CNAME Lookup

Look up CNAME records, follow the full chain, detect CDN and hosting services, resolve final IPs, and export results

Enter a domain to look up its CNAME chain

Follow the full CNAME chain, detect CDN and hosting services at each hop, resolve the final IP addresses, and export the results.

What is the CNAME Lookup Tool?

The CNAME Lookup tool retrieves the CNAME record for any hostname and follows the entire chain — CNAME to CNAME to final A/AAAA record — showing every hop along the way. At each step, it detects which CDN, hosting provider, or SaaS platform the hostname belongs to, so you can see exactly how traffic is routed without reading raw DNS output.

A CNAME (Canonical Name) record is a DNS alias — it says "this hostname is actually another hostname." They're used extensively for CDN routing (Cloudflare, CloudFront), platform hosting (Vercel, Netlify, GitHub Pages), SaaS custom domains (Shopify, HubSpot), and Microsoft 365 service records. This tool makes the chain visible and identifies who's involved at every step.

CNAME Lookup showing chain visualization with CDN and service detection

How to Use the CNAME Lookup Tool

  1. 1
    Enter a Hostname:

    Type a hostname like www.github.com and click "Lookup CNAME". Use subdomains — naked domains rarely have CNAME records.

  2. 2
    Follow the Chain:

    The visual chain shows every hop from your query to the final IP — with record type, TTL, and detected service at each step.

  3. 3
    Identify Services:

    Detected CDNs, hosting platforms, and SaaS providers are shown as badges at each hop and summarized at the top.

  4. 4
    Copy or Export:

    Copy the full chain or export as CSV / JSON for documentation.

Key Features

Full Chain Following:Recursively follows CNAME → CNAME → … → A/AAAA, up to 15 hops, with circular-reference detection.
60+ Service Detection:Recognizes Cloudflare, AWS CloudFront, Vercel, Netlify, GitHub Pages, Shopify, Azure, Fastly, Akamai, and dozens more.
Final IP Resolution:Shows the IPv4 and IPv6 addresses the chain ultimately resolves to — the actual server handling traffic.
TTL Per Hop:Displays the cache TTL at each step, so you know how long each link in the chain is cached by resolvers.

Pro Tips

Use Subdomains

Naked/apex domains (e.g. example.com) can't have CNAME records per the DNS spec. CNAMEs live on subdomains like www, blog, or shop.

Short Chains = Fast DNS

Every CNAME hop adds a DNS lookup. A 4-hop chain means 4 sequential queries before the browser gets an IP. If latency matters, flatten your chain or use A records directly.

Verify CDN Setup

After pointing a subdomain to a CDN, use this tool to confirm the chain reaches the CDN's edge hostname — a wrong CNAME target is one of the most common CDN misconfigurations.

Real-World Applications

CDN Verification

Confirm your CDN CNAME is correctly configured and traffic is routing through the expected edge network.

Competitive Intel

See which CDN, hosting, or platform a competitor uses by checking their www, app, or shop subdomains.

Subdomain Takeover

If a CNAME points to a service that's been deprovisioned (e.g. deleted Heroku app), it's a subdomain takeover vulnerability.

Common CNAME Targets

GitHub Pages

username.github.io
Hosting

Vercel

cname.vercel-dns.com
Hosting

Netlify

site.netlify.app
Hosting

Cloudflare Pages

project.pages.dev
CDN

AWS CloudFront

d1234.cloudfront.net
CDN

Shopify

shops.myshopify.com
SaaS

Azure App Service

app.azurewebsites.net
Hosting

Google Cloud Run

ghs.googlehosted.com
Hosting

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The CNAME Lookup tool goes far beyond showing a single target hostname — it follows the entire chain, detects 60+ CDN, hosting, and SaaS providers at each hop, resolves the final IPs, and flags misconfigurations like circular references and dangling CNAMEs. Whether you're verifying a CDN setup, investigating a competitor's stack, or hunting subdomain takeover risks, enter a hostname and see the full picture. No sign-up, no cost.

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