With Now, you can alias your deployments to a custom name, whether that is a free .now.sh prefixed domain or your personal domain. This document will explain how to add your domain to Now so that you can alias your deployments to it.

If you need a new domain that will be set up automatically, see the documentation for buying a domain.

Step 1: Adding and Verifying

If you already own a domain outside of ZEIT, you can add it to your account with the now domains add <domain> command.

When using this command, Now CLI will give you instructions of how to verify the domain so that you can access your Now deployments and DNS records through your domain.

When verifying a domain, you will have two options to choose from. Either using ZEIT DNS nameservers or using a TXT DNS record.

Note: To migrate with no downtime, follow our Zero-Downtime Migration to ZEIT DNS Guide.

Option 1: Using ZEIT DNS Nameservers

When adding a domain with ZEIT, Now CLI will give you an intended set of nameservers that can be set with your domain name provider to point to ZEIT DNS so that you can access your deployments from that domain.

Using the ZEIT DNS nameservers is the preferred way of verifying and pointing your domain towards Now since it allows us to generate DNS records automatically that help with managing your domain.

With this method, you are also enabled to generate wildcard certificates automatically.

The nameservers you are provided with are randomly given to enhance stability and security when setting up your domain.

Once you have added the provided nameservers, you can verify your domain.

Option 2: Using a TXT DNS record

Along with the set of intended nameservers, you will also be provided with a TXT record including a name (also known as host or alias) and a value.

Adding this record with your domain provider to your domain will allow Now to verify that the domain belongs to you and enable to control your domain.

This method is recommended when you want a zero-downtime migration before pointing your domain to Now.

Verifying the Domain

Now will automatically check the added domain for the suggested verification methods, and when detected, the domain will be marked as verified.

You can force Now to check for verification by using the now domains verify command:

now domains verify <domain>

Step 2: Pointing to Now

If you verified your domain with nameservers, this set is un-necessary since your domain will be already pointing to Now.

With Nameservers

To point to Now with nameservers, if not already done so, for example when you verified with a TXT record for a zero-downtime migration, you can find the intended set of nameservers for your domain by running the inspect command:

now domains inspect <domain>

This command will print your current and intended nameservers.

Once you change the nameservers with your domain provider and the domain propagates; your domain will point to Now and you can access your deployments from that domain.

The benefits of using nameservers include:

  • Wildcard certificate generation
  • Automatic DNS management
  • Easy DNS management

Using this method means that you will be using ZEIT DNS and your domain will be marked as a ZEIT DNS or zeit.world domain.

Preserving Existing Nameservers With CNAME

If you need to preserve the current nameservers of a domain, or need to use an alternative method of pointing to Now, you can do so after TXT verification by creating a CNAME record with your domain provider with the value of alias.zeit.co.

Using this method means that you will not be using ZEIT DNS and your domain will be marked as external.

For a greater advantage with Now and your domain, we strongly recommend using the nameservers method.

Step 3: Using Your Domain

Now that your domain is verified and pointing to Now, you are free to:

Both of these methods are handled automatically if using nameservers.

Using Your Domain

With a domain added and enabled under an account or team, the next step is to alias a deployment to that domain.