What are ENS subdomains?
If you’ve explored web3 for long enough, you’ve likely encountered Ethereum Name Service (ENS) subdomains.
ENS subdomains are created by adding a new name to an existing ENS domain name.
Let's examine the domain pooltogether.eth. Pooltogether.eth has two parts (or levels): the first is .eth and the second is pooltogether.
If we add a third level, the name becomes a subdomain, for example, tim.pooltogether.eth.
Subdomains have garnered a lot of attention, particularly around their potential for long-term
utility. Let’s break down what makes subdomains so special, including the different types and
why both individuals and companies should take advantage of them.
Types of Subdomains
There are two major categories of subdomains: ones that cost gas and ones that don’t.
Subdomains that cost gas exist on-chain. Creating and editing each subdomain will require a gas
fee because they are stored on the blockchain. However, it’s important to note they have no on-going
renewal fee. Renewal fees impact the owner of the level two domain only.
Gasless subdomains do not exist on-chain (unless someone sponsors that transaction). A person with a domain
could create unlimited gasless subdomains, edit them as often as desired, and never see a single gas fee.
They inherently have no on-going renewal fee because their data is stored off-chain.
Benefits of Subdomains
Subdomains have their own unique benefits, making them attractive to individuals and companies alike.
Unlimited names: Domains like nfty.eth can create an unlimited amount of subdomains.
Subdomains can then be assigned to family, friends, team members, or even an entire community.
This opens up opportunities for branding and work spaces.
Cost efficient: Creating multiple subdomains from a single domain costs significantly less than registering
and renewing multiple domains. If using gasless subdomains, the only cost for maintaining these names
becomes the cost to manage the second-level domain they originate from. Though it is possible to charge
a renewal fee for subdomains via the Name Wrapper and Unruggable Protocol.
Set subdomains as primary: Any subdomain can be set as a primary name. A primary name acts as your
display name when connecting to web3 websites and apps. Setting your name as primary will cost a gas fee,
no matter the type of subdomain. You can set any subdomain as primary here.
ENS integrations: Subdomains will work wherever ENS is integrated. Since ENS has the most integrations
among any domain naming service, these subdomains will resolve in popular dapps like Metamask, Rainbow,
Etherscan, Mailchain and more.
For information on how companies can use gasless subdomains, check out our other post.
More on Gasless Subdomains
Gasless subnames are possible thanks to the CCIP-read standard (ERC-3668)
and ENS wildcard resolution (ENSIP-10).
With CCIP-read, data can be pulled from offchain sources like cloud servers to bypass gas fees. Companies like Coinbase have used this technology to issue
over 2 million subdomains to their users. If your company or community is interested in issuing
their own branded subnames, NameStone can get you started today.