Managing Subdomains and Addon Domains Print

Subdomains vs Addon Domains - What's the Difference?

Both let you run multiple websites on a single hosting account, but they work differently.

• Subdomain - a prefix of your main domain. Example: store.yourdomain.com. It's part of your primary domain, no extra registration needed.
• Addon Domain - a completely separate domain. Example: yourothersite.com. It points to a different folder on your account and looks like a whole different website to visitors.

When to Use a Subdomain

• You want a separate section of your main site (blog, shop, forum, help desk).
• You're testing a new design or staging site.
• You want a mobile version of your site (like m.yourdomain.com).
• You don't want to pay for another domain registration.

When to Use an Addon Domain

• You own multiple domain names and want to host them all on one account.
• You're building sites for clients and hosting them under your account.
• Each site needs its own domain (e.g., myblog.com and myshop.net).

How to Set Up a Subdomain in cPanel

1. Log into your cPanel (find the link in your client area).
2. Under Domains, click Subdomains.
3. Enter the subdomain name (e.g., store) and pick your main domain from the dropdown.
4. cPanel creates a folder for it automatically (usually public_html/store). You can change the folder path if you want.
5. Click Create.
6. Upload your subdomain's files to that folder, and it'll be live at store.yourdomain.com.

How to Set Up an Addon Domain in cPanel

1. Log into your cPanel.
2. Under Domains, click Addon Domains.
3. Type in the new domain name (e.g., yourothersite.com).
4. cPanel auto-fills the document root (usually public_html/yourothersite.com). This is the folder your site's files go in.
5. It also creates a subdomain for the addon domain - that's normal, just leave it.
6. Click Add Domain.
7. Make sure the domain's nameservers point to us (ns1.yourcheaphost.com, ns2.yourcheaphost.com) so it loads from your account.

Important Notes

• Each addon domain counts toward your hosting plan's domain limit. Check your plan details if you're not sure how many you can add.
• Subdomains don't have a separate limit - you can create as many as your account resources allow.
• Both subdomains and addon domains share your account's disk space and bandwidth.
• To remove either, go back to the same section in cPanel and click Remove next to the one you want to delete.