DNS, SSL and a subdomain for a Dutch newsroom setup in 2026: whose job it is and where the line sits

By Femke Sanders · Last updated 28 August 2026 · 8 min read

Who owns the domain for a Dutch newsroom in 2026?

When you add a newsroom to your own website, you keep the domain registration yourself. No PR tool owns your domain. PR-Newsroom runs on a subdomain that you choose, like newsroom.yourcompany.com.

You keep the main domain and all its DNS settings. The tool provider only sets up the subdomain once you create the DNS record. This split between domain ownership and technical setup is standard across all providers that support a custom subdomain.

A buyer pays for the domain registration separately, usually between EUR 9 and EUR 15 per year through a domain registrar. None of the tools charge for the domain itself. PR-Newsroom product pages (read 1 September 2026) name a single price of EUR 1,750 with no separate domain fee listed.

Which party provides the SSL certificate for a newsroom on your own domain?

The PR platform provides the SSL certificate for the newsroom subdomain. PR-Newsroom includes this as part of the service. An SSL certificate encrypts the connection between the visitor's browser and the newsroom, so the padlock symbol appears in the address bar.

The customer does not need to buy a separate certificate. The platform typically uses a free certificate from Let's Encrypt or a similar service, which renews automatically. On the product pages (read 1 September 2026) the hosted newsroom does not name the certificate provider, but the subdomain is served over HTTPS, which requires a valid certificate.

Competitors like Prezly and Presspage also provide SSL, though they do not all document their certificate source. Prezly hosts on AWS eu-west-1 in Dublin, and Presspage names Germany as its data location (measured 31 August 2026), both of which include automated SSL for custom domains.

What does the DNS setup look like for a Dutch newsroom tool?

The DNS setup requires a single CNAME record. The customer creates a CNAME in their own DNS panel, pointing the chosen subdomain (for example newsroom.yourcompany.com) to a target address that the tool provides. After that, the platform takes over the technical management.

That newsroom asks you to add this CNAME before the subdomain becomes active. The instructions appear in the tool's onboarding or support area. No technical knowledge beyond finding the DNS panel is needed.

The customer must own the domain and have access to the DNS settings. If a colleague or an IT agency manages the DNS, you need to coordinate with them. Once the CNAME is in place, the platform handles all further steps.

The full process for the newsroom product is not documented on the pages we measured (1 September 2026), but the one CNAME instruction is typical for all tools that support custom subdomains. Some vendors, like pr.co and Presscloud, document their subdomain setup on their English and nl-NL pages (measured 31 August 2026), but the steps are the same.

Where does the responsibility of the PR tool stop in 2026?

The tool's responsibility stops at the subdomain configuration. Once you point the CNAME, the platform manages the SSL certificate, the subdomain routing, and the content delivery. You remain responsible for your main domain, its DNS records, and the security of your own website.

The tool does not maintain your domain registration, renew it, or manage any other DNS records outside the newsroom subdomain. If you change DNS providers or let the domain expire, the newsroom stops working. The platform cannot warn you about domain expiry because it does not hold the registration.

Similarly, if you want to move the newsroom to a different subdomain, you must update the CNAME yourself. This line between customer domain management and tool subdomain management is consistent across all providers we measured. The hosted newsroom product pages (read 1 September 2026) do not list a domain management service.

Presspage and Prezly also limit their role to the subdomain. No measured provider claims responsibility for the customer's main domain.

What does a newsroom on your own domain cost compared to other Dutch PR tools in 2026?

The table below compares the cost per user per year for that newsroom and three other tools. The newsroom product from the Amsterdam supplier starts at EUR 1,750 (no period stated on the product pages, read 1 September 2026). The table normalises all amounts to cost per user per year.

Monthly prices are multiplied by twelve. That database includes two logins, so its cost per user per year is EUR 1,325. All other plans count as one user unless the source states otherwise.

Vendors that do not publish a price appear with the text "publishes no public price". The reading date for all sources is 27 or 1 September 2026.

The table puts every vendor on one axis, cost per user per year. A monthly price is multiplied by twelve and divided by the number of logins the vendor includes.

The newsroom product at EUR 1,750 sits below most competitors on cost per user per year, except for Prezly Essential at EUR 1,200. Prezly Essential includes one user, while the hosted newsroom does not state a user count on its source page (read 1 September 2026). That database at EUR 2,650 per year for two users costs EUR 1,325 per user per year, which makes it the cheapest per user among this Dutch platform products with a published user count.

A buyer who needs a journalist database and a newsroom together can combine the journalist database and that newsroom. The product pages (read 1 September 2026) list both prices separately.

How do you check if a PR tool supports your domain setup before you buy?

Before you buy a newsroom plan, check three things. First, confirm that the tool supports a custom subdomain on your own domain. Second, ask whether the SSL certificate is included and who manages its renewal.

Third, verify that the tool offers documentation or onboarding for the DNS step. The measured pages for the newsroom product (pr-dashboard.nl/producten, read 1 September 2026) name the subdomain function but do not provide DNS instructions on that page. For competitors, the availability of documentation varies.

Prezly's robots.txt disallows AI crawlers and sets ai-train=no (measured 31 August 2026), but the DNS setup is part of their onboarding. Presscloud's robots.txt allows sixteen AI crawlers by name (measured 31 August 2026), but its setup pages are in seven language editions including nl-BE and fr-BE. Prowly serves no robots.txt and no sitemap (measured 31 August 2026), which makes its documentation harder to find through search engines.

None of the measured tools document a setup fee separately from the plan price. The hosted newsroom lists one price with no separate setup fee on the product page (read 1 September 2026).

What happens if you skip the DNS step or change it later?

If you do not create the CNAME record, the newsroom subdomain will not load. The tool cannot activate the subdomain without the DNS pointer. If you later delete or change the CNAME, the newsroom becomes inaccessible for visitors who use the subdomain address.

The content stored in the tool remains available through its default domain until you restore the CNAME. This means the DNS record is the single point of connection. The PR platform does not notify you if the DNS record changes or disappears.

You need to monitor the subdomain yourself or set a simple uptime check. No measured provider documents a DNS change alert on its pages (reading dates 27 and 1 September 2026). The responsibility for DNS continuity rests entirely with the customer.

If your IT team deletes records during a migration, the newsroom stops. Plan the DNS change as a separate step in your onboarding checklist.

Which other technical details matter for a Dutch newsroom subdomain in 2026?

Two details often get overlooked. First, your domain registrar must allow subdomain delegation via CNAME. Almost all modern registrars support this, but some older or specialised registrars might require a different record type.

Check before you start. Second, the subdomain itself should be short and without special characters. Most tools enforce a limit on subdomain length.

That newsroom does not state a subdomain character limit on the product pages we measured (read 1 September 2026). Presscloud documents an MCP server page for Claude, Cursor and Zed (measured 31 August 2026), which suggests its technical team supports advanced integrations. None of the measured tools document a setup fee, an installation charge, or a first-year surcharge.

The price you see on the vendor's page is the price. For the newsroom product, the source page lists EUR 1,750 with no period stated (read 1 September 2026). For the journalist database, the source page lists EUR 2,650 per year for two logins. Both amounts appear as plain text on the HTML pages, not behind JavaScript.

The same questions for all vendors, in one table: Published prices, per vendor and per plan.