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Domain Management March 9, 2026 · 8 min read

Try Albaspot Free: Bring a Client's External Domain Under Full Management Before You Pay Anything

The Albaspot trial gives you 30 full days to put the platform through its paces with real client data. One of the most useful things you can do in that window is delegate a client's external domain — a domain registered somewhere like GoDaddy or Namecheap — to Albaspot's DNS hosting and see exactly what you'd be getting. Here's how to do it from start to finish, with zero card charge until day 30.

What's included in the 30-day trial

From the moment you sign up you get unrestricted access to every Albaspot feature on your chosen plan — DMARC monitoring, DNS change alerting, standalone SSL certificate automation, WordPress management, and full client reporting. There are two trial-specific limits worth knowing:

  • One hosted DNS zone. You can bring one external domain under Albaspot's DNS hosting for free. Once you're on a paid plan each additional zone is $12/year.
  • No immediate charge. You'll enter a card during setup, but the first charge doesn't happen until your trial ends on day 30. If you cancel before then, you pay nothing.

What is a "hosted domain"?

A hosted domain (also called an external domain) is one that's registered at another registrar — GoDaddy, Namecheap, Squarespace, Hover, or anywhere else. You don't move the registration. You simply point the domain's nameservers to Albaspot, and from that moment we serve the DNS. You add, edit, and delete DNS records from the Albaspot dashboard. The registrar just holds the registration.

Step 1: Sign up and select a plan

Head to app.albaspot.com/signup and create your account. After email verification you'll land on the plan selection screen. Pick the plan that matches the number of clients and domains you intend to manage — you can change plans later, and every plan starts the same 30-day trial.

The Starter plan is a good starting point for MSPs with one to five active clients. Growth works well up to about twenty. If you're unsure, start with Starter — upgrading takes one click and the price difference is prorated.

Step 2: Add a card — it won't be charged yet

Albaspot collects payment details up front to make the trial-to-paid transition seamless, but the card is not charged during the trial period. You'll see a clear confirmation after entering your details.

Albaspot billing dashboard showing a 30-day free trial with 28 days remaining and a 'Trial active — no charge until March 31, 2026' notice
The billing dashboard after setup. The trial badge shows exactly when the first charge will happen — and you can cancel any time before then.

The billing page shows a countdown of your remaining trial days and the exact date Albaspot will make its first charge. If you go to Billing → Cancel before that date, your account closes and nothing is billed.

Step 3: Add your first hosted domain

Navigate to Domains → Add domain → Host external domain. Enter the domain name exactly as it appears at the registrar (e.g. clientsite.com) and select or create the client record it belongs to.

Add hosted domain form showing the domain name field filled with 'techcorp.com', client selected as TechCorp Ltd, and trial notice confirming this zone is free during the trial
The hosted domain form. One zone is free during the trial — the platform enforces this limit automatically and shows a clear trial notice.

Hit Add hosted domain. Albaspot creates an empty DNS zone for the domain on DNSimple's nameservers in seconds. The domain will appear in your Domains list with a Hosted badge.

Domains list showing techcorp.com with a blue 'Hosted' badge, client TechCorp Ltd, and an active status indicator
techcorp.com appears in the domain list with the Hosted badge immediately after creation. The zone is active on DNSimple's nameservers — but DNS won't resolve through it until you update the nameservers at the registrar.

Step 4: Point the nameservers at the registrar

Open the domain at its registrar and replace the existing nameservers with DNSimple's. Look for a setting labelled "Nameservers", "DNS", or "Name servers" — every registrar words it slightly differently but it's always in the domain management section.

Replace all existing nameservers with these four:

ns1.dnsimple.com
ns2.dnsimple-edge.net
ns3.dnsimple.com
ns4.dnsimple-edge.org

DNS propagation typically takes between 15 minutes and a few hours depending on the registrar and the previous TTLs. During that window the domain will continue resolving against the old nameservers — there is no downtime as long as your DNS records in Albaspot are correct before propagation completes.

Pro tip: copy records before you delegate

Before you update the nameservers, use Albaspot's DNS → Sync from provider to import the domain's current live records into the Albaspot zone. This creates a safety net — if propagation doesn't go as expected you can revert the nameservers and the original records are unchanged at the old DNS provider.

Step 5: Manage the DNS zone during your trial

Once propagation completes, every DNS change for this domain goes through Albaspot. Open the domain and click DNS Records to see and manage the full zone.

DNS records page for techcorp.com showing A, MX, TXT (SPF), TXT (_dmarc), and CNAME records in a clean table with Add record and Sync buttons
The DNS zone manager for techcorp.com showing the full record set — A, MX, SPF, DMARC, and CNAME records all in one place. Changes push to DNSimple's authoritative nameservers in seconds.

Every record change is logged in the audit trail and Albaspot's DNS monitoring job checks the live zone hourly. If something changes unexpectedly — an MX record gets overwritten, a DMARC record disappears — you'll get an alert before a client notices. That monitoring alone is often worth the trial for MSPs who've been burned by a registrar UI change they didn't authorise.

What happens at the end of the trial

You don't need to do anything to convert. On day 30 Stripe processes the subscription payment automatically and your account moves from Trialing to Active. At the same time, the DNS hosting fee for your hosted domain ($12/year) is charged separately so you have a clear line-item for each client zone.

Scenario What happens
You do nothing Trial converts to paid on day 30. Subscription and DNS hosting ($12/yr per zone) are billed. Domain stays live.
You cancel before day 30 Account closes. No charges. You have 10 days to export records and re-point nameservers before the zone is removed.
You cancel after day 30 Subscription runs to end of billing period. DNS hosting continues until its annual expiry. Standard cancellation flow.
schedule
The 10-day grace window is real — don't miss it
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If your trial expires without converting and you later decide you want the domain back, you'll need to re-add it as a new zone. Export your records from the Albaspot UI before the grace period ends to make re-setup painless.

Common mistakes when delegating nameservers

warning
Adding Albaspot nameservers without importing existing records first
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Use DNS → Sync from provider to pull in the current record set before touching the nameservers at the registrar. An empty zone with live nameservers means all DNS resolution fails until you add records back.
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Leaving the registrar's "parking" or "forwarding" nameservers mixed in
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Replace all existing nameservers with the four DNSimple nameservers. A mix of old and new produces unpredictable resolver results — some queries will hit the old zone, some the new one.
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Using the trial to test a mission-critical domain
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Start with a low-risk domain — a staging domain, a secondary brand, or a client who's happy to be an early tester. This lets you learn the NS delegation workflow without pressure. Move critical domains once you're confident in the process.

Frequently asked questions

Will I be charged when I add the hosted domain during the trial? expand_more
No. The first hosted DNS zone is free for the entire 30-day trial. The $12/year DNS hosting fee is only charged if and when your trial converts to a paid subscription at day 30.
What happens to the domain if I cancel or do nothing at the end of the trial? expand_more
If the trial expires without converting, you have a 10-day grace period to point your nameservers back to another DNS provider and export your records. After the grace period, the hosted zone is automatically removed from Albaspot.
Can I add more than one hosted domain during the trial? expand_more
The trial includes one hosted DNS zone. Albaspot enforces this at creation time — you'll see a clear message if you try to add a second. Once you're on a paid plan you can add as many zones as you need at $12/year each.
Does the trial include DMARC monitoring, SSL certificates, and the other Albaspot features? expand_more
Yes — every feature is available during the trial with no artificial restrictions. DMARC monitoring, DNS change alerts, standalone SSL certificate automation for RDS and RDP servers, WordPress management, and client reporting are all fully functional from day one.
I'm already managing a domain inside Albaspot as a registered domain. Is that different? expand_more
Yes. A "registered" domain is one you registered or transferred to Albaspot — we hold the registration. A "hosted" domain is registered elsewhere but uses Albaspot for DNS. The DNS management experience is identical. The trial domain limit only applies to hosted zones; registered domains count against your plan's domain limit instead.

Related reading

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When a DNS Change You Didn't Make Breaks Every Client's Email

How unexpected DNS changes cascade into SPF and DMARC failures — and how hourly monitoring catches them first.

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What Is DNS-01? How It Makes Fully Automated Certificate Renewal Possible

Once you're running DNS through Albaspot, SSL certificate renewals for RDS servers can be fully automated via the DNS-01 challenge.

Start your 30-day free trial

Sign up, add a client domain, and see exactly what Albaspot looks like running against real data — before your card is ever charged.

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