diff --git a/dnsapi/dns_ionos.sh b/dnsapi/dns_ionos.sh
index 70cc858a..e4ad3318 100755
--- a/dnsapi/dns_ionos.sh
+++ b/dnsapi/dns_ionos.sh
@@ -1,24 +1,17 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env sh
 
-# Supports IONOS DNS API v1.0.1 and IONOS Cloud DNS API v1.15.4
+# Supports IONOS DNS API v1.0.1
 #
 # Usage:
-#   Export IONOS_PREFIX and IONOS_SECRET or IONOS_TOKEN before calling acme.sh:
+#   Export IONOS_PREFIX and IONOS_SECRET before calling acme.sh:
 #
 #   $ export IONOS_PREFIX="..."
 #   $ export IONOS_SECRET="..."
-# or
-#   $ export IONOS_TOKEN="..."
 #
 #   $ acme.sh --issue --dns dns_ionos ...
-#
-# if IONOS_PREFIX and IONOS_SECRET are set, the script will use IONOS DNS API
-# if IONOS_TOKEN is set, the script will use the IONOS Cloud DNS API
 
 IONOS_API="https://api.hosting.ionos.com/dns"
-IONOS_CLOUD_API="https://dns.de-fra.ionos.com"
 IONOS_ROUTE_ZONES="/v1/zones"
-IONOS_CLOUD_ROUTE_ZONES="/zones"
 
 IONOS_TXT_TTL=60 # minimum accepted by API
 IONOS_TXT_PRIO=10
@@ -31,21 +24,11 @@ dns_ionos_add() {
     return 1
   fi
 
-  if [ "$_context" = "core" ]; then
-    _body="[{\"name\":\"$_sub_domain.$_domain\",\"type\":\"TXT\",\"content\":\"$txtvalue\",\"ttl\":$IONOS_TXT_TTL,\"prio\":$IONOS_TXT_PRIO,\"disabled\":false}]"
-
-    if _ionos_rest POST "$IONOS_ROUTE_ZONES/$_zone_id/records" "$_body" && [ "$_code" = "201" ]; then
-      _info "TXT record has been created successfully."
-      return 0
-    fi
-  else
-    _record_name=$(printf "%s" "$fulldomain" | cut -d . -f 1)
-    _body="{\"properties\":{\"name\":\"$_record_name\", \"type\":\"TXT\", \"content\":\"$txtvalue\"}}"
+  _body="[{\"name\":\"$_sub_domain.$_domain\",\"type\":\"TXT\",\"content\":\"$txtvalue\",\"ttl\":$IONOS_TXT_TTL,\"prio\":$IONOS_TXT_PRIO,\"disabled\":false}]"
 
-    if _ionos_cloud_rest POST "$IONOS_CLOUD_ROUTE_ZONES/$_zone_id/records" "$_body" && [ "$_code" = "202" ]; then
-      _info "TXT record has been created successfully."
-      return 0
-    fi
+  if _ionos_rest POST "$IONOS_ROUTE_ZONES/$_zone_id/records" "$_body" && [ "$_code" = "201" ]; then
+    _info "TXT record has been created successfully."
+    return 0
   fi
 
   return 1
@@ -59,27 +42,14 @@ dns_ionos_rm() {
     return 1
   fi
 
-  if [ "$_context" = "core" ]; then
-    if ! _ionos_get_record "$fulldomain" "$_zone_id" "$txtvalue"; then
-      _err "Could not find _acme-challenge TXT record."
-      return 1
-    fi
-
-    if _ionos_rest DELETE "$IONOS_ROUTE_ZONES/$_zone_id/records/$_record_id" && [ "$_code" = "200" ]; then
-      _info "TXT record has been deleted successfully."
-      return 0
-    fi
-  else
-    if ! _ionos_cloud_get_record "$_zone_id" "$txtvalue" "$fulldomain"; then
-      _err "Could not find _acme-challenge TXT record."
-      return 1
-    fi
-
-    if _ionos_cloud_rest DELETE "$IONOS_CLOUD_ROUTE_ZONES/$_zone_id/records/$_record_id" && [ "$_code" = "202" ]; then
-      _info "TXT record has been deleted successfully."
-      return 0
-    fi
+  if ! _ionos_get_record "$fulldomain" "$_zone_id" "$txtvalue"; then
+    _err "Could not find _acme-challenge TXT record."
+    return 1
+  fi
 
+  if _ionos_rest DELETE "$IONOS_ROUTE_ZONES/$_zone_id/records/$_record_id" && [ "$_code" = "200" ]; then
+    _info "TXT record has been deleted successfully."
+    return 0
   fi
 
   return 1
@@ -88,46 +58,25 @@ dns_ionos_rm() {
 _ionos_init() {
   IONOS_PREFIX="${IONOS_PREFIX:-$(_readaccountconf_mutable IONOS_PREFIX)}"
   IONOS_SECRET="${IONOS_SECRET:-$(_readaccountconf_mutable IONOS_SECRET)}"
-  IONOS_TOKEN="${IONOS_TOKEN:-$(_readaccountconf_mutable IONOS_TOKEN)}"
-
-  if [ -n "$IONOS_PREFIX" ] && [ -n "$IONOS_SECRET" ]; then
-    _info "You have specified an IONOS api prefix and secret."
-    _info "The script will use the IONOS DNS API: $IONOS_API"
-
-    _saveaccountconf_mutable IONOS_PREFIX "$IONOS_PREFIX"
-    _saveaccountconf_mutable IONOS_SECRET "$IONOS_SECRET"
 
-    if ! _get_root "$fulldomain"; then
-      _err "Cannot find this domain in your IONOS account."
-      return 1
-    fi
-    _context="core"
-  elif [ -n "$IONOS_TOKEN" ]; then
-    _info "You have specified an IONOS token."
-    _info "The script will use the IONOS Cloud DNS API: $IONOS_CLOUD_API"
-
-    _saveaccountconf_mutable IONOS_TOKEN "$IONOS_TOKEN"
-
-    if ! _get_cloud_zone "$fulldomain"; then
-      _err "Cannot find zone $zone in your IONOS account."
-      return 1
-    fi
-    _context="cloud"
-  else
-    _err "You didn't specify any IONOS credentials yet."
-    _err "If you are using the IONOS DNS API, Read https://beta.developer.hosting.ionos.de/docs/getstarted to learn how to get a prefix and secret."
-    _err "If you are using the IONOS Cloud DNS API, Read https://api.ionos.com/docs/authentication/v1/#tag/tokens/operation/tokensGenerate to learn how to get a token."
+  if [ -z "$IONOS_PREFIX" ] || [ -z "$IONOS_SECRET" ]; then
+    _err "You didn't specify an IONOS api prefix and secret yet."
+    _err "Read https://beta.developer.hosting.ionos.de/docs/getstarted to learn how to get a prefix and secret."
     _err ""
     _err "Then set them before calling acme.sh:"
     _err "\$ export IONOS_PREFIX=\"...\""
     _err "\$ export IONOS_SECRET=\"...\""
-    _err "#or"
-    _err "\$ export IONOS_TOKEN=\"...\""
     _err "\$ acme.sh --issue -d ... --dns dns_ionos"
     return 1
   fi
 
-  return 0
+  _saveaccountconf_mutable IONOS_PREFIX "$IONOS_PREFIX"
+  _saveaccountconf_mutable IONOS_SECRET "$IONOS_SECRET"
+
+  if ! _get_root "$fulldomain"; then
+    _err "Cannot find this domain in your IONOS account."
+    return 1
+  fi
 }
 
 _get_root() {
@@ -165,24 +114,6 @@ _get_root() {
   return 1
 }
 
-_get_cloud_zone() {
-  domain=$1
-  zone=$(printf "%s" "$domain" | cut -d . -f 2-)
-
-  if _ionos_cloud_rest GET "$IONOS_CLOUD_ROUTE_ZONES?filter.zoneName=$zone"; then
-    _response="$(echo "$_response" | tr -d "\n")"
-
-    _zone_list_items=$(echo "$_response" | _egrep_o "\"items\":.*")
-
-    _zone_id=$(printf "%s\n" "$_zone_list_items" | _egrep_o "\"id\":\"[a-fA-F0-9\-]*\"" | _head_n 1 | cut -d : -f 2 | tr -d '\"')
-    if [ "$_zone_id" ]; then
-      return 0
-    fi
-  fi
-
-  return 1
-}
-
 _ionos_get_record() {
   fulldomain=$1
   zone_id=$2
@@ -202,30 +133,6 @@ _ionos_get_record() {
   return 1
 }
 
-_ionos_cloud_get_record() {
-  zone_id=$1
-  txtrecord=$2
-  # this is to transform the domain to lower case
-  fulldomain=$(printf "%s" "$3" | tr "[:upper:]" "[:lower:]")
-  # this is to transform record name to lower case
-  # IONOS Cloud API transforms all record names to lower case
-  _record_name=$(printf "%s" "$fulldomain" | cut -d . -f 1 | tr "[:upper:]" "[:lower:]")
-
-  if _ionos_cloud_rest GET "$IONOS_CLOUD_ROUTE_ZONES/$zone_id/records"; then
-    _response="$(echo "$_response" | tr -d "\n")"
-
-    pattern="\{\"id\":\"[a-fA-F0-9\-]*\",\"type\":\"record\",\"href\":\"/zones/$zone_id/records/[a-fA-F0-9\-]*\",\"metadata\":\{\"createdDate\":\"[A-Z0-9\:\.\-]*\",\"lastModifiedDate\":\"[A-Z0-9\:\.\-]*\",\"fqdn\":\"$fulldomain\",\"state\":\"AVAILABLE\",\"zoneId\":\"$zone_id\"\},\"properties\":\{\"content\":\"$txtrecord\",\"enabled\":true,\"name\":\"$_record_name\",\"priority\":[0-9]*,\"ttl\":[0-9]*,\"type\":\"TXT\"\}\}"
-
-    _record="$(echo "$_response" | _egrep_o "$pattern")"
-    if [ "$_record" ]; then
-      _record_id=$(printf "%s\n" "$_record" | _egrep_o "\"id\":\"[a-fA-F0-9\-]*\"" | _head_n 1 | cut -d : -f 2 | tr -d '\"')
-      return 0
-    fi
-  fi
-
-  return 1
-}
-
 _ionos_rest() {
   method="$1"
   route="$2"
@@ -262,32 +169,3 @@ _ionos_rest() {
 
   return 0
 }
-
-_ionos_cloud_rest() {
-  method="$1"
-  route="$2"
-  data="$3"
-
-  export _H1="Authorization: Bearer $IONOS_TOKEN"
-
-  # clear headers
-  : >"$HTTP_HEADER"
-
-  if [ "$method" != "GET" ]; then
-    _response="$(_post "$data" "$IONOS_CLOUD_API$route" "" "$method" "application/json")"
-  else
-    _response="$(_get "$IONOS_CLOUD_API$route")"
-  fi
-
-  _code="$(grep "^HTTP" "$HTTP_HEADER" | _tail_n 1 | cut -d " " -f 2 | tr -d "\\r\\n")"
-
-  if [ "$?" != "0" ]; then
-    _err "Error $route: $_response"
-    return 1
-  fi
-
-  _debug2 "_response" "$_response"
-  _debug2 "_code" "$_code"
-
-  return 0
-}
diff --git a/dnsapi/dns_ionos_cloud.sh b/dnsapi/dns_ionos_cloud.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6204fda0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dnsapi/dns_ionos_cloud.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env sh
+
+# Supports IONOS Cloud DNS API v1.15.4
+#
+# Usage:
+#   Export IONOS_TOKEN before calling acme.sh:
+#   $ export IONOS_TOKEN="..."
+#
+#   $ acme.sh --issue --dns dns_ionos_cloud ...
+
+IONOS_CLOUD_API="https://dns.de-fra.ionos.com"
+IONOS_CLOUD_ROUTE_ZONES="/zones"
+
+dns_ionos_add() {
+  fulldomain=$1
+  txtvalue=$2
+
+  if ! _ionos_init; then
+    return 1
+  fi
+
+  _record_name=$(printf "%s" "$fulldomain" | cut -d . -f 1)
+  _body="{\"properties\":{\"name\":\"$_record_name\", \"type\":\"TXT\", \"content\":\"$txtvalue\"}}"
+
+  if _ionos_cloud_rest POST "$IONOS_CLOUD_ROUTE_ZONES/$_zone_id/records" "$_body" && [ "$_code" = "202" ]; then
+    _info "TXT record has been created successfully."
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  return 1
+}
+
+dns_ionos_rm() {
+  fulldomain=$1
+  txtvalue=$2
+
+  if ! _ionos_init; then
+    return 1
+  fi
+
+  if ! _ionos_cloud_get_record "$_zone_id" "$txtvalue" "$fulldomain"; then
+    _err "Could not find _acme-challenge TXT record."
+    return 1
+  fi
+
+  if _ionos_cloud_rest DELETE "$IONOS_CLOUD_ROUTE_ZONES/$_zone_id/records/$_record_id" && [ "$_code" = "202" ]; then
+    _info "TXT record has been deleted successfully."
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  return 1
+}
+
+_ionos_init() {
+  IONOS_TOKEN="${IONOS_TOKEN:-$(_readaccountconf_mutable IONOS_TOKEN)}"
+
+  if [ -z "$IONOS_TOKEN" ]; then
+    _err "You didn't specify an IONOS token yet."
+    _err "Read https://api.ionos.com/docs/authentication/v1/#tag/tokens/operation/tokensGenerate to learn how to get a token."
+    _err ""
+    _err "\$ export IONOS_TOKEN=\"...\""
+    _err "\$ acme.sh --issue -d ... --dns dns_ionos_cloud"
+    return 1
+  fi
+
+  _saveaccountconf_mutable IONOS_TOKEN "$IONOS_TOKEN"
+
+  if ! _get_cloud_zone "$fulldomain"; then
+    _err "Cannot find zone $zone in your IONOS account."
+    return 1
+  fi
+
+  return 0
+}
+
+_get_cloud_zone() {
+  domain=$1
+  zone=$(printf "%s" "$domain" | cut -d . -f 2-)
+
+  if _ionos_cloud_rest GET "$IONOS_CLOUD_ROUTE_ZONES?filter.zoneName=$zone"; then
+    _response="$(echo "$_response" | tr -d "\n")"
+
+    _zone_list_items=$(echo "$_response" | _egrep_o "\"items\":.*")
+
+    _zone_id=$(printf "%s\n" "$_zone_list_items" | _egrep_o "\"id\":\"[a-fA-F0-9\-]*\"" | _head_n 1 | cut -d : -f 2 | tr -d '\"')
+    if [ "$_zone_id" ]; then
+      return 0
+    fi
+  fi
+
+  return 1
+}
+
+_ionos_cloud_get_record() {
+  zone_id=$1
+  txtrecord=$2
+  # this is to transform the domain to lower case
+  fulldomain=$(printf "%s" "$3" | tr "[:upper:]" "[:lower:]")
+  # this is to transform record name to lower case
+  # IONOS Cloud API transforms all record names to lower case
+  _record_name=$(printf "%s" "$fulldomain" | cut -d . -f 1 | tr "[:upper:]" "[:lower:]")
+
+  if _ionos_cloud_rest GET "$IONOS_CLOUD_ROUTE_ZONES/$zone_id/records"; then
+    _response="$(echo "$_response" | tr -d "\n")"
+
+    pattern="\{\"id\":\"[a-fA-F0-9\-]*\",\"type\":\"record\",\"href\":\"/zones/$zone_id/records/[a-fA-F0-9\-]*\",\"metadata\":\{\"createdDate\":\"[A-Z0-9\:\.\-]*\",\"lastModifiedDate\":\"[A-Z0-9\:\.\-]*\",\"fqdn\":\"$fulldomain\",\"state\":\"AVAILABLE\",\"zoneId\":\"$zone_id\"\},\"properties\":\{\"content\":\"$txtrecord\",\"enabled\":true,\"name\":\"$_record_name\",\"priority\":[0-9]*,\"ttl\":[0-9]*,\"type\":\"TXT\"\}\}"
+
+    _record="$(echo "$_response" | _egrep_o "$pattern")"
+    if [ "$_record" ]; then
+      _record_id=$(printf "%s\n" "$_record" | _egrep_o "\"id\":\"[a-fA-F0-9\-]*\"" | _head_n 1 | cut -d : -f 2 | tr -d '\"')
+      return 0
+    fi
+  fi
+
+  return 1
+}
+
+_ionos_cloud_rest() {
+  method="$1"
+  route="$2"
+  data="$3"
+
+  export _H1="Authorization: Bearer $IONOS_TOKEN"
+
+  # clear headers
+  : >"$HTTP_HEADER"
+
+  if [ "$method" != "GET" ]; then
+    _response="$(_post "$data" "$IONOS_CLOUD_API$route" "" "$method" "application/json")"
+  else
+    _response="$(_get "$IONOS_CLOUD_API$route")"
+  fi
+
+  _code="$(grep "^HTTP" "$HTTP_HEADER" | _tail_n 1 | cut -d " " -f 2 | tr -d "\\r\\n")"
+
+  if [ "$?" != "0" ]; then
+    _err "Error $route: $_response"
+    return 1
+  fi
+
+  _debug2 "_response" "$_response"
+  _debug2 "_code" "$_code"
+
+  return 0
+}