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Q & A DNS Records · August 20, 2026

Why can't I use a CNAME at my root domain?

The DNS standard (RFC 1034) prohibits CNAME records at the apex (root) because apex domains must have NS and SOA records, and a CNAME at the same name would conflict. Some DNS providers offer CNAME-like behavior at the apex through proprietary extensions: Cloudflare CNAME Flattening, AWS Route 53 ALIAS, DNSimple ALIAS. These are resolved server-side and behave like A records to clients.

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DNS Record Types Explained: A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, and More
DNS records are the building blocks of how the internet resolves domain names to servers. Each record type has a specific job: routing web traffic, delivering email, proving domain ownership, or preventing spoofing.
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