Use your own domainIn closed beta
Show your Matchai Site at an address you own. Buy a new domain or connect yours, add one record, and choose the address visitors see.
Your site always has its free Matchai address, such as jane.matchai.co. With the custom domain add-on, it can also answer at an address you own, such as listings.yourcompany.com or yourcompany.com.
If the window says Custom domains aren't switched on yet, the add-on is not available on your account yet. Your site keeps working on its Matchai address.
What it costs
Two separate things, billed by two separate companies:
| Who charges | Price | |
|---|---|---|
| Custom domain add-on | Matchai | Free for the first 30 days, then $50 a month |
| Domain name | The company you buy the domain from | Their price. You renew it with them each year |
Matchai shows both lines before any button that leads to a payment, so you know what you are agreeing to. If you connect a domain you already own, you keep paying for it where you bought it, as you do today.
Once the add-on is active, it appears in Settings → Billing, under Subscriptions, with the date of your next charge or the end of your free trial.
Why it works this way
The add-on is what Matchai charges to serve your site on your own address. The domain name is something you own, registered in your name, with the company that sold it to you. Keeping the two apart means your domain stays yours whatever you decide about Matchai.
Start the add-on
Open Settings → My site. Under Your own domain, select the Custom domain row.
Read what the add-on includes and what it costs, then choose Start the free trial.
Complete the checkout. Back in Matchai, the window moves on to Add your own web address.
Already paid but still asked to start the trial? Choose Already paid? Check again. Matchai checks for your payment and continues if it finds it.
Choose how to get your domain
Under Add your own web address, you have two choices.
- Buy a new domain. Search for a name and buy it without leaving Matchai. Matchai points it at your site and secures it for you, so there is nothing else to set up.
- Connect a domain you already own. Point a domain you own at your site. It stays registered where it is.
Buy a new domain
Choose Buy a new domain.
Search for a name, then complete the purchase in the window that opens.
Matchai confirms with Domain bought. We are pointing it at your site now. The domain's status moves to Live on its own once it is ready.
If Matchai says it couldn't load the domain shop, an ad blocker is often the cause. Pause it for this page and try again.
If Buy a new domain says buying isn't switched on yet, connect a domain you own instead.
Connect a domain you already own
Choose Connect a domain you already own.
Under How would you like to connect it?, choose Connect manually. Quick connect, which would add the record for you, is marked Feature planned.
Under Your domain, type the address without https://, for example listings.yourcompany.com. Then choose Connect domain.
Matchai shows Add the record, with the exact record to create. Sign in where you manage your domain, open its DNS settings, and add the record as shown. Each field has a copy button.
Wait. Matchai checks on its own and switches your site over as soon as the record works. You can close the page.
A subdomain such as listings.yourcompany.com is the simplest to set up, and nothing else about your domain changes. A plain yourcompany.com works too. For that one, Matchai also suggests a second record under Also recommended: make www work, so www.yourcompany.com reaches your site as well. Your site works without it.
Fill in the record
The record has four fields. Your domain provider usually shows them in the same order.
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Type | Choose it from the list of record types your provider shows. |
| Name | Only the part that comes before your domain, such as listings. For a plain domain it is @, meaning the root of your domain. Some providers want it left blank instead, and some want the domain typed out in full. |
| Value | Where the record points. Paste it exactly, with nothing added. |
| TTL | How long the record is remembered. Leave whatever your provider fills in. |
When Matchai recognises your domain provider, it names it and gives you a link straight to its DNS settings. Otherwise, look for a section called DNS, Name servers or Advanced DNS.
Changes usually show up within a few minutes. Some providers take a few hours.
Follow your domain's status
The Custom domain row in Settings → My site shows where your domain stands.
| Status | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Checking DNS | Matchai has not seen your record yet. | Add the record exactly as shown, then wait. |
| Wrong record | Your domain answers, but it points somewhere else. | Check that the value matches exactly, and delete any older record with the same name. |
| Securing | The address works. Matchai is issuing its security certificate, usually in under a minute. | Nothing. |
| Live | Your site is serving on this domain. | Nothing. |
| Needs attention | Something went wrong with this domain. | Choose Check now. If it keeps failing, remove the domain and contact us. |
| Ended | The add-on has ended, so your site is back on its Matchai address. | Start the add-on again to bring the domain back. |
Matchai checks often at first, then less often. After a while it stops and says so. Once your record is in place, choose Check now to look again straight away.
Choose the address visitors see
When your domain is Live, it becomes your site's address. Your Matchai address keeps working and sends visitors to your domain, so no old link breaks.
You can switch back at any time. Under Site address, choose between Your own domain and Your Matchai address. The one marked In use is what visitors see, what you share and what search engines show. The other one redirects to it.
Switching to your Matchai address asks you to confirm with Use your matchai.co address instead?. Links to your domain then send visitors to your Matchai address, and nothing breaks. Search engines can take a few weeks to show the change. Your domain stays connected, and the add-on keeps billing. Choose Use matchai.co address to confirm.
Why it works this way
Your Matchai address never goes away, whichever address you choose. It is a backup that always works: while your domain is being set up, if the add-on ends, or if you remove the domain, visitors still reach your site. That is also why switching between the two addresses only redirects links and never breaks them.
If the add-on ends
When you cancel, or a payment does not go through, Matchai shows Your custom domain plan has ended in the domain window. Your domain keeps working until the end of the period you paid for.
After that, your site goes back to its Matchai address and the domain's status becomes Ended. Visitors who use your domain are sent to your Matchai address. Your domain stays registered in your name. To bring it back, start the add-on again.
Remove your domain
In Settings → My site, select the Custom domain row, then choose Remove domain.
Read Remove this domain?, then choose Remove domain.
Your site goes back to its Matchai address right away. Links to your domain stop working until you connect it again. You keep the domain: this only stops Matchai from using it.
Cancel the add-on
Open Settings → Billing and choose Open billing portal to cancel the add-on. It keeps working until the end of the period you paid for.
If you no longer want the domain itself, cancel it with the company you bought it from. Otherwise it keeps renewing.