Guide

Publish a Webflow site on a custom domain.

What it actually takes to go from an empty Webflow account to a live site on your own domain, including the plan mix-up that trips up almost everyone.

01 / Two Plans, Not One

Two Plans, Not One

Webflow bills the account and the website separately. Only one of them puts a site on your domain.

Common mistake

A Workspace plan won't publish your site

Paying for a Workspace plan does not let you publish to a custom domain. That takes a Site plan, purchased per site. An annual Workspace plan looks like the obvious upgrade, and it still leaves your site stuck on webflow.io.

Workspace plan

The account

  • Seats, staging sites, collaboration, code export
  • Free Starter is enough to publish one site
  • Paid tiers matter for teams and client work
Site plan

The website

  • Hosting, custom domain, publishing
  • Required for every site on its own domain
  • Billed per site, on top of the Workspace
Bought the wrong one?

Downgrade the Workspace to Starter from the Workspace dashboard under Plans. Refunds aren't automatic, so request one with your invoice ID (it starts with in_) through Webflow's refund request form.

02 / Pick a Site Plan

Pick a Site Plan

Two options cover almost every marketing site. Prices are billed yearly.

Basic $15/mo

Custom domain and static pages only, no CMS. Fine for a brochure site that rarely changes.

Premium $25/mo

Adds the CMS, site search, and form file uploads. If the site has a blog or any content added regularly, Basic won't work.

03 / Build and Stage

Build and Stage

There's no localhost and no git. Every site gets a free yoursite.webflow.io address, and that is your staging environment.

  • Build the site in your Workspace. No Site plan is needed yet.
  • Publish to the webflow.io address to review it with others.
  • Each publish goes to every domain checked in the publish menu. Uncheck your custom domain when you only want staging.
04 / Add Your Domain

Add Your Domain

Add a Site plan first. A custom domain can't be connected without one.

01

Open the Production settings

Site settings, then the Publishing tab, then Production, then Add a custom domain.

02

Choose Quick connect or Manual

Quick connect sets the DNS records for you with supported registrars. Manual means copying the records into your DNS provider yourself.

03

Enter the root domain

Adding yourdomain.com connects both the root domain and the www subdomain.

05 / DNS Records

DNS Records

For a manual setup with SSL (the default), add these at your DNS provider. Copy the TXT value from Site settings.

Type
Host
Value
A
@
75.2.70.75
A
@
99.83.190.102
CNAME
www
proxy-ssl.webflow.com
TXT
_webflow
one-time-verification=...
  • Subdomain only, like webflow.kevinleary.net: a CNAME for the subdomain pointing to proxy-ssl.webflow.com, plus the _webflow TXT record.
  • Your DNS provider must support TXT records and two A records. If it doesn't, move your nameservers to Cloudflare and manage DNS there.
  • Moving from another host? Delete the old A and CNAME records first.
06 / Verify and Publish

Verify and Publish

Back in Site settings, under Publishing and Production.

01

Make www the default domain

On SSL hosting the default domain has to use a CNAME record, so click Make default next to www. A root default needs a different DNS setup and can cause "too many redirects" errors.

02

Verify the domain

Click Check status, then Verify domain. DNS can take up to 48 hours to propagate, but usually takes a few.

03

Publish to production

Open the publish menu, check your custom domain, and click Publish to selected domains.

07 / Building for Clients

Building for Clients

This is where a paid Workspace plan earns its keep.

  • Only Freelancer and Agency Workspaces can transfer a site with a paid Site plan to a client's Workspace.
  • Client payments let you keep the site in your Workspace while hosting bills to the client's card.
  • The Webflow Certified Partner program requires an active Freelancer or Agency plan.