# Get started with domains

> Every Willo site has a free bywillo.ai address from day one. Here is how that address works and when to connect a domain you own.

Last updated: October 16, 2026

Source: https://www.willo.ai/docs/domains/get-started

Your site is on the internet the moment its first build finishes. Before you do anything with domains, it already has an address.

## Your bywillo.ai address

Every business gets a free address of the form `yourname.bywillo.ai`, usually made from the business's name. It works on every plan, it has HTTPS, and it is the address search engines and link previews use until you connect a domain of your own.

Renaming the business moves this address to the new name. The old `bywillo.ai` address stops answering, so links to it break. A custom domain is not affected by a rename.

## When to connect your own domain

Connect a domain you own when you want visitors, customers and search engines to see your name instead of `bywillo.ai`. Custom domains come with the Builder plan and up. On Free and Starter the site stays on its `bywillo.ai` address. If your business is on an older per-business plan, ask Willo in chat whether yours includes one. See [Pricing](https://www.willo.ai/pricing).

You can buy the domain whenever suits you. Willo does not sell domains: you register one with any registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare, Squarespace and so on) and point it at your site.

## What connecting involves

1. **Tell Willo the domain.** In your business, go to **Settings → Custom Domain** and enter it, or ask Willo in chat: "connect example.com to my site".
2. **Add the records Willo shows you** at your registrar. A root domain such as `example.com` needs two; a subdomain such as `shop.example.com` needs one. Copy them from the dashboard exactly.
3. **Wait for it to go live.** Willo checks the records on its own. Once it sees them it sets up HTTPS, and the domain starts serving your site. This takes minutes to hours, and occasionally up to 48 hours.

Your existing email keeps working as long as you only add the records Willo asks for. The [step-by-step guide](https://www.willo.ai/docs/domains/connect-a-custom-domain) covers the details, including the one question to answer before you touch DNS.

> **Tip: Ask before you guess.**
>
> If you are unsure what your registrar is showing you, ask Willo in chat. It reads the domain's current state and the records still missing, and tells you what it found rather than guessing.

## Next

- [Connect a custom domain](https://www.willo.ai/docs/domains/connect-a-custom-domain), start to finish.
- [DNS records for your domain](https://www.willo.ai/docs/domains/dns-records): what each record does and how not to break your email.
- [Your site's official address](https://www.willo.ai/docs/domains/your-sites-address): what changes on your site when a domain goes live.
- [Domain troubleshooting](https://www.willo.ai/docs/troubleshooting/domains), for a domain stuck on pending or a site that will not load.