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The short answer: a CNAME says “this name is really that other name”. The DNS standard forbids a CNAME on a name that has any other record. The bare domain (example.com, also called the root or apex) always has the SOA and NS records, and nearly always MX and some TXT records. So a CNAME there is impossible. Some panels refuse it; others accept it and quietly break e-mail and verifications.
What you want, and what to use
| What you want | What to use |
| Point the bare domain at a server with a fixed IP | An A record (and AAAA, if the server has IPv6) with the address. |
| Point the bare domain at a service that only gives you a name (site builder, shop platform, load balancer) | An ALIAS or ANAME type, if your DNS provider has one; Cloudflare’s CNAME flattening; or the CNAME on www and a redirect from the bare domain to www. |
| Point www at an outside service | A CNAME on www. No problem here: www has no other records. |
| A CNAME and a TXT on the same subdomain | Not allowed either, by the same rule. Put the TXT on another name, or swap the CNAME for an A record. |
| An MX or NS pointing at a name that is a CNAME | Not allowed. MX and NS must point at a name with its own A or AAAA record. |
Fixing it without breaking e-mail
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| If the panel let you save a CNAME on the bare domain, do not keep it. With a CNAME at the root, resolvers may ignore that name’s MX and TXT records: mail stops arriving, SPF and verifications fail, and sometimes only for some senders, which makes the problem hard to find. |
| This is what www is for. It has no SOA, NS or MX, so it can be a CNAME freely. When an outside service only gives you a name, serving the site on www is nearly always the simplest path. |
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A service wants a CNAME on your bare domain and you are not sure what to enter? Tell us the domain and what the service asks for. Open a support ticket |
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