Lesson 4 of 6

Custom domains

Buy a domain, point DNS at your host, and know why DNS takes a little time.

10 min readApril 22, 2026

By the end: You can connect a domain to Vercel and understand basic DNS wait time.

your-app.vercel.app or your-app.netlify.app or your-app.fly.dev works for sharing with friends. For a real product, you want your own domain. Something like yourname.com or yourapp.io.

This lesson has two parts. First, you buy a domain. Second, you point it at your app. The waiting time between those two steps can feel strange the first time, so this lesson will tell you what is normal.

Buy a domain

Go to a domain registrar. Common ones are Namecheap, Cloudflare, and Porkbun. Prices are very similar. A .com domain costs around 10 to 15 USD per year. Less common endings like .io or .ai cost more.

Search for the domain you want. If it is available, add it to your cart and pay. If it is taken, try a variation or a different ending.

A few tips:

Turn on privacy protection (often called WHOIS privacy). It is usually free. Without it, your home address ends up in a public database.
Turn on two-factor authentication on your registrar account. Domains are one of the most valuable things you can own online and losing access to them is a long process to recover.
Ignore upsells. You do not need hosting from your registrar. You do not need their email service. You do not need their SEO tool.

You now own a domain. It is not connected to anything yet.

Point your domain at Vercel

Open your project on vercel.com.
Click Settings, then Domains in the left sidebar.
Type your domain (like yourname.com) in the box and click Add.
Vercel shows you one or two DNS records to add. These look like rows in a table. Each has a Type (like A or CNAME), a Name (often @ for the root domain), and a Value.

Go back to your registrar (Namecheap, Cloudflare, wherever you bought the domain).

Find the DNS settings for your domain. This is usually a tab called DNS, Advanced DNS, or Manage DNS.
Add the records exactly as Vercel showed them. Name goes in the Name column. Value goes in the Value or Target column. Type matches.
Save.

Wait. DNS changes do not happen instantly. They usually finish in 10 to 60 minutes. Sometimes they take a few hours. In rare cases, up to 48 hours. This is normal. The internet is slowly telling every computer everywhere that your domain now points at Vercel.

Check back on Vercel. Your domain will show a green tick next to it when the connection is live. Vercel automatically adds HTTPS (that https:// prefix) within a few minutes of the domain being detected.

Point your domain at Netlify

Open your site on app.netlify.com.
Click Domain management in the left sidebar (or Site configuration → Domain management depending on your dashboard layout).
Under Custom domains, click Add a domain and type your domain (like yourname.com).
Netlify shows you DNS records to add, or offers to become your DNS provider directly. For simplicity, add the records at your registrar. The records look like rows in a table with a Type (like A or CNAME), a Name (often @ for the root domain), and a Value.

Go back to your registrar (Namecheap, Cloudflare, wherever you bought the domain).

Find the DNS settings for your domain. This is usually a tab called DNS, Advanced DNS, or Manage DNS.
Add the records exactly as Netlify showed them. Name goes in the Name column. Value goes in the Value or Target column. Type matches.
Save.

Check back on Netlify. Your domain will show as Netlify DNS or External DNS configured when the connection is live. Netlify automatically provisions HTTPS (that https:// prefix) within a few minutes of the domain being detected.

Point your domain at Fly.io

Fly.io handles domains from the terminal.

Tell Fly.io you want to use a custom domain:

code

fly certs add yourname.com

Fly.io responds with one or two DNS records you need to add. Copy them.

Go to your registrar (Namecheap, Cloudflare, wherever you bought the domain).
- Find the DNS settings for your domain. This is usually a tab called DNS, Advanced DNS, or Manage DNS.
- Add the records exactly as flyctl showed them. Name goes in the Name column. Value goes in the Value or Target column. Type matches (usually A for the root, AAAA for IPv6, or CNAME).
- Save.
Wait. DNS changes do not happen instantly. They usually finish in 10 to 60 minutes. Sometimes they take a few hours. In rare cases, up to 48 hours. This is normal. The internet is slowly telling every computer everywhere that your domain now points at Fly.io.
Check the status:

code

fly certs show yourname.com

When it says Configured and shows a valid certificate, your domain is live. Fly.io provisions HTTPS automatically.

Your progress saves in this browser only. Clearing site data will reset it.

Lesson 4 of 6

Custom domains

Buy a domain, point DNS at your host, and know why DNS takes a little time.

10 min readApril 22, 2026

By the end: You can connect a domain to Vercel and understand basic DNS wait time.

your-app.vercel.app or your-app.netlify.app or your-app.fly.dev works for sharing with friends. For a real product, you want your own domain. Something like yourname.com or yourapp.io.

Buy a domain

Search for the domain you want. If it is available, add it to your cart and pay. If it is taken, try a variation or a different ending.

A few tips:

Turn on privacy protection (often called WHOIS privacy). It is usually free. Without it, your home address ends up in a public database.
Turn on two-factor authentication on your registrar account. Domains are one of the most valuable things you can own online and losing access to them is a long process to recover.
Ignore upsells. You do not need hosting from your registrar. You do not need their email service. You do not need their SEO tool.

You now own a domain. It is not connected to anything yet.

Point your domain at Vercel

Open your project on vercel.com.
Click Settings, then Domains in the left sidebar.
Type your domain (like yourname.com) in the box and click Add.
Vercel shows you one or two DNS records to add. These look like rows in a table. Each has a Type (like A or CNAME), a Name (often @ for the root domain), and a Value.

Go back to your registrar (Namecheap, Cloudflare, wherever you bought the domain).

Find the DNS settings for your domain. This is usually a tab called DNS, Advanced DNS, or Manage DNS.
Add the records exactly as Vercel showed them. Name goes in the Name column. Value goes in the Value or Target column. Type matches.
Save.

Point your domain at Netlify

Open your site on app.netlify.com.
Click Domain management in the left sidebar (or Site configuration → Domain management depending on your dashboard layout).
Under Custom domains, click Add a domain and type your domain (like yourname.com).
Netlify shows you DNS records to add, or offers to become your DNS provider directly. For simplicity, add the records at your registrar. The records look like rows in a table with a Type (like A or CNAME), a Name (often @ for the root domain), and a Value.

Go back to your registrar (Namecheap, Cloudflare, wherever you bought the domain).

Find the DNS settings for your domain. This is usually a tab called DNS, Advanced DNS, or Manage DNS.
Add the records exactly as Netlify showed them. Name goes in the Name column. Value goes in the Value or Target column. Type matches.
Save.

Point your domain at Fly.io

Fly.io handles domains from the terminal.

Tell Fly.io you want to use a custom domain:

code

fly certs add yourname.com

Fly.io responds with one or two DNS records you need to add. Copy them.

Go to your registrar (Namecheap, Cloudflare, wherever you bought the domain).
- Find the DNS settings for your domain. This is usually a tab called DNS, Advanced DNS, or Manage DNS.
- Add the records exactly as flyctl showed them. Name goes in the Name column. Value goes in the Value or Target column. Type matches (usually A for the root, AAAA for IPv6, or CNAME).
- Save.
Wait. DNS changes do not happen instantly. They usually finish in 10 to 60 minutes. Sometimes they take a few hours. In rare cases, up to 48 hours. This is normal. The internet is slowly telling every computer everywhere that your domain now points at Fly.io.
Check the status:

code

fly certs show yourname.com

When it says Configured and shows a valid certificate, your domain is live. Fly.io provisions HTTPS automatically.

Your progress saves in this browser only. Clearing site data will reset it.