Connect a root domain with ALIAS records
Providers with ALIAS, ANAME or CNAME flattening hold a CNAME-like record at the root, where DNS forbids a CNAME.
For platform engineers and support leads. ALIAS-style roots work at providers such as Cloudflare, Porkbun and DNSimple.
| Type | Host | Value | State |
|---|---|---|---|
| ALIAS | acme.com | edge.customdomain.ai | live |
| CNAME | www.acme.com | edge.customdomain.ai | live |
What breaks today
| What breaks | What your customer sees |
|---|---|
| CNAME typed at the root | The panel refuses it, or it breaks the zone's other records. |
| Cloudflare proxy left on | The certificate cannot issue while the orange cloud is on. |
| Conflicting wildcard record | A record named * at the provider shadows the new one. |
| Old A or AAAA at the root | Some visitors keep reaching the previous host. |
How CustomDomain™ handles it
| Step | What CustomDomain™ does |
|---|---|
| Reports the strategy | The pre-flight returns apex_strategy alias and the provider's record type. |
| Writes the provider's type | Sign-in and API key writes use ALIAS, ANAME or a flattened CNAME. |
| Refuses what cannot work | A root the provider cannot express is refused with apex_not_supported. |
| Matches on addresses | An ALIAS answers with addresses, so checks compare addresses. |
| Serves HTTPS | Growth and up The edge issues the root's certificate on the first request. |
| Limit | On your own infrastructure, the root points at your hostname and you serve TLS. |
Where your customers' DNS is hosted
Six common providers and the way in each one offers.
| DNS provider | Way in today |
|---|---|
| Cloudflare | sign in |
| NameSilo | one-click |
| GoDaddy | api key |
| Amazon Route 53 | api key |
| Namecheap | by hand |
| Squarespace | by hand |
Common questions
Which providers support ALIAS or CNAME flattening?
Per the CustomDomain™ docs, Cloudflare, Netlify, easyDNS and Bunny DNS flatten a CNAME. DNSimple, Namecheap, NS1, Porkbun, PowerDNS and Vercel use ALIAS. Constellix and DNS Made Easy use ANAME.
What if my customer's provider has no ALIAS record?
The root gets A records to the edge's addresses instead. GoDaddy, IONOS, OVHcloud and most registrar panels work this way, and the console shows the exact A records.
Should my customer use the root or www?
Both, with the www redirect on: the edge answers acme.com with a 301 to www.acme.com, path and query kept. Serving through the edge is on Growth and up.
Cloudflare, Porkbun, DNSimple, DNS Made Easy and other names on this page are trademarks of their owners. CustomDomain™ is not affiliated with or endorsed by them. Facts about other products were read from their public pages on October 30, 2026.
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