How to add an addon domain

An addon domain lets you host a second, completely separate website on the same hosting account, with its own folder, its own files, and its own web address. This guide shows you how to add one in cPanel and how to point the domain at Maxinodes so it goes live.

Applies to: Plans that allow more than one website — Self-Managed Plus and Pro, and Managed Growth and above. Self-Managed Lite and Managed Starter support only your one primary website (see the limits below).

Before you start: you'll need access to your client area (my.maxinodes.com), access to cPanel, and a domain name you want to add. If you don't have the domain yet, you can register one in your client area first.

How many addon domains can I add?

Each plan allows a set number of extra websites:

Plan	Addon domains
Self-Managed Lite	0
Self-Managed Plus	4
Self-Managed Pro	Unlimited
Managed Starter	0
Managed Growth	4
Managed Business	Unlimited

If your plan shows 0, it only supports your one primary website. To host a second site, upgrade your plan.

Step 1 — Point the domain at Maxinodes first

A new website only loads once its domain points to our servers, so set this up before (or right after) you add the domain in cPanel.

Make sure the domain uses the Maxinodes nameservers: ns1.maxinodes.com and ns2.maxinodes.com. You set these at whoever you registered the domain with. See how to point your domain to Maxinodes.
We manage your live DNS records in the client area, not in cPanel's zone editor. When the domain uses our nameservers, the zone we create already points it at our hosting node — an A record to 185.185.49.198 and an AAAA record to 2a00:7c80:0:286:c::10. If you keep the domain's DNS at another provider, add both of those records there yourself. Manage this under your domain in the client area — see how to manage DNS records.

Note: Customer websites are served over both IPv4 and IPv6 (dual-stack). On a zone we create, the A and AAAA records cover the domain, www, cpanel and ftp, and AutoSSL (Let's Encrypt) covers both addresses.

Step 2 — Add the domain in cPanel

Log in to cPanel (open your service in the client area, then Log in to cPanel).
Go to the Domains section and open Domains (the tool for managing the domains on your account).
Choose Create A New Domain.
Enter the domain name you want to host (for example, seconddomain.com).
cPanel suggests a folder (document root) for the new site's files, usually inside your account's home directory. Accept the suggestion or set your own.
Click Submit to create the domain.

Result: cPanel creates the addon domain and its folder. You can now upload that site's files to its folder via cPanel -> Files -> File Manager or over FTP/SFTP, or install WordPress to it with WP Toolkit.

Step 3 — Add your website and secure it

Upload your files to the new domain's folder, or install WordPress to it in a few clicks with WP Toolkit.
Once the domain resolves to us, free SSL (AutoSSL) issues a certificate automatically so the site loads over HTTPS. See Free SSL and how to force HTTPS.

A note on email

Adding an addon domain does not create mailboxes. We don't host email on the hosting server. To send and receive email on the new domain, add Professional Email (resold Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace), or bring your own provider.

Troubleshooting this task

"You have reached your maximum number of domains." You've hit your plan's addon-domain limit. Upgrade your plan to add more.
The new site doesn't load. DNS can take a little while to update. Confirm the domain uses our nameservers and that its A record points to 185.185.49.198 and its AAAA record to 2a00:7c80:0:286:c::10. See how DNS works at Maxinodes.
No HTTPS / SSL warning. AutoSSL only issues once the domain resolves to us. Give it time after the DNS change, or contact us if it hasn't issued.