{"id":176364,"date":"2026-10-27T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bukvaved.top\/v-chjom-raznica-mezhdu-domenom-i-poddomenom\/"},"modified":"2026-10-27T20:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T17:00:00","slug":"what-is-the-difference-between-a-domain-and-a-subdomain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bukvaved.top\/en\/v-chjom-raznica-mezhdu-domenom-i-poddomenom\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the difference between a domain and a subdomain?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>A domain is an address that you register and pay for, for example, przyklad.pl, and a subdomain is a part of that address created by the domain owner and added to the beginning, for example, sklep.przyklad.pl.<\/strong> You don&#039;t need to register or purchase a subdomain separately. Simply add the appropriate record to your domain&#039;s DNS zone. However, a subdomain can point to a completely different website on a different server.<\/p>\n<p> To sum it up<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> <strong>Domain<\/strong> registered with the registrar, usually for a year or longer, and subject to renewal. <strong>Subdomain<\/strong> It is created separately in DNS and does not require separate payment.<\/li>\n<li> The subdomain is <strong>part of the domain<\/strong> : It disappears when the domain expires.<\/li>\n<li> A subdomain can point to <strong>another server and application,<\/strong> other than the main domain, for example, a store, blog, or client control panel.<\/li>\n<li> Standard SSL certificate for przyklad.pl <strong>does not cover automatically<\/strong> Subdomains. You will need a separate certificate for each subdomain or a certificate with a wildcard (*).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2> What is a domain?<\/h2>\n<p> <strong>Domain<\/strong> \u2014 is a name in the DNS system that replaces the server&#039;s hard-to-remember IP address. When you type &quot;przyklad.pl&quot; into your browser, the DNS system checks the IP address where the website is hosted and redirects your connection there.<\/p>\n<p> Domain names are read from right to left, from general to specific. <em>przyklad.pl<\/em> \u00ab&quot;.pl&quot; is <strong>top-level domain<\/strong> (TLD), and &quot;przyklad&quot; is the name chosen by the owner. Together, they form a second-level domain, which is registered with a registrar (in the case of .pl, through NASK partners) and must be renewed regularly.<\/p>\n<h2> What is a subdomain?<\/h2>\n<p> <strong>Subdomain<\/strong> \u2014 is a domain that is part of another, parent domain. In the case <em>sklep.przyklad.pl,<\/em> \u00ab&quot;sklep&quot; is the subdomain name, and &quot;przyklad.pl&quot; is the parent domain. Other levels may be added: <em>pl.pomoc.przyklad.pl<\/em> \u2014 is a subdomain of a subdomain. Each part of the name can contain up to 63 characters, and the entire name can contain up to 253 characters.<\/p>\n<p> Technically, in DNS, every domain is a subdomain of a higher-level domain. Even &quot;.pl&quot; is a subdomain of the root DNS server. However, in practice, when we say &quot;subdomain,&quot; we mean an address created within a registered domain.<\/p>\n<p> The owner creates a subdomain by adding a record to the domain&#039;s DNS zone, such as an A record (IP address), a CNAME record (an alias for another name), or an NS record (forwarding the subdomain to another DNS server). In hosting control panels, this is usually done in a single form. Popular examples include <em>www<\/em> , <em>blog<\/em> , <em>shop<\/em> , <em>email<\/em> \u0438 <em>en.wikipedia.org<\/em> .<\/p>\n<h2> Domain vs. Subdomain \u2013 Differences Table<\/h2>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th> Characteristic<\/th>\n<th> Domain<\/th>\n<th> Subdomain<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<\/tbody>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td> <strong>Example<\/strong><\/td>\n<td> przyklad.pl<\/td>\n<td> sklep.przyklad.pl<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td> <strong>How it&#039;s done<\/strong><\/td>\n<td> Register with a domain name registrar<\/td>\n<td> A record in the DNS zone of a domain<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td> <strong>Expenses<\/strong><\/td>\n<td> Registration and renewal fees<\/td>\n<td> There is no separate fee for the name itself.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td> <strong>Who makes decisions on this issue?<\/strong><\/td>\n<td> Domain owner<\/td>\n<td> Owner of the parent domain<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td> <strong>Addiction<\/strong><\/td>\n<td> Independent<\/td>\n<td> Stops working after domain expiration.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td> <strong>Server<\/strong><\/td>\n<td> Any<\/td>\n<td> May point to a different server than the primary domain.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td> <strong>SSL certificate<\/strong><\/td>\n<td> Certificate in this name<\/td>\n<td> A single certificate, a multi-name certificate, or a wildcard certificate.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2> Subdomain, SSL certificate and technical independence<\/h2>\n<p> <strong>SSL certificate.<\/strong> The certificate issued for przyklad.pl protects only this name and the names listed within it. The subdomain does not automatically inherit it. A solution could be a separate certificate, a certificate with multiple names, or a certificate <strong>with a wildcard<\/strong> (*.przyklad.pl). The latter only covers one level of subdomains. It does not protect przyklad.pl itself or, for example, abprzyklad.pl, unless they are also specified.<\/p>\n<p> <strong>Independence.<\/strong> A subdomain can run on a different server and with different software than the main website. This allows a store, blog, or booking system to be technically separate from the company&#039;s website. This works both ways: a failure in one application won&#039;t necessarily affect the other.<\/p>\n<h2> Subdomain or subdirectory \u2013 which to choose?<\/h2>\n<p> When you want to add a new section to your website, you usually have two options: a subdomain ( <em>blog.example.pl<\/em> ) or subdirectory ( <em>example.pl\/blog<\/em> ). Google&#039;s documentation on multilingual websites lists the advantages and disadvantages of both solutions, rather than stating which one is always better.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> Choose <strong>subdirectory,<\/strong> if the new section is simply part of the same page, runs on the same system (for example, a blog in the same WordPress), and you want to have one site for maintenance and analysis.<\/li>\n<li> Choose <strong>subdomain,<\/strong> If the section is a separate application or a separate website: a store on another platform, a client control panel, a test version of a website, a website for another country, or an external service that needs to be connected to its own address.<\/li>\n<li> Register <strong>new domain<\/strong> when creating a separate brand or project that will exist independently of your main company.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> It&#039;s important to remember that analytics tools often treat a subdomain as a separate website. In Google Search Console, the &quot;domain&quot; property includes all subdomains, while the property added with the URL prefix includes only the specific address. Similarly, it&#039;s important to ensure that traffic between the domain and subdomain is accurately accounted for in your statistics.<\/p>\n<h2> Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)<\/h2>\n<p> <strong>Do I need to pay for a subdomain?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p> It&#039;s not about the name itself. A subdomain is created by the domain owner in its DNS zone. However, the hosting service hosting the subdomain may charge a fee, and some hosting plans limit the number of subdomains.<\/p>\n<p> <strong>Is www a subdomain?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p> Yes. www.przyklad.pl is technically a subdomain of przyklad.pl. Typically, both names point to the same page, with one redirecting to the other, but they can be configured independently.<\/p>\n<p> <strong>Is it possible to have a subdomain without the main domain?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p> This isn&#039;t your domain, as a subdomain is always part of the domain. However, some services (such as website builders) offer a free address on their own domain, such as nazwa.usluga.pl. In these cases, the subdomain belongs to the provider, not you.<\/p>\n<p> <strong>What is a root domain?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p> Colloquially, this is the domain you registered, such as example.pl, as opposed to the subdomains created within it. It&#039;s also called a parent domain or second-level domain.<\/p>\n<p> <strong>Does a domain&#039;s SSL certificate work on a subdomain?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p> Not automatically. The certificate must contain the subdomain name: either by including it in the certificate itself or by using a wildcard certificate, *.example.pl, which includes one level of subdomains.<\/p>\n<h2> See also<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li> What is the difference between a company and an enterprise?<\/li>\n<li> What is the difference between a data flow and a process?<\/li>\n<li> What is the difference between Windows Pro and Home?<\/li>\n<li> What is the difference between SEO and SEM in internet marketing?<\/li>\n<\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A domain is an address that you register and pay for, for example, przyklad.pl, and a subdomain is a part of this address created by the owner.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":176365,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,20],"tags":[70],"class_list":["post-176364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vopros-otvet","category-fakty","tag-chem-otlichaetsya"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bukvaved.top\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bukvaved.top\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bukvaved.top\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bukvaved.top\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bukvaved.top\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176364"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bukvaved.top\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176366,"href":"https:\/\/bukvaved.top\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176364\/revisions\/176366"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bukvaved.top\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bukvaved.top\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bukvaved.top\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bukvaved.top\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}