Your site starts on a free address like acmepm.rentrealm.com. You can move it to a domain you own, like acmepm.com or rentals.acmepm.com. Your free address keeps working and sends visitors to your domain.
You'll need: to be an owner or admin of your company in RentRealm, and access to the place where your domain's DNS is managed (often where you bought the domain: GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare, Squarespace and similar).
It takes: about 10 minutes of your time. After that, DNS changes usually take a few minutes, and occasionally up to a few hours.
Before you start: whole domain or a subdomain?
- Your whole domain (
acmepm.comandwww.acmepm.com): your RentRealm site becomes your main website. Whatever is at those addresses today stops showing once you change the records. - One subdomain (
rentals.acmepm.com): your RentRealm site lives at that address, and your current website atacmepm.comstays as it is. Choose this if you want to keep your existing website.
Your email keeps working either way. None of the steps below touch your email (MX) records; leave those as they are.
Step 1: Add your domain
- In RentRealm, open Sites, choose your site, then the Domain tab.
- Type your domain, for example
acmepm.comorrentals.acmepm.com, and select Continue. - For a whole domain, choose your main address:
acmepm.comorwww.acmepm.com. We preselect the one your current website uses, so your search rankings carry over. The other address will send visitors to it. - Select Connect domain.
Step 2: Add the DNS records
The Domain page now lists the records to add, with a Copy button next to each value. Add them in your domain's DNS settings.
For www or a subdomain: add a CNAME record.
| Type | Name | Value |
|---|---|---|
| CNAME | www (or rentals) |
your address from the Domain page, like k7q2….sites.rentrealm.com |
The value is unique to your site. Copy it from the Domain page instead of typing it. This one record also proves the domain is yours.
For your bare domain (acmepm.com, often written @ in DNS settings), use one of these:
- A CNAME flattening, ALIAS or ANAME record pointing to the same value, if your provider offers it. Cloudflare, Namecheap and DNSimple do.
- Otherwise, the A records listed on the Domain page.
If you use Cloudflare: set each record to DNS only (the grey cloud), not Proxied.
You may also see:
- A TXT record starting with
_vercel. Add it exactly as shown. It appears only when our hosting provider needs extra proof, for example if the domain was used with another website builder before. - "Can't add a CNAME?" Some providers only allow A records. If the Domain page shows this section, add the TXT record it lists (named
_rentrealm.…), and we'll know the domain is yours.
If you have records left over from a previous website for the same names (A, AAAA or CNAME records on @, www or your subdomain), remove them. Otherwise visitors may still land on the old site.
Step 3: Wait for "Live"
There's nothing else to do. We check every 15 minutes, or you can select Check again on the Domain page.
As your records take effect, each address moves through these steps:
| What the Domain page says | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Point your domain to your RentRealm address | We don't see your records yet. | Check the CNAME (or the "Can't add a CNAME?" TXT record) matches the Domain page exactly, then wait. |
| Add the TXT record to prove you own the domain | Our hosting provider wants the _vercel TXT record. |
Add it as shown. |
| DNS doesn't point to RentRealm yet | Your domain still points somewhere else. The page lists what it found. | Remove old A or CNAME records for that name. On Cloudflare, switch to DNS only. |
| Waiting for the security certificate (usually a few minutes) | Your records are right; the padlock (HTTPS) is being set up. | Nothing. |
| The domain answers, but not with your site | Another website is still answering at that address. | Remove the old website's records. |
| Live | Done. | Nothing. |
When your main address shows Live, your site moves to it on its own. Your free address and the other half of your domain (www or the bare domain) now send visitors there, to the same page they asked for.
After you're live
- Changing your main address. Once both halves of a whole domain are live, you can switch the main address on the Domain page, or go back to your free address.
- If your domain stops working (for example, the records were changed or deleted), your site moves back to your free address after 24 hours, so visitors can still reach it. The Domain page tells you why. Fix the records and it moves back automatically.
- Removing your domain. Select Remove domain on the Domain page. Your site goes straight back to your free address. You can then delete the records you added.
Cloudflare and AI crawlers
If your domain goes through Cloudflare's proxy (the orange cloud), Cloudflare answers for your site. Its Block AI bots setting, on by default for many accounts, then turns away the crawlers behind ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity, even though people see your site as usual. Your listings then can't show up in AI answers.
Each check asks for your home page as a browser and as GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot. If the crawlers get an error or a challenge page that a browser doesn't, the Domain page and Today show a warning. To fix it, do either:
- In Cloudflare, open your domain, go to Security → Bots, and turn Block AI bots off (Do not block). If you use AI Crawl Control, allow those four crawlers there too.
- Or go to DNS → Records and set the records for your domain to DNS only (grey cloud). RentRealm then serves your site directly, and Cloudflare settings can't block anyone.
Then select Check again on the Domain page.
Common questions
Will my email stop working? No. Leave your MX records alone; nothing here changes them.
How long does it take? Usually a few minutes after you add the records. Some providers take up to a few hours to publish changes.
Can I connect more than one domain? One domain per site: a whole domain (both acmepm.com and www.acmepm.com) or one subdomain.
I see "Custom domains aren't available yet." Custom domains aren't switched on for your account yet. Contact us and we'll let you know when they are.
I added the domain but never finished. If a domain never goes live, we release it after 14 days so it isn't held forever. You can add it again any time; you'll get a new address to point it at.
Only owners and admins see the controls. Other team members can view the Domain page but can't change it.