# Connect your domain

> Move your whole site to a domain you own. Home at you.com, blog at you.com/blog, app at app.you.com.

If you own a domain, for example `example.com`, your whole site can move to it:

| What | Address |
|---|---|
| Home page | `example.com` |
| Blog | `example.com/blog` |
| App | `app.example.com` |

Don't have a domain yet? You can buy one from a registrar such as Namecheap or Cloudflare. Common ones cost about $10 a year.

### 1. Enter your domain

Open **Address**. Under **Use your own domain**, type your domain and press **Next**.

### 2. Add the records at your registrar

The page lists the DNS records to add. Each one has a **Type**, a **Host** and a **Value**, with a **Copy** button. There are usually three:

| Type | Host | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| ALIAS (CNAME at Cloudflare, Aliyun and DNSPod) | `@` | Your site |
| TXT | `_cf-challenge` | Proves the domain is yours |
| CNAME | `app` | Your app |

Copy each **Value** from the page. Don't type it yourself. Set TTL to **Automatic** or the shortest option. See below for each registrar.

### 3. Wait

The page checks by itself and updates when each record is ready. You can leave and come back. Once the records are right, they usually take a few minutes to reach the whole world, and then HTTPS is set up.

When your domain is connected, your site uses it, and `yourname.ownsite.me` no longer opens. Your app opens at `app.example.com`, and the backup address `app.yourname.ownsite.me` always works too.

> **Careful:** In **Host**, type only `@`, `app` or `_cf-challenge`, never the full domain. Add only these records, and leave the others alone (for example, your email records).

## Adding records, by registrar

#### Namecheap

1. Open **Domain List**, press **Manage** next to your domain, then **Advanced DNS**.
2. Delete the built-in records: the CNAME `www -> parkingpage.namecheap.com` and the URL Redirect for `@`.
3. Press **Add New Record** for each record, and save each one with the green ✓.

#### Cloudflare

1. Open your domain, then **DNS -> Records -> Add record**.
2. For the `@` record, choose type **CNAME**.
3. Set **Proxy status** to the gray cloud, **DNS only**, on every record. With the orange cloud, HTTPS cannot be set up.

#### Aliyun

1. Open **Alibaba Cloud DNS** and press **DNS Settings** next to your domain.
2. Press **Add Record**. Choose type **CNAME**, put the Host in **Hostname** and the Value in **Record Value**.

#### DNSPod

1. Open your domain's record list and press **Add Record**.
2. Put the Host in **Host**, choose type **CNAME**, and put the Value in **Record Value**.

#### Other

Open your domain's DNS settings. For the `@` record, use a type called ALIAS, ANAME, or "CNAME flattening".

If a record with the same name already exists, delete it or change it to the value on the page.

> **Note:** **GoDaddy** and **Squarespace** cannot point the domain itself (`@`) at another address. The page tells you if this applies. You can move your domain's DNS to a provider that supports ALIAS, such as Cloudflare, and add the records there.

## Stop using your domain

On the same page, press **Stop using this domain**. Your site goes back to `yourname.ownsite.me`. You can keep or delete the records you added.

To switch to a different domain, stop using the current one first, then enter the new one. A domain can only be used by one site at a time.

Stuck? See [Domain status and fixes](https://docs.ownsite.me/domain-status).