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CNAME Lookup
Follow alias chains to the final target.
How it works
Follow a CNAME chain to its final destination
A CNAME says 'this name is an alias for that one'. Platforms like Shopify, Vercel, GitHub Pages and Squarespace all ask you to create one, and a typo or a stale target is the usual reason a custom domain refuses to connect. Enter the hostname and we walk the whole chain hop by hop, show the TTL of each link, resolve the final target to its IP addresses and tell you which platform it belongs to.
Results appear here after you click Follow CNAME.
How this works
- 1
Query the CNAME
Cloudflare's resolver returns the alias and, usually, every subsequent hop in one answer.
- 2
Walk missing hops
Any hop the resolver did not include is looked up separately until we reach a name with no CNAME or detect a loop.
- 3
Resolve the end
The final target is checked for A and AAAA records and matched against known hosting platforms.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a CNAME record?
- A CNAME (canonical name) record makes one hostname an alias for another. When someone looks up www.example.com, the resolver sees the CNAME, follows it to the target such as example.netlify.app, and uses that target's IP address. You manage one record and the platform manages the IPs.
- Why can't I put a CNAME on my root domain?
- The DNS standard says a name with a CNAME may have no other records, but the zone root must have SOA and NS records. Most DNS hosts therefore refuse it or offer ALIAS, ANAME or CNAME flattening, which behaves like a CNAME while returning A records.
- My platform says the CNAME is wrong but I copied it exactly. What now?
- Check for a stray trailing dot or an auto-appended domain (some panels turn 'target.com' into 'target.com.example.com'). Then wait for the old TTL to expire, and make sure no A record exists at the same name, since that takes precedence in many panels.
- How many CNAME hops are allowed?
- There is no hard limit in the standard, but most resolvers stop after eight to sixteen. Each hop costs an extra lookup, so keep chains you control to one hop and let the platform handle the rest.
- Does a CNAME affect email?
- Yes, badly, if it is on the same name as your MX records. Mail servers must ignore MX, TXT and everything else at a name that has a CNAME, so email stops. Keep CNAMEs on www or other subdomains, never where MX lives.
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