An addon domain is a fully functional domain that can be created from your cpanel. Once it's created it will have it's own email, and it's own folder from within the public_html directory.
Addon domain url's look like www.domain.com
Sub domain url's look like forum.domain.com cat.domain.com etc.domain.com the www is replaced with anything you want.
Parked domains are a place holder site. You park it on top of another site and it becomes a single page of the site you park it on.
Here is a breakdown of the differences:
- Parked Domains (Aliases):
Purpose: Used to reserve domain names, protect brand names, or redirect traffic to a primary domain.
Function: If a user types the parked domain (e.g., example.net) into a browser, they see the exact same content as the primary domain (e.g., example.com).
Files: Shares the same file structure as the primary domain. - Addon Domains:
Purpose: Allows hosting of multiple, completely different websites (e.g., siteA.com and siteB.com) under one hosting account.
Function: Acts as an independent website with its own unique content, databases, and email addresses.
Files: Has its own separate directory/folder within the file manager. - Subdomains:
Purpose: Used to create sections within an existing site, such as store.example.com or blog.example.com.
Function: Functions as a subset of your main domain, allowing for unique content or, in some cases, entirely separate WordPress installations, while still being part of the root domain.
Files: Generally located in a subfolder within the main domain's directory.