Buy a domain or connect one you already own

Choose the ownership path

Open Dashboard > Settings > Website Address. Use Buy when you want Cottage CMS to manage registration and setup. Use the own-domain path when you already own the address elsewhere and can update DNS or nameservers.

Plan availability: Connecting an existing custom domain and purchasing a managed domain are Pro features in the active matrix. The standard Cottage CMS address remains Free. Scale and Legacy Lifetime inherit configured domain access; registration and renewal charges are separate from platform subscription fees.

Enter an address safely

1. Enter the hostname customers should type, such as yourbusiness.com.
2. If you paste https://yourbusiness.com/menu, the dashboard can normalize it to the hostname; review the result.
3. Do not enter an email address, unsupported punctuation, or a Cottage CMS-branded address.
4. For a managed purchase, review price and renewal terms before checkout. For an existing domain, choose the DNS or nameserver instructions appropriate to your registrar.
5. Wait for routing and SSL status to become active before replacing the address in labels, email, social profiles, or ads.

What customers see

Customers can continue using the Cottage CMS address while setup is pending. The custom address becomes the customer-facing destination only after the hostname and certificate are ready.

Common problems

• The domain input rejects my value. Remove paths, browser prefixes, email syntax, unsupported punctuation, or brand-collision text.
• I bought a domain but see registrar instructions. Managed purchases stay inside automated setup; manual DNS instructions are for a domain you already own elsewhere.
• I want to cancel the platform plan after purchase. A managed domain can have a separate renewal term and is not automatically refunded with a platform cancellation.
• The address works sometimes. Do not announce it until both routing and SSL show active.

Next steps

• Finish DNS and SSL setup
• Set up domain-branded email
• Connect Google Search Console

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