Fastly acquires Domainr and launches new TLS Certification Authority

Edge cloud platform provider Fastly Inc. today announced that it has acquired domain status application programming interface provider Domainr.

The company also made Certainly, its public-trust Transport Layer Security Certification Authority service, generally available.

Founded in 2008, Domainr helps users find and create app and business names with an instant search and context-aware suggestion capability that highlights relevant available top-level domains. The Domainr API instantly checks if a domain is available and also helps customers monitor critical domains and uncover at-risk domains before they change hands.

The acquisition of Domainr will complement Certainly’s role in verifying the authenticity and trustworthiness of a website and domain, with Domainr’s service being integrated with Fastly services and infrastructure

“Domains are one of the primary foundations for trust and identity on the internet, but they have often been complex or inaccessible to work with,” said Anil Dash, head of Glitch, a product management firm Fastly acquired in 2022, and vice president of developer experience at Fastly. “Domainr is truly unique and this small acquisition sets the stage for Fastly to innovate in making it faster, safer and easier for everyone to build on the power of domains.”

The price of the acquisition was not disclosed. There is no record of Domainr having raised any funding coming into the acquisition. The company is described on some sites as having been bootstrapped since its inception.

Fastly’s Certainly TLS service provides security and legitimacy to websites or applications by serving traffic over HTTPS, the secure method of connecting web browsers and websites. Designed in response to several Certification Authority incidents affecting Fastly customers, Certainly offers a modern CA service that embraces industry best practices.

Certainly allows users to create and manage certificates issued by the service to secure any website or API endpoint Fastly serves. The service gives it greater control over its service level throughout the entire certification lifecycle, from provisioning to renewing, with the backing of Fastly’s global delivery network.

The new service also offers a 30-day validity period paired with automation to deliver a higher level of security by reducing the time in which a compromised certificate is usable. Certainly simplifies the management of certificates and renewals, even for companies with hundreds of thousands of domains.

“Through the availability of Certainly and the acquisition of Domainr, we are continuing to empower our customers to own and control what they create and how they create it – all backed by the most trusted and reliable domain availability and TLS experience possible,” Fastly Chief Executive Officer Todd Nightingale added.

Photo: Fastly