Nameservers vs A Records: Which Should You Use
When you point a domain at your hosting, you will run into two options: changing your nameservers, or adding an A record. They both get visitors to your website, but they work differently and they suit different situations. By the end of this article, you will know exactly which one to use.
What nameservers do
Nameservers are the internet’s directory for your domain. When you set your domain’s nameservers to your hosting account’s nameservers, you are handing the entire directory entry for your domain to InterProWebHost. From that moment, your hosting account controls where your website, email, and subdomains point.
This is the simplest option and the one we recommend for most customers. You make one change at your registrar, and everything else, including email and subdomains, can then be managed from your hosting control panel. Our guide How to Point Your Domain to InterProWebHost walks through the exact steps.
What A records do
An A record is a single line in your domain’s DNS that maps your domain name to a server’s IP address. Instead of handing over the whole directory, you keep managing DNS wherever it currently lives and you change just the one entry that controls where the website loads.
To use an A record, you need your hosting account’s IP address, which you can find in your client area under My Services, in your hosting plan details. You then add or edit the A record for your domain at your current DNS provider, pointing it at that IP address.
Which should you use?
Use nameservers if: you want the simplest setup, you are fine managing DNS from your hosting account, or you are just getting started. This is the right choice for the large majority of websites.
Use an A record if: your DNS is managed somewhere you want to keep, such as a specialized DNS provider, or your email must stay exactly where it is and you do not want to touch it. An A record lets you move only the website and leave everything else alone.
One caution with A records: they point at an IP address, and IP addresses can occasionally change, for example during a server migration. Nameservers follow your hosting account automatically, so they are more hands off over time.
Can you mix the two?
Yes, in a sense. Many businesses use nameservers for the domain overall, then add individual records, including A records for subdomains, inside their hosting account’s DNS. What you should not do is set nameservers at your registrar AND expect A records at the registrar to still work, because once nameservers change, the registrar’s DNS entries stop being used.
A quick note on email
If you use business email on your domain, pay attention during either change. Nameserver changes move email control to the hosting account, so make sure your email is set up there first. A record changes leave email untouched. If email is critical to your business, read Setting Up Titan Business Email in 10 Minutes before you switch anything.
What about subdomains?
The same choice applies to subdomains like shop.yourbusiness.com. With nameservers pointed at your hosting, you create subdomains in your hosting control panel and they just work. With an A record setup, you add a separate A record for each subdomain at your DNS provider. If you plan to use several subdomains, nameservers save you repeated trips to the DNS settings.
Still stuck? Open a support ticket and tell us your domain and what you are trying to achieve. We will recommend the right approach.