How to Connect a Custom Domain to Webflow

You need a paid Webflow Site plan and three DNS records at your domain's registrar - an A record, a CNAME record, and a TXT verification record - to connect a custom domain to Webflow. Webflow's free Starter plan publishes only to a webflow.io subdomain; a custom domain requires stepping up to at least Basic. Once you're on a paid plan, Webflow auto-provisions SSL once your DNS points correctly, and either your root domain or its www subdomain can be set as the default - Webflow connects both together and lets you pick.

What plan do I need before I can connect a domain?

Webflow states this as a precondition, not a footnote: "Before you get started, make sure to add a Site plan to your Webflow site and ensure you own the domain you want to connect" (Webflow Help Center, "Manually connect a custom domain", checked September 2026). On Webflow's own pricing page, the free Starter Site plan gives you a webflow.io subdomain only; Basic, the first paid tier, is the plan that adds "Custom domain" to its feature list (Webflow, "Plans & pricing", checked September 2026). If you're deciding between Site plans for other reasons too - CMS, bandwidth, page count - our Webflow pricing guide breaks down what each tier unlocks beyond just the domain.

What DNS records does Webflow actually ask for?

Exactly three, and Webflow's help center gives the literal values to enter, current as of this check:

Webflow's own instructions: "Create an A record with the hostname @ and the IP value 198.202.211.1. Create a CNAME record with the hostname www and the value cdn.webflow.com. Create a TXT record with the hostname _webflow and the value shown in Site settings beginning with one-time-verification=" (Webflow Help Center, "Manually connect a custom domain", checked September 2026). Get your site's actual TXT value from Site settings > Publishing > Production rather than copying anyone else's - it's unique per site, and it's what proves you control the domain.

Two things worth flagging about these values. First, Webflow migrated its DNS infrastructure in 2025 and says directly that "there are two possible sets of DNS records for your site (and these records may differ from site to site)" - so always copy the exact values from your own Site settings panel, not from an older guide or a screenshot someone else posted (same source). Second, some DNS providers have their own quirks: "Some DNS providers prefer that you set the root domain (e.g., yourdomain.com) as the hostname instead of @... some DNS providers require a trailing dot at the end of CNAME records (e.g., cdn.webflow.com.)" (same source) - check your specific registrar's documentation if the exact hostname format above doesn't seem to fit its form.

How do I actually connect the domain?

From Webflow's own steps: go to Site settings > Publishing > Production, click Add a custom domain, choose Manually add domain, enter your domain, and click Add domain. Webflow notes that "these steps connect both the root domain (e.g., yourdomain.com) and the www subdomain (e.g., www.yourdomain.com) to your site" in one action (same source) - you don't add root and www as two separate domains.

If you'd rather not touch DNS records by hand at all, Webflow also offers a Quick connect flow that sets records automatically for supported registrars - the manual route above is for registrars that aren't supported by Quick connect, or when you want to see and control the exact records yourself.

After adding the records at your registrar, go back to Site settings > Publishing > Production and click Verify domain, then Publish once you see the "Custom domain verified" confirmation. DNS propagation timing is not instant: "DNS changes may take up to 48 hours to propagate in all geolocations as the DNS cache expires, although this typically occurs within a few hours" (same source).

What if I'm moving the domain from another host?

Reset the domain's existing DNS records first. Webflow's guidance is to remove all A records on the root domain (hostname @), all CNAME records on the www host, and all CNAME records on any other subdomain you also want to connect (Webflow Help Center, "Prepare to connect your domain to Webflow", checked September 2026). There's a specific gotcha if your old host runs on Cloudflare's infrastructure (Webflow names Shopify and WP Engine as examples): remove the domain from that platform first, "Otherwise, Webflow may be unable to verify your domain, even if you've updated your DNS records" (same source). Once your new DNS records are live, Webflow's redirect and hosting behavior takes over completely - your old host's settings for that domain no longer apply, so don't plan to keep anything active there for the transition.

Does Webflow handle SSL automatically?

Yes, and it's part of what you're getting on a paid Site plan, not a separate step. Webflow's SSL documentation lists "Instant-on with no setup required" as a stated benefit, and specifically: "You don't need to generate a CSR (Certificate Signing Request) — Webflow handles this for you" (Webflow Help Center, "SSL hosting", checked September 2026). Renewal is also automatic under normal conditions: "Webflow SSL hosting certificates automatically renew when the old certificate expires, as long as the DNS records are continuously pointed to Webflow and the site loads on Webflow servers" (same source).

Two real limits on this: "Webflow doesn't support named certificates at the moment. Additionally, only Enterprise customers can use a certificate purchased from another SSL certificate provider" (same source). And if your domain has CAA (Certification Authority Authorization) DNS records set, you need to explicitly allow Webflow's certificate providers there too, or SSL "may fail to provision or renew" - that's a separate, optional DNS record from the three above, only relevant if you already use CAA.

Should my default domain be the root or www?

Either works, and connecting a custom domain connects both together in one step, as covered above. To make the root domain (rather than www) your default, Webflow's current instructions no longer require a special DNS workaround: "We've recently migrated our DNS records. You no longer need an alternative setup for your DNS records to set the root domain as the default. To set the root domain as the default, ensure you've migrated to our updated records" (Webflow Help Center, "Set the root domain as the default domain", checked September 2026). In practice this means: once you're on Webflow's current DNS records (the same A/CNAME/TXT set above), go to Site settings > Publishing > Production and click Make default next to whichever domain - root or www - you want visitors to land on; the other one still resolves and simply isn't the canonical version.

Setting a default matters for one practical reason beyond preference: it avoids duplicate-content confusion between the root and www versions of the same site showing up separately in search results.

What goes wrong, and how do I check it?

• Site isn't live after 48 hours: double-check your DNS values against Site settings, not an older screenshot, and use a propagation-checking tool to confirm what's actually resolving publicly.
• "Too many redirects" error: this typically follows from setting the root domain as default without the DNS records actually matching Webflow's current setup - re-verify you're on the current A/CNAME/TXT values.
• Domain won't verify after 2 days with correct-looking records: if you moved from a Cloudflare-backed host, confirm the domain was fully removed from that platform first, then contact Webflow support.
• CAA errors on SSL: check whether your domain has CAA records at all; if it does, they need Webflow's certificate providers added explicitly.

Where does this fit with the rest of a Webflow setup?

Connecting a domain is one piece of getting a Webflow site live - it assumes you've already got a paid Site plan sorted, and it's specific to Webflow's DNS requirements rather than the general logic of A records versus CNAMEs. If you want the underlying concept explained more generally - why builders ask for an A record at the root and a CNAME at www, and what each record type actually does - see CNAME vs A Record.

Bottom line: a paid Site plan, an A record at @ pointing to 198.202.211.1, a CNAME at www pointing to cdn.webflow.com, and a TXT record under _webflow for verification - that's the whole DNS side of connecting a domain to Webflow, per Webflow's own current documentation. SSL then provisions automatically once those records resolve, and root versus www is your choice, not a technical requirement either way. Always copy the exact values from your own Site settings panel, since Webflow's DNS records can differ from site to site.