Tutorial

Buy a custom domain (optional)

Your Vercel URL works, but yourname.com looks a lot better in an email signature. Here's how to get one.

What is a domain?

A domain (like joshwetzel.com or flyfish-montana.com) is the address people type into their browser. When you own a domain, you can point it at any server — including your Vercel project.

Domains cost about $10–15/year for a .com. Other extensions like .ai, .io, .me, or .co vary in price.

Step 1: Buy a domain

Two solid registrars (where you buy domains):

  • Namecheap — good prices, clean interface
  • GoDaddy — well-known, slightly pricier

Search for the domain you want, add it to your cart, and check out. Skip the upsells (privacy protection is usually free or included).

Step 2: Add the domain to Vercel

  1. In your Vercel project, go to Settings → Domains
  2. Type in your domain (e.g. yourname.com) and click Add
  3. Vercel will show you DNS records — these are like a forwarding address that tells the internet to send traffic for your domain to Vercel's servers

Step 3: Update your DNS

  1. Log into your domain registrar (Namecheap or GoDaddy)
  2. Find the DNS settings for your domain
  3. Add the records that Vercel gave you (usually an A record and a CNAME record)

The exact steps vary by registrar. If you get stuck, paste a screenshot into Claude Code and ask: "I'm trying to add DNS records to my domain at [registrar]. Here's what the DNS settings page looks like. I need to add these records: [paste Vercel's records]. Can you walk me through exactly what to do?"

Step 4: Wait for propagation

DNS changes take 5 minutes to 48 hours to take effect worldwide (usually faster). Once it's live, your domain will forward to your Vercel site automatically.

Custom domain is live? Nice. You've got a real website at a real address.