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Managing Domains for Your Website

Learn about the free premium domain included with your Durable subscription, how to connect a domain you already own, and how to use the preview domain.

Mark avatar
Written by Mark
Updated over a week ago

Your website can be accessed through a domain. Durable supports three domain options, each designed for a different stage of building and sharing your site.

This article explains what each domain type is, when to use it, and how they work together.

Your free premium domain

Every Durable subscription includes a free premium domain for your website.

This domain is intended to be your primary public website address. You can choose it during setup or later from the website settings, and it can be used immediately once your site is published.

Use the included premium domain when:

  • You want a professional, branded domain without buying one elsewhere

  • You are ready to share your site publicly

  • You want a simple setup with no external configuration

Once published, visitors can access your site directly through this domain.

Connecting a domain you already own

If you already own a domain from another provider, you can connect it to your Durable site.

From the website settings, enter your domain and follow the guided connection steps.

Path: Website Options Bar > Domain

Durable will show you exactly which DNS records need to be added or updated with your domain provider. These records point your domain to Durable so your site loads correctly.

Use a custom domain you already own when:

  • You want to keep an existing brand or business domain

  • Your domain is already used elsewhere

  • You prefer to manage domain registration outside of Durable

If DNS setup feels confusing or you run into issues, Durable’s support team can help you complete the connection.

The Durable preview domain

In addition to your primary domain, every site also has a Durable preview domain.

The preview domain is useful for:

  • Viewing your site in a real browser while you work

  • Testing changes before publishing

  • Sharing progress privately

The preview domain is not intended for customers or public use. It exists to support testing and review while you build.

How domains relate to publishing

Domains always show the published version of your site.

Changes you make in the editor are not visible on any domain until you click Publish Changes.

Path: Website Options Bar > Publish Changes

If your site is unpublished or set to private, visitors will not be able to access it, even if a domain is connected.

Choosing the right domain option

In most cases:

  • Use the included premium domain for your live site

  • Connect an existing domain if you already have one

  • Use the preview domain while building or testing

You can switch or update domains as your site evolves.

Up next

To get more out of the editor itself, learn how to use AI to create and refine content.

See: Using AI Effectively in the Website Editor

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