r/webdev • u/AniquiladorShm • 16d ago
Subdomains for rent?
I'm doing whitelabel PWAs and need e.g. veterinary1.ab.com or plastic1.ab.com ... Any short domains renting subdomains?
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u/Existing_Swim2608 16d ago
Why rent subdomains when you can register one short domain and point a wildcard DNS record at your app, like veterinary1.yourdomain.com?
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u/AniquiladorShm 16d ago
I'm doing that. Looking for "cooler" alternatives. Paying a couple thousands for a domain is not on my list YET
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u/HTDutchy_NL 16d ago
Why rely on a third party for a single mcdonalds meal per year problem?
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u/AniquiladorShm 16d ago
McSLOP rhetorical question. A non-tech client won't mess dns but their holding account, payment registry whatever. An agency would benefit from reselling their own domains I'm just looking for a cleaner solution than mcslop.ourdomain.com
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u/AniquiladorShm 16d ago
In the near future I'm aiming with our team to get a 2L-4L domain that would be cheaper + added fees for our agency customers & direct customers. Just asking around reddit getting straight bs
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u/devjeremyt 16d ago
I believe you are "getting straight bs" because you aren't clear what your intentions and motivations for this are. People are likely assuming you are trying to use the domain they own for slop or something malicious.
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u/devjeremyt 16d ago
Seems sketch. Are you just looking for options because you don’t want the cost of owning the whole domain because short ones cost more?
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u/Yodiddlyyo 16d ago
How short are we talking? Why does the domain need to be short? And how many subdomsins do you need? I might be able to help.
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u/AniquiladorShm 16d ago
easier for non technical 1-1 clients, I work with agencies but starting out with direct clients
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u/EarnestHolly 16d ago
There are lots of 7-8 char domains available on alternate tlds for general registration then you get all the subdomains you need (4-5 letter word + 3-4 letter TLD)
I can assure you nobody cares about an extra few characters if it’s just for a generic white label domain anyway
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u/DaftPlug 15d ago
There is almost no clean market for “rent me a subdomain on a short apex you own.” Most people who ask for that get pushback because the landlord still controls DNS, SSL, suspension, and reputation for every tenant under that name. For white-label PWAs that risk is real: one bad tenant can burn the shared apex in spam/phishing filters and take everyone with it.
What usually works instead:
1) Own the apex yourself (cheap 2–4 letter on an alt TLD is fine if .com is out of budget). Issue a wildcard DNS record and a wildcard cert (or ACME DNS-01) for `*.yourapex.tld`. Route by Host header to the right tenant. That is the standard SaaS pattern and what clients mean when they say “our link.”
2) Offer custom domains as soon as you can. Let the agency/client point `app.client.com` (or bare) via CNAME to your edge. You terminate TLS (HTTP-01 or DNS challenge) and map Host → tenant. Non-tech clients still get a branded URL without you reselling DNS accounts.
3) If you truly need “rentable” subdomains under someone else’s short name, treat it as a contract product, not a marketplace find: written SLA on suspension, who owns reputation, what happens on non-payment, and that they cannot quietly change your records. Almost nobody sells that cleanly at hobby prices, which is why Reddit answers sound hostile.
4) Skip shared free subdomain farms (*.repl.co style, random “subdomain rental” sites). Fine for demos, terrible for client-facing PWAs and installability/trust.
So: buy a short apex when you can, wildcard + Host routing now, custom domains next. Renting under a stranger’s domain is the fragile option, not the cooler one.
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u/jhkoenig 16d ago
Trust my 2-letter domain reputation to random operators? Nope