Peakub SupportCustom Domains
Connect your own domain to a Peakub publication
Publications can be served from your own domain (for example
newsletter.yoursite.com) instead of a peakub.com subdomain - for free,
with a certificate issued and renewed automatically.
How it works
Connecting a domain you own comes down to two DNS records at your registrar, then a short wait while we detect them and issue a certificate. There's no separate ownership-proof record to add - the same record that routes traffic to Peakub is what a domain-validation certificate authority checks to confirm you control the domain, so two records is genuinely all it takes.
Connect your domain
- Go to
Studio > Website > Domain settings. - Switch to Custom domain and type the domain you want to use.
- Save. Peakub shows you the exact DNS records to add - copy them directly from there (the values are specific to your account, so don't reuse values from a screenshot or from another publication).
- Add those records at your domain registrar.
DNS records
You'll be shown three possible records - you only ever need two of them:
| Type | Host | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| ALIAS or ANAME | your bare domain (yourdomain.com) | Routes your domain - use this if your registrar supports it |
| A (fallback) | your bare domain (yourdomain.com) | Only if ALIAS/ANAME isn't available - a plain A record pointed at our load balancer's IP |
| CNAME | www | Routes www.yourdomain.com, so both the bare domain and www work |
Some registrars call the ALIAS/ANAME record "CNAME flattening" instead - any of the three names work the same way. Only add the A record fallback if your registrar genuinely doesn't offer ALIAS/ANAME at the apex; adding both isn't necessary. Standard CNAME records aren't allowed at the bare apex at all (that's a DNS-wide rule, not a Peakub one), which is exactly why ALIAS/ANAME or the A-record fallback exist.
No TXT records, ever - the routing record itself is the proof.
Status meanings
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Waiting for DNS | We haven't detected your records yet. Can take a few minutes to a few hours after adding them, depending on your registrar. |
| Verifying | Your DNS record was found - we're issuing a certificate and finishing setup. Usually done within 15 minutes. |
| Live | Your custom domain is live and serving your publication. |
| Action needed | We couldn't verify or maintain the domain. Double-check the DNS records are still set correctly, then check again. |
| Suspended | Rare, and only ever set manually - contact support if you see this. |
You can force a fresh check at any time from the Check status now link
next to your domain's status in Domain settings, rather than waiting for
the next automatic check.
What to expect by email
We email you at each real step of the way, so you don't have to keep Studio open and watching:
- Right after you save, with a copy of the DNS records to add
- A reminder about two days later if we still haven't detected them
- If we detect the record but verification itself keeps failing (we keep retrying automatically - you don't need to do anything but fix the DNS if it's wrong)
- When your domain goes live
- If a domain that was live stops verifying later on (your publication
stays reachable at its
peakub.comaddress the whole time) - A confirmation once you unlink a domain
Changing or unlinking your domain
Connecting a different custom domain, or switching back to your
peakub.com subdomain, has a short cooldown after each change - Studio
tells you the exact date you can change it again if one applies.
Unlinking a custom domain falls your publication back to its peakub.com
subdomain immediately. It doesn't release the domain name itself - you
still own it, and you can connect it (or a different one) again at any
time.
Troubleshooting
See Custom domain troubleshooting for the most common causes of a stuck or broken domain.
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