Help · Configuration
Set up a custom domain
Serve your pages from your own domain, explained from zero: what DNS is, where it lives, the two records to create, and what every status means.
9 min · matches the current product
From the Artist plan, your pages can live at links.yourband.com instead of the DropRoute address. This guide assumes nothing: if you have never opened DNS settings before, it walks the whole path, and nothing breaks while you work — your DropRoute address keeps serving throughout, and existing links never stop working.
Two words first. A domain is the address you own, like yourband.com. DNS is the public directory that tells the internet where each of your names should go; changing where a name points means adding entries — records — to that directory. Adding and removing a domain asks for your password again even when you are signed in, because handing a hostname around is exactly what a stolen session would try.
Pick a subdomain and add it
A subdomain is a name in front of your domain — links.yourband.com rather than yourband.com itself. Use one: your bare domain usually already runs your website, and a subdomain leaves it completely untouched. In DropRoute, open Domains, type the subdomain — links.yourband.com or l.yourband.com — and press Add domain.
DropRoute answers with exactly two records to create. The first is a TXT record — a small text note published under a name only you control, which is how you prove the domain is yours; its name starts with _droproute. and its value starts with droproute-verify=. That value is shown once, on this screen only, so copy it now — if you lose it, disconnect the domain and add it again for a fresh one. The second record points the name at DropRoute: a CNAME for a subdomain, or an A record if you used a bare domain. Copy the values exactly as the page shows them.
Log in where your domain lives
Your domain lives at a registrar — the company you pay yearly for it: GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare, Squarespace Domains, IONOS, Hostinger, or similar. The DNS settings are in that account, not in DropRoute. Log in there and find the DNS page; it is called "DNS", "DNS records", or "Manage DNS". By registrar: GoDaddy — Domain Portfolio → DNS → Add New Record. Namecheap — Domain List → Manage → Advanced DNS. Cloudflare — DNS → Records. Squarespace Domains — Domains → DNS settings. IONOS — Domains & SSL → your domain → DNS. Hostinger — Domains → your domain → DNS / Nameservers.
Create the two records
Every DNS form has the same three parts. Type: what kind of record — pick what DropRoute showed (TXT for one, CNAME or A for the other). Host, sometimes called Name: which of your names the record is about. Value, sometimes called Points to or Content: paste exactly what DropRoute showed, nothing added or trimmed. If the form asks for a TTL, leave the default — it only controls caching.
The one genuinely confusing part is the Host field. Many registrars append your domain to it automatically: if the form already shows .yourband.com after the box, enter only the part in front — "links" for the pointing record, "_droproute.links" for the TXT — not the full name. If the box is plain and bare, paste the full name DropRoute displayed. Getting this wrong produces a doubled name like links.yourband.com.yourband.com, which is the most common reason verification stalls.
On Cloudflare specifically: the record that points at DropRoute must have its cloud icon set to "DNS only" (grey), not "Proxied" (orange). A proxied record answers with Cloudflare's own addresses instead of yours, so DropRoute cannot see the record pointing at it and verification never completes.
Press Check now and read what it says
New records take time to become visible everywhere — usually minutes, occasionally a few hours. Back on the Domains page, Check now re-reads your DNS fresh each press and reports one step at a time, so if something is stuck you can see exactly which record it cannot see and what your DNS actually answered — the "What we can see right now" panel shows the raw records, and the fix is nearly always visible in them.
The statuses mean what they say. Waiting for DNS: the record is not visible yet. DNS found: ownership is being verified. Issuing a certificate: ownership is proven and the HTTPS certificate — the padlock in the browser — is being issued automatically; check again shortly. Active: serving your pages. A domain serves fan traffic only when it is Active with a ready certificate, never half-configured.
After it is live
New shares can use the custom domain; existing DropRoute URLs keep working forever, so nothing already printed breaks. The TXT record can be removed once the domain is Active, or left in place harmlessly. A daily automatic re-check catches drift on connected domains — if a record changes months later, the status turns to Not serving and you are told (Settings → Notifications controls the email), instead of finding out from a fan.
When it does not go to plan
- Check now says it cannot see the verification record.
- Either the record has not propagated yet — wait a few minutes and press again — or something in it is off: a typo in the pasted value, the record added on a different domain than the one you typed in DropRoute, or a Host field that duplicated the domain (links.yourband.com.yourband.com). The "What we can see right now" panel shows what your DNS actually answers.
- The ownership record is found, but the domain does not point at DropRoute.
- The TXT record is right and the second record is the problem. On Cloudflare, check the record is "DNS only" (grey cloud), not proxied. Elsewhere, check the CNAME value was pasted exactly and the Host field holds just the subdomain part if your registrar appends the domain itself.
- I closed the page before copying the verification value.
- It cannot be shown again — only a scrambled fingerprint of it is stored, on purpose. Disconnect the domain and add it again; you get a fresh value to copy.
- Adding or removing a domain asks for my password.
- By design: attaching or detaching a hostname is how a stolen session would hand your domain to someone else, so both require a recent password confirmation.
- The Add domain button is unavailable.
- Custom domains start at the Artist plan, and managing a domain needs the Admin role or ownership. The page states which of the two applies to you.