Do I need an account with DNSimple if I'm using Netlify DNS?

Netlify instance: premiumpokertools.netlify.com

I’m a little confused about what exactly Netlify DNS is. I’m currently using DNSimple. I don’t understand DNS stuff very well but I know I’m using them for the following DNS records: ALIAS, CNAME, MX, NS, SOA and TXT. The docs say that all of those record types are supported except for SOA. My current SOA record content is ns1.dnsimple.com admin.dnsimple.com 1522707837 86400 7200 604800 300. I can’t tell if the SOA record is necessary. I also can’t tell if there is something else I’m not considering.

Can I get rid of DNSimple and move over to Netlify DNS?

Hi, @adamzerner, you can use Netlify DNS but you don’t have to. There are two ways to point custom domains to Netlify sites:

You can also mix and match, using external DNS for some domain names and Netlify DNS for others, even on the same site.

Note, external DNS is typically easier to set up. If you want to make to move to Netlify DNS, I recommend preparing first. There is more information about this in two “common issue” topics here in community:

I recommend testing with the external DNS method and then moving to Netlify DNS if you want access to the bells and whistles it enables (as it enables some automations at Netlify with things like branch subdomains as one example). Just be sure to copy any important DNS records to Netlify before switching the name servers to the ones at Netlify (that is what the second common issue above covers).

If there are other questions about any of this, we’re happy to answer.

Hey @luke thank you so much for the response! Some follow up questions:

  1. I just realized that I need to pay for the domain name premiumpokertools.com. I’m currently using DNSimple to do that. Is it possible to use Netlify to do that?
  2. What’s the deal with that SOA record type? It seems that Netlify doesn’t offer it. Is it needed?
  3. I’m not looking for any fancy bells and whistles, just to save money if possible and increase speed if possible. With that said, what would the advantages of Netlify DNS be? Would it be faster than alternatives?

Thanks!

Hi, you can register a domain name with Netlify and there is always a cost associated with doing this with any registrar. (To be clear, we use an API and the actual domain registrar is Name.com, not Netlify.)

  1. I just realized that I need to pay for the domain name premiumpokertools.com . I’m currently using DNSimple to do that. Is it possible to use Netlify to do that?

You can use our DNS service, but there is no way to transfer the domain registration itself to Netlify because we are not a registrar.

  1. What’s the deal with that SOA record type? It seems that Netlify doesn’t offer it. Is it needed?

The SOA (start of authority) record is required for all registered domains. If you use Netlify DNS, an SOA record is created automatically for you.

  1. I’m not looking for any fancy bells and whistles, just to save money if possible and increase speed if possible. With that said, what would the advantages of Netlify DNS be? Would it be faster than alternatives?

If you use Netlify DNS, it enables some features of Netlify (like SSL certificates for branch subdomains), to work automatically instead of requiring manual steps. Using Netlify DNS does eliminate one step in the DNS lookup process (the CNAME to A record step - it skips straight to the A record) but the speed difference will only be a few milliseconds and won’t be noticeable in most cases

If there are other questions, please let us know.