Thinking of moving away from Gandi, DNS provider recommendations

[adhodgson]

I'm thinking of moving away from Gandi to a cheaper registrar, however the one I am looking at isn't supported by Cloudron's automatic DNS integration. I'd be interested in hearing what others hav done if they've moved away from Gandi or stuck with them? I could move the DNS to Hetzner but feel its moving everything into the same basket.

[joseph]

Route53, Cloudflare, Namecheap, Porkbun don't have much markup on the domain sales. Route53 is definitely the lowest .

[scooke]

I use Namesilo, Namecheap, Porkbun, Dynadot, and Spaceship... with all of them I use the Wildcard setting in Cloudron because I'm in it for selfhosting and managing my own data to the point where I want to manage my own DNS, not even Cloudron. (I know, Cloudron IS managing all my other data, but I love that!) This has more to do with the fact that I use my domains on different platforms so I can't have one os manager taking over the entire domain.

[timconsidine]

I use Dynadot after moving away from Uniregistry / GoDaddy

[adhodgson]

I was probably going to use a UK registrar called Mythic Beasts. They are a small company and I want to give them my business. I did wonder about using the wildcard DNS option but was wondering if anyone else is using a specific DNS provider if they host the domains with a registrar that isn't supported by Cloudron.

[luckow]

My two cents on this topic: Make a clear distinction between a domain registrar and a DNS service provider. It’s always possible to delegate the entire DNS management for your domain from the registrar to a supported DNS provider. In my case, InternetX (aka AutoDNS) is the registrar, while Hetzner, deSEC, and DigitalOcean serve as DNS providers.

[scooke]

@luckow I've always been curious about this. Don't you still need at least the NS filled out at the domain registrar if you are using a DNS provider? And the name servers don't even need to be at the DNS provider, either, right? Doesn't it get hectic trying to keep track of all that rather than just staying with the DNS settings the domain registrar offers?

[luckow]

@scooke Offering products like domain registration requires some experience with nameservers. However, in my understanding, it mostly comes down to being a member of the official inner circles for top-level domains. For example, as a regular end customer, you cannot directly register a .de domain with DENIC, the official German Network Information Center, which operates as a cooperative. Instead, the end customer must register a .de domain through a registrar that is a member of the cooperative or collaborates with a member.

Domain registration is a low-margin business. That’s why most registrars offer a range of additional services - such as web hosting - alongside it. One face to the (end) customer. These services are often neither particularly affordable nor high quality. Nevertheless, you still need a registrar. From there, delegate the nameservers for your domain to specialists - like the deSEC company - and connect your Cloudron instance to them. Then, use your Cloudron instance to self-host WordPress, a static website, or other tools, instead of relying on the web hosting products offered by the registrar.

To answer your question about whether it's hectic: no. A dig -t ns my.demo.cloudron.io command shows you the DNS provider. In this case, it’s Amazon Route 53.

[james]

Hello @luckow // @scooke

Careful about possible DNS Zone delegation.
With the command dig NS my.demo.cloudron.io you are checking for NS records for the sub-zone my.demo.cloudron.io.
For the full DNS zone the command would be dig NS cloudron.io:

dig NS cloudron.io +short
ns-16.awsdns-02.com.
ns-876.awsdns-45.net.
ns-1492.awsdns-58.org.
ns-1763.awsdns-28.co.uk.

Another example would be cloudron.dev. The domain cloudron.dev is registered at Namecheap, but the whole domain was delegated to Cloudflare.

dig NS cloudron.dev +short
becky.ns.cloudflare.com.
david.ns.cloudflare.com.

But it is possible to delegate sub-zones to another DNS provider.
As an example, to test the Hetzner DNS with Cloudron I delegated the sub-zone hetzner.cloudron.dev to Hetzner.
So if I do a dig NS hetzner.cloudron.dev @david.ns.cloudflare.com I get the Hetzner DNS servers.

dig NS hetzner.cloudron.dev @david.ns.cloudflare.com

; <<>> DiG 9.18.39-0ubuntu0.24.04.1-Ubuntu <<>> NS hetzner.cloudron.dev @david.ns.cloudflare.com
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 2809
;; flags: qr rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 3, ADDITIONAL: 1
;; WARNING: recursion requested but not available

;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 1232
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;hetzner.cloudron.dev.          IN      NS

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
hetzner.cloudron.dev.   300     IN      NS      helium.ns.hetzner.de.
hetzner.cloudron.dev.   300     IN      NS      hydrogen.ns.hetzner.com.
hetzner.cloudron.dev.   300     IN      NS      oxygen.ns.hetzner.com.

;; Query time: 29 msec
;; SERVER: 108.162.193.152#53(david.ns.cloudflare.com) (UDP)
;; WHEN: Tue Nov 11 15:12:15 CET 2025
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 141

[nostrdev]

we use desec.io, they're great, just be warned that you might hit rate limits if migrating a large cloudron instance to a new IP

[matix131997]

When it comes to domain registrars, it is worth looking for one that offers domains at an affordable price and is a reliable company with a long history on the market. DNS management depends on your preferences.
I use a Polish registrar because of my country's currency, and I use Bunny.net for DNS management.

[timconsidine]

I use Cloudns for DNS - they’re good