What Is the Difference Between * (Wildcard) and @ (Root) in DNS Records?

When adding a DNS record, the @ and * entries have different purposes.

@ — Root Domain

The @ symbol represents your main or root domain.

For example, if your domain is:

example.com

Using @ in the Host field applies the DNS record to:

example.com

* — Wildcard

The * symbol is used for a wildcard DNS record. This allows the DNS record to apply to subdomains that do not already have their own matching DNS record.

A subdomain is anything that appears before your domain name.

For example, if your domain is:

example.com

A wildcard record using * can apply to:

shop.example.com
test.example.com
store.example.com

In these examples, shop, test, and store are subdomains.

The @ entry applies to the main domain (example.com), while * can apply to subdomains (shop.example.com, test.example.com, etc.).