Set up your first domain

Two paths, one outcome

Both purchase and connect end with a domain in "Active" status, DNS set up, ready for mailboxes. The tradeoffs:

• Purchase is faster. Winnr registers the domain and creates every DNS record automatically. Ideal for domains you only use for cold email.
• Connect brings a domain you already own. The cleanest way is to point its nameservers at Winnr so Winnr manages the zone; the domain stays registered with you. Better if you use the domain for anything else, or you have strong registrar preferences.

You don't have to pick one. Many customers purchase a few sending domains for outbound and connect their main brand domain.

Naming your domains

For cold email, domain names matter less than you'd think. Recipients notice the sender name, subject line, and message more than the exact domain. Pick something that:

• Reads clean. hello-yourcompany.com looks less like a burner than y0url33kcompan5.xyz.
• Relates to your brand. getyourcompany.com, try-yourcompany.com, or yourcompany-team.com all work.
• Is a .com, .co, .org, or .net. These are the extensions the Classic route registers, and they have the best deliverability track record.

Avoid obvious look-alikes of other brands (trademark trouble) and hyphens everywhere (looks spammy).

What Winnr does behind the scenes

For a purchase:

1. Registers the domain for you (spaced several minutes apart across a multi-domain order).
2. Creates the full DNS record set: an inbound A record, MX at 10 inbound.yourdomain.com, an SPF record ending in -all, a DKIM key at dkim._domainkey, and a DMARC policy of p=reject with a reporting address.
3. Creates the mailboxes you configured in the wizard.
4. Monitors DNS health so you can see it from the Domains page.

For a connect (nameserver method):

1. Generates a DNS zone for your domain and gives you the nameservers to set at your registrar.
2. Once delegation propagates, writes and maintains the same MX/SPF/DKIM/DMARC records automatically.
3. Flips the domain to Active and monitors its DNS health from then on.

Either way, you don't have to think about SPF alignment, DKIM keys, or DMARC syntax. It's all handled. If you need extra records (for example a tracking CNAME for your sequencer), you can add them yourself; see Add custom DNS records.

What's next

• Create your first mailbox on the domain
• Understand DNS providers and the connect options
• Domain stuck in provisioning? Troubleshoot

Step-by-step

1. 1. Open the Domains page

   From the sidebar, click "Domains." This is the hub for everything domain-related. Purchasing, connecting, DNS health, tags, redirects, and warming all live here.

   

2. 2. Decide whether to purchase or connect

   Purchase means Winnr registers a fresh domain and sets up DNS for you. It's the fastest path and best for domains used only for cold email. Connect means you already own the domain (at another registrar, or one you use for your website) and you point it at Winnr. Many customers do both: purchase sending domains, connect their main brand domain.

3. 3. To buy a fresh domain, pick Classic domains

   Click "Purchase Domain(s)." Winnr offers two routes, Classic domains (several .com/.co/.org/.net domains) and the Subdomain Strategy (fewer apex domains with subdomains under each). For your first domain, choose Classic.

   

4. 4. Search and select available domains

   Generate random brandable names (the default, click Generate) or switch to Brand variations to type your own keyword. The Classic route registers .com, .co, .org, and .net only, because inbox providers filter senders on niche extensions. Tick the domains you want (prices are one-time, for example about $9 for .org and $13 for .com) and click Setup Email Users.

   

5. 5. Configure the mailboxes, then review and pay

   The same wizard creates mailboxes on each domain (5 per domain by default, with auto-generated names, adjustable from 1 to 10). The Review step shows the domain total. If the mailboxes take you past your plan's email-user limit, the extras are added as credits at $1 per mailbox per month, shown before you pay. A single domain is ready in a few minutes; a multi-domain order registers domains several minutes apart and shows each one as "Scheduled" until its turn.

   

6. 6. To bring your own, click Connect Domain(s)

   Enter the domain (or domains) you already own, one per line. Winnr generates a DNS zone for each and gives you the nameserver (NS) records to set at your registrar. This is the recommended path: once your nameservers point to Winnr, Winnr manages every record (MX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC) for you and keeps them correct.

   

7. 7. Point your domain to Winnr

   The standard method is to change your nameservers to Winnr's at your registrar. If your domain uses Cloudflare DNS, you can give Winnr a Cloudflare API token instead and Winnr writes the records into your Cloudflare zone. A fully manual option also exists, where you create the records (A, MX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC) yourself, but use it as a last resort, since a single wrong record can make mail fail silently.

   

8. 8. Wait for Active status

   The domain row shows a status that moves from provisioning to active. For a connected domain, that happens once the nameserver change propagates (usually well under an hour). Once it's Active, you can create mailboxes on it. Stuck for longer? See the troubleshooting article linked below.