Why Can't I Point a Domain to External Nameservers?
Can I really not point a domain I bought on Cloudflare to external nameservers such as Dreamhost? Why is this the case?
4 Replies
There's not much technical reason for it, it's just part of the deal. CF Registrar sells domains with zero markup, i.e they make nothing off them. So the deal is you then have to use their DNS/Services. It's meant to be like an addon for existing customers
But if you transfer a domain to Cloudflare, can you use external nameservers?
no. You can't even begin a transfer of a domain to Cloudflare unless it's active in Cloudflare (and thus using CF DNS)
You can delegate subdomains to other nameservers, but not the root domain
Most good hosts offer alternative setups other then just switching nameservers, by just pointing a/aaaa/cname records, ex: https://help.dreamhost.com/hc/en-us/articles/214694378-What-DreamHost-DNS-records-do-I-point-my-site-to
Thanks so much! I always just directed the nameservers to where I wanted the hosting done, but didn't realize I can just do an a/aaaa/cname record for the hosting