Every CertaDNS account starts free. Paid plans are optional.
1. What This Feature Does
Your CertaDNS account is one sign-in for everything: Dynamic DNS hostnames, Email Authentication, Managed DNS and Brand Monitoring. This article covers:
- Your account — signing up, confirming your email address, signing in, resetting your password, your profile and your sign-in history.
- What you pay for — CertaDNS sells two separate plan ladders plus add-ons, and you can hold any combination:
- Dynamic DNS plans — Free, Pro and Elite, for hostnames that follow a changing IP address.
- Email Authentication tiers — Free, Plus, Premium and Enterprise, for hosting and monitoring DMARC, SPF, DKIM, MTA-STS, TLS-RPT and BIMI.
- Add-ons — Hosted SPF, Brand Monitoring and Managed DNS.
- Managing it — trials, cancelling, and reactivating.
2. When You Should Use It
- You are creating an account, or cannot get into one.
- You want to compare plans, upgrade, or add a product.
- You want to check what you are paying for, when you are next charged, or when a trial ends.
- You want to cancel something, or undo a cancellation.
3. When You Should Not Use It
- Two-factor authentication has its own article: Two-Factor Authentication.
- API keys likewise: API Keys.
- Refunds, billing disputes, changing your email address or closing your account are not self-service in the dashboard. Contact support. To change the card you pay with, use Update card under Settings > Subscription; PayPal payers change it at PayPal.
4. Prerequisites
- An email address you can receive mail at. Accounts registered with a disposable address can use the free plans but cannot buy paid ones.
- To pay: a card for Email Authentication tiers and add-ons; a card or PayPal for Dynamic DNS plans.
5. How It Works (Brief)
Your email address is your sign-in. A new account cannot sign in until the address is confirmed through the link emailed at sign-up. Sessions last 24 hours.
Two ladders, bought separately. Dynamic DNS plans and Email Authentication tiers are independent: buying one does not include the other. Email Authentication does not need Managed DNS, and Managed DNS does not need Email Authentication.
Where you buy what. Dynamic DNS plans are bought from the Dynamic DNS page. Email Authentication tiers and add-ons are bought in the plan builder (Build Your Plan), as one subscription with one renewal date. Enterprise is quoted by the sales team.
6. How to Use It
Create an account
- Go to Sign up. Enter First Name, Last Name, Email and Password, complete the CAPTCHA, and tick I agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
- Click Create Account.
- Open the email CertaDNS sends and click the link within 24 hours. The page shows Email Verified!, and you can sign in.
You can also create your account inside the plan builder when you check out. You still need to confirm your email address.
No email? Check spam, then use Resend Verification.
Sign in
- Go to Log in, enter your Email and Password, and click Sign In.
- If asked, complete the CAPTCHA.
- If two-factor authentication is on, enter your code.
Reset a forgotten password
- On the sign-in page, click Forgot Password?, enter your email address and click Send Reset Link.
- Open the email and click the link within 1 hour.
- Enter a New Password and Confirm New Password, then click Reset Password.
Resetting your password signs you out everywhere. It does not turn off two-factor authentication.
Update your name
In Settings > Profile, change First Name or Last Name and click Update Profile. Your email address cannot be changed here.
Check your sign-in history
Settings > Security > Recent Login Activity lists your last ten sign-in attempts: date, IP address, location (country) and Success or Failed.
Buy a Dynamic DNS plan
- On the Dynamic DNS page, click Choose Pro or Choose Elite.
- On Complete Your Subscription, choose Credit Card or PayPal and complete payment.
An account can hold one Dynamic DNS plan at a time.
Buy an Email Authentication tier or add-ons
- Open Build Your Plan. Choose Monthly or Annual.
- Under Email Authentication, choose a tier. For Enterprise, click Talk to us instead.
- Under Add-ons, set how many domains each add-on should cover. Only add-ons your tier does not already include are offered.
- Check Your plan and the total, then click Proceed to checkout (or Continue to create an account or sign in first).
- Pay by card on the checkout page. A promotion code, if you have one, is entered there.
See what you pay for
Open Settings > Subscription.
- Active products & add-ons lists each Email Authentication tier and add-on with its price, how many domains it covers, and either its renewal date, its trial dates, or the date access ends.
- If you have a Dynamic DNS plan, it appears below with its billing interval, status, Next Payment date, your Email Authentication tier with Change plan, and the add-ons you can still add.
Cancel an Email Authentication tier or add-on
- In Active products & add-ons, click Cancel next to it.
- The dialog says whether you will be charged, then confirm with Cancel followed by the product's name. Choose Keep it to back out.
You keep it until the end of the period already paid for, shown as Access until. If you cancel during a free trial, you are not charged.
Cancel a Dynamic DNS plan
- Click Cancel Subscription and confirm with Cancel subscription (or Keep my plan to back out).
- The plan shows Canceling, with Access Until and Days Remaining. After that date the account returns to the Free Dynamic DNS plan.
Undo a Dynamic DNS cancellation
Before the Access Until date, click Reactivate Subscription. The plan returns to active and renews as before. Once that date has passed, buy the plan again instead.
7. Inputs and Settings
Account fields
| Field | Rules |
|---|---|
| A valid address, not already registered (upper and lower case count as the same address). It is your sign-in. | |
| Password | At least 8 characters, with at least one upper-case letter, one lower-case letter and one digit. |
| First Name | Required. |
| Last Name | Asked for at sign-up. |
Dynamic DNS plans
| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 5 hostnames that never expire, basic URL forwarding, community support. |
| Pro | $10 / month | 100 hostnames, premium trusted domains, wildcard and web forwarding, API access, no ads or CAPTCHA. |
| Elite | $25 / month | 500 hostnames, premium trusted domains, vanity (white-label) nameservers, priority support. |
Email Authentication tiers
| Tier | Price | Domains | Users | Data history | Adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1 | 1 | 14 days | Hosted DMARC and BIMI, aggregate (RUA) and forensic (RUF) report processing, DMARC geolocation report, alert monitoring, two-factor authentication. |
| Plus | $12 / month or $132 / year | 2 | 1 | 3 months | Hosted DKIM, MTA-STS and TLS-RPT; TLS reports; scheduled reports by email. |
| Premium | $70 / month or $770 / year | 5 | Unlimited | 1 year | Hosted SPF; permission and group management; email support. |
| Enterprise | Contact sales | Unlimited | Unlimited | 3 years | Advanced reports, DMARC report export, brand protection, custom alert rules, Slack and Teams, SIEM, API access, audit logs, dedicated support. |
Each tier includes everything in the tiers below it.
Add-ons
| Add-on | Price | Covers | Offered with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hosted SPF | $10 / month or $110 / year, flat | Every domain your tier allows | Free and Plus (included in Premium and Enterprise) |
| Brand Monitoring | $49 / brand / month or $539 / brand / year, five domains included; each extra domain $9 / month or $99 / year | Look-alike domain and certificate monitoring | Free, Plus and Premium (included in Enterprise) |
| Managed DNS | $2 / domain / month or $22 / domain / year | Authoritative DNS hosting, record management and query analytics | Every tier |
Free trial
Your first plan-builder subscription starts with 14 days free when it includes an Email Authentication tier (Plus or Premium) or Managed DNS. Everything else in the same checkout shares the trial. A card is required to start; you are not charged until the trial ends, and cancelling before then costs nothing. Checkout shows the date of your first charge. The trial is given once per account: an account that has already had a plan-builder subscription, or a card-paid Dynamic DNS plan, does not get one. Dynamic DNS plans have no trial.
8. Outputs and Results
- While on trial, the product shows Free trial [start] — [end]. First charge [end]., with Cancel before [date] and you will not be charged.
- While active, it shows Since [date] · renews [date] and its price per month or year.
- After cancelling, it shows (canceling) and Access until [date].
- A Dynamic DNS plan shows a status badge: green when active, orange Canceling after cancellation, red for anything else, such as a failed payment.
9. How to Interpret Results
Normal
- A product appears in Active products & add-ons straight after checkout.
- A cancelled product stays listed, marked as canceling, until its access date.
- An account with only Email Authentication or add-ons shows No Dynamic DNS plan on this account. Your products are listed above. That is expected — the two are separate.
Worth investigating
- A red status on your Dynamic DNS plan — usually a payment problem. Contact support to update your payment details.
- Failed sign-ins you did not make in Recent Login Activity — reset your password and turn on two-factor authentication.
10. Common Issues and Explanations
"Please verify your email address before signing in."
The account's email address is not confirmed yet. Find the confirmation email, or click Resend verification email under the message. The link is valid for 24 hours.
"This account has been disabled."
The account has been suspended. Contact support.
"Too many failed attempts. Please wait … seconds before trying again."
Five wrong passwords within 15 minutes pause sign-in for 60 seconds; ten pause it for 10 minutes. This applies to your account and to your network address. Wait, or reset your password.
A CAPTCHA appears at sign-in
Accounts without a paid Dynamic DNS plan complete a CAPTCHA after their password is accepted. Pro and Elite accounts, and accounts created by an organization invitation, are not asked.
"Please complete the CAPTCHA to continue."
Sign-up needs the CAPTCHA completed. If it did not load, refresh the page.
"Email already exists"
That address already has an account, in any mix of upper and lower case. Sign in, or use Forgot Password?.
"Password must contain at least one uppercase letter" (or lowercase letter, or digit, or be at least 8 characters long)
The password does not meet the rules in section 7.
"Verification token has expired. Please request a new one."
The confirmation link is more than 24 hours old. Use Resend Verification.
"Reset token has expired. Please request a new one."
Reset links last 1 hour, and only the newest one works. Request another from Forgot Password?.
"Too many requests. Please try again later."
Confirmation and reset emails are rate-limited per address and per network. Wait before asking again; the email already sent is still valid.
"Paid plans aren't available for accounts registered with a disposable email address."
The account was registered with a temporary mailbox. Free plans keep working; contact support about moving to a permanent address.
"User already has an active subscription"
You already have a Dynamic DNS plan. An account holds one at a time.
"This account is managed by your organization."
Accounts created by an organization invitation are billed through the organization. Ask its owner.
"Subscription has already expired. Please create a new subscription."
The Dynamic DNS plan's access date has passed, so it cannot be reactivated. Buy the plan again from the Dynamic DNS page.
11. Limits and Constraints
| Constraint | Value |
|---|---|
| Confirmation link | 24 hours |
| Password reset link | 1 hour; a newer link replaces older ones |
| Session length | 24 hours |
| Wrong passwords before a pause | 5 in 15 minutes (60 seconds); 10 (10 minutes) |
| Sign-in history shown | Last 10 attempts |
| Dynamic DNS plans per account | 1 |
| Free trial | 14 days, once per account, first plan-builder subscription only |
| Plan builder payment | Card |
| Dynamic DNS payment | Card or PayPal |
- Reactivation is available for Dynamic DNS plans only. A cancelled Email Authentication tier or add-on is bought again in the plan builder.
- Changing your email address, changing your saved card, refunds and closing your account are handled by support.
12. Related Features
- Two-Factor Authentication — a second step at sign-in.
- API Keys — included with Dynamic DNS Pro and Elite, and Email Authentication Enterprise.
- Dynamic DNS Domains — what the hostname allowance buys.
- Managed DNS Zones — the Managed DNS add-on.
- DMARC Reporting — the core of every Email Authentication tier.
13. Updates and Behavior Changes
- 30 September 2026. This article was rewritten to match the product. Earlier versions described usernames (sign-in is by email address), a password rule of length only, a Delete Account button and a settings tab that do not exist, and the older per-domain pricing.
- 1 October 2026. Signing in with the right password to an unconfirmed account now says so and offers Resend verification email (it said "Invalid email or password"). The card on file can be changed from Settings > Subscription.
- September 2026. Email Authentication became the Free, Plus, Premium and Enterprise tiers, replacing the per-domain product; BIMI is included in every tier and organizations in Premium and above. Plan-builder purchases gained a 14-day free trial.
- Earlier. The Dynamic DNS Plus plan was withdrawn for new customers; Dynamic DNS is Free, Pro and Elite.