Apex Domains and ALIAS Records
The apex domain — the bare yourbrand.com without a www or other prefix — has a long-standing technical quirk: it traditionally cannot use a CNAME record. This matters when you want to point your root domain at a service that only gives you a name, not a fixed address.
ALIAS and similar records were created to solve exactly this problem, and they have become essential with modern hosting.
The Apex CNAME Problem
DNS rules forbid a CNAME at the apex because it would conflict with other essential records that must live there. Yet many cloud services expect you to point at a name, not an IP.
How ALIAS Records Help
An ALIAS record, sometimes called ANAME or CNAME-flattening, behaves like a CNAME but is allowed at the apex.
- You set an ALIAS pointing at the target name.
- Your DNS provider looks up that name's current address.
- It returns a standard address answer to the visitor.
- Everything works at the apex without a forbidden CNAME.
Provider Support
Not every DNS host supports ALIAS records, and they go by different names. We check this when choosing where to host your DNS so your apex domain works cleanly.
If you need a hand with any of this, your Progressive Robot delivery team is ready to help. Raise a ticket from the Support area of your client portal or speak to your account manager and we will guide you through the next steps.