International domains and TLDs at UnderHost

Yes, UnderHost can host any international domain. Your website can use a .de (Germany), .fr (France), .uk (United Kingdom), .cn (China), .com.au (Australia), .io, .to, or any country-code or specialty TLD. Domain extension has zero impact on which UnderHost plans can host it. The key is understanding the separation between domain registration (where you buy the domain name) and hosting (where your website lives).

Any domain can be hosted

UnderHost imposes no restrictions on which domain extensions you can host. Your website's domain name is independent of your hosting server location and hosting provider. A .de domain registered in Germany can be hosted on an UnderHost server in Canada, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, or anywhere else.

Examples of supported domains:

• German business: yourbusiness.de hosted on UnderHost Canadian shared hosting
• UK startup: mycompany.uk hosted on UnderHost Netherlands offshore VPS
• International SaaS: app.io hosted on UnderHost Hong Kong dedicated server
• Local non-profit: ourorg.org.uk hosted on any UnderHost plan worldwide

Domain vs. hosting separation

Your domain name is a web address (like yourdomain.com) registered through a domain registrar. The registrar manages the registry records that point your domain to a specific set of nameservers.

Your hosting account is the web server where your website files live. The hosting provider owns and operates the servers.

These are completely separate systems. Your registrar and hosting provider do not need to be the same company. For example:

• Register a .de domain at local German registrar Strato or Hoster.de
• Buy shared hosting from UnderHost Canada
• Update your domain's nameservers at the German registrar to point to UnderHost's nameservers
• Your .de domain now resolves to your UnderHost website

The domain registrar just maintains the DNS routing. The hosting provider is irrelevant to domain registration, and vice versa.

Registering international TLDs

UnderHost domain registration service includes selected international country-code TLDs (ccTLDs), popular generic TLDs, and specialty extensions. You can register and manage these domains directly through UnderHost, then point them to UnderHost hosting or any other hosting provider.

Current UnderHost-offered examples include: .com, .net, .org, .ca, .nl, .co, .io, .to, .uk, .de, .fr, .eu, .be, .ws, .me, .cc, .tv, .info, .biz, .xyz, .name, .mobi, .us, and .in. Availability and pricing can change by registry, so use the domain pricing page as the source of truth.

Available TLDs vary by registry agreements. To check if UnderHost offers your desired TLD:

1. Go to the UnderHost domain registration page
2. Search for your domain name and desired extension
3. If available, you'll see the registration and renewal pricing
4. Proceed to checkout to register (annual renewal required by most registries)

If UnderHost doesn't offer registration for a specific ccTLD, you have options:

• Use a local registrar: Register at a registrar in that country (e.g., .ru domains at Russian registrars, .ch at Swiss registrars)
• Use a third-party registrar: Companies like Namecheap, GoDaddy, or Gandi offer most ccTLDs
• Point to UnderHost: After registering elsewhere, update the domain's nameservers to UnderHost's nameservers to host at UnderHost

Types of international TLDs

Internationalized domain names (IDN)

IDN (Internationalized Domain Names) use non-Latin characters from other writing systems: Chinese, Arabic, Cyrillic (Russian), Hebrew, Thai, Korean Hangul, and dozens of others. These domains make the web accessible to non-English speakers.

How IDN works: Browsers display the domain in your native script (e.g., русский.рф for Russian), but the DNS system uses Punycode encoding to store and transmit the domain. Punycode converts non-Latin characters to ASCII (a-z, 0-9) prefixed with xn--.

Example IDN conversions:

• русский.рф (Russian) → xn--h1alffa9f.xn--p1ai
• 中国.中国 (Chinese) → xn--fiqs8s.xn--fiqs8s
• مصر.مصر (Arabic) → xn--wgbh1c.xn--wgbh1c

UnderHost fully supports IDN domains. To use an IDN domain:

1. Register the IDN through UnderHost or another registrar
2. In cPanel or DNS records, configure using the Punycode version (starting with xn--)
3. Email and DNS entries use Punycode; browsers automatically convert for display
4. Visitors can access using either the native script or Punycode URL

Offshore hosting for international audiences

International businesses often choose to host outside Canada for reasons of latency, compliance, or content policy flexibility. UnderHost offers offshore hosting in multiple regions:

• Netherlands (EU): GDPR-compliant, ideal for European audiences, fast EU connectivity
• Hong Kong: Low latency to Asia-Pacific, ideal for China and regional markets
• Moldova: Flexible content policies, cost-effective, Eastern European connectivity
• Ukraine: Competitive pricing, Eastern European audience reach
• Caribbean islands: Flexible policies, North and South American coverage

Each offshore location offers the same UnderHost service quality, security, and support as Canadian servers, with geographic benefits for your target audience.

Setting up an international domain

1. Register your domain: Use UnderHost registration or a local/third-party registrar
2. Order hosting: Choose shared hosting, VPS, or dedicated in any UnderHost location
3. Get nameservers: From your UnderHost control panel (your plan's provided nameservers)
4. Update registrar: Log in to your domain's registrar and update nameservers to UnderHost's
5. Wait for propagation: DNS changes take 24-48 hours to propagate globally
6. Upload website: Once propagated, upload your website files to UnderHost via FTP or cPanel File Manager
7. Configure SSL: Install an SSL certificate (free Let's Encrypt via cPanel AutoSSL) for HTTPS

Related: Nameserver setup | Configure DNS records | Offshore server locations | Register a domain

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