Branded Nameservers

Included with Dynamic DNS Elite.

1. What This Feature Does

Branded nameservers are nameserver names on your own domain — ns1.example.com and ns2.example.com — that answer from the CertaDNS nameservers. They let the nameservers people see carry your name rather than certadns.com.

The Branded Nameservers page sets up the two names, gives you the glue records to add at your domain registrar, checks them, and removes the setup when you no longer want it.

2. When You Should Use It

• You provide DNS to your own clients and want the nameservers to show your company's domain.

3. When You Should Not Use It

• You are not on Elite. The page shows the plan it needs.
• You cannot change glue records at your domain's registrar. The setup cannot be verified without them.
• Your account is managed by an organization. Personal branded nameservers are not available; ask the organization owner.

4. Prerequisites

• Dynamic DNS Elite.
• A domain you own, such as example.com — the parent domain, not a subdomain.
• Access to that domain's registrar account, to add glue records (registrars also call them host records, child nameservers or registered nameservers).

5. How It Works (Brief)

1. You enter your domain. CertaDNS assigns ns1.<your domain> and ns2.<your domain> an IP address each, belonging to the CertaDNS nameservers.
2. You register those two names with those addresses at your registrar, as glue records.
3. Verify Glue Records looks both names up in public DNS. When each resolves to its assigned address, the setup becomes active.

The page shows how many of your zones use the branded names. Choosing which zones use them is not available in the dashboard.

6. How to Use It

Everything below is in Branded Nameservers, under Domain tools in the dashboard sidebar.

Set up

1. Enter your domain, for example example.com. The preview shows ns1.example.com and ns2.example.com beside the standard CertaDNS names.
2. Click Setup Vanity Nameservers.

Add the glue records

1. The page shows Setup Required at Your Registrar with two lines: each name and the address to give it.
2. At your registrar, register ns1.example.com and ns2.example.com as nameservers with exactly those addresses.
3. If your domain's DNS is hosted somewhere that does not publish those names, also add A records there for ns1 and ns2 with the same addresses, so the names resolve in public DNS.

Verify

Click Verify Glue Records. When both names resolve to their addresses, the page shows Vanity Nameservers Active with the two names and the number of zones using them. If not, it tells you what it found — see Common Issues.

Remove

1. Click Remove branded nameservers and confirm with Remove.
2. Any zones that were using the branded names go back to ns1.certadns.com, ns2.certadns.com and ns3.certadns.com. Change the nameservers at your registrar for those domains to match.
3. The glue records at your registrar are no longer needed and can be deleted.

To use a different domain for your branded names, remove the current setup and set up again.

7. Inputs and Settings

8. Outputs and Results

• Setup Required at Your Registrar — the setup exists and is waiting for the glue records. Shows each name with its address and the Verify Glue Records button.
• Vanity Nameservers Active — verified. Shows NS1 and NS2 and Active on N zone(s).
• Remove branded nameservers appears in both states.

9. How to Interpret Results

Normal

• Setup Required straight after setting up, until your registrar publishes the glue records — often minutes, sometimes longer.
• Active on 0 zone(s) after verifying.

Worth investigating

• Verification keeps failing hours after adding the glue records — check the addresses match the page exactly, and that the names resolve in public DNS (see step 3 under Add the glue records).

Common mistakes

• Entering a subdomain (dns.example.com) instead of the domain you own.
• Typing the addresses from memory. Copy them from the page.

10. Common Issues and Explanations

"Glue records not found. Please add them at your registrar."

ns1 or ns2 of your domain does not exist in public DNS yet. Add the glue records, wait, and verify again.

"Glue records found but IPs don't match. Expected … and …"

The names resolve, but not to the addresses shown. Correct them at your registrar (and wherever your domain's DNS is hosted).

"Verification failed: …"

The lookup did not get an answer — often because the domain exists but has no address for ns1 or ns2. Add the A records described under Add the glue records.

The page offers "See plans" instead of the setup

Branded nameservers are part of Dynamic DNS Elite.

11. Limits and Constraints

12. Related Features

• Managed DNS — hosting your domains on the CertaDNS nameservers.
• Dynamic DNS — the plans, including Elite.

13. Updates and Behavior Changes

• 30 September 2026. The page has a Remove branded nameservers button. Removing a setup now returns its zones to all three CertaDNS nameservers (it used to leave out ns3.certadns.com), and new setups are given the current address for ns2. Earlier versions of this article described controls for applying branded names to zones and deleting them, which were not in the dashboard.