job/dns-server-test-job || true
+
+# Check job status and get results
+echo "DNS server test job results:"
+kubectl logs job/dns-server-test-job
+
+# Final validation
+JOB_SUCCEEDED=$(kubectl get job dns-server-test-job -o jsonpath='{.status.succeeded}')
+if [ "$JOB_SUCCEEDED" = "1" ]; then
+    echo "SUCCESS: DNS server test completed successfully"
+    TEST_PASSED=true
+else
+    echo "WARNING: DNS server test job did not complete successfully"
+    kubectl describe job dns-server-test-job
+    TEST_PASSED=false
+fi
+
+# Cleanup the test job
+kubectl delete job dns-server-test-job
+
+echo "End-to-end test completed!"
+
+# Cleanup function
+cleanup() {
+    echo "Cleaning up..."
+    if [ ! -z "$EXTERNAL_DNS_PID" ]; then
+        kill $EXTERNAL_DNS_PID 2>/dev/null || true
+    fi
+    if [ ! -z "$LOCAL_PROVIDER_PID" ]; then
+        kill $LOCAL_PROVIDER_PID 2>/dev/null || true
+    fi
+    kind delete cluster 2>/dev/null || true
+}
+
+# Set trap to cleanup on script exit
+trap cleanup EXIT