Can I use my own domain with Marcus?

Which plans support custom domains?

Custom domains are available on the Builder tier and above. The free tier hosts your project on a Marcus subdomain like yourproject.aimarcus.love, which works fine for testing but isn't ideal for a live business site.

Builder tier costs €29 per project per month and includes one custom domain per project. Studio tier is €290/month and covers up to 25 projects, each with its own custom domain. If you need to connect example.com to your Marcus site, you'll need at least Builder.

How DNS setup works

DNS (Domain Name System) is the phonebook of the internet. When someone types your domain into a browser, DNS tells their computer which server to contact. To use your own domain with Marcus, you need to edit your DNS records at your domain registrar—wherever you bought the domain, like Namecheap, Cloudflare, or OVH.

Marcus requires an A record pointing to our hosting IP address. An A record maps a domain name directly to an IPv4 address. You'll create or update an A record for your root domain (example.com) or a subdomain (www.example.com or shop.example.com) and point it to the IP address Marcus provides in your dashboard.

Most registrars have a DNS management page where you can add records. The interface varies, but the fields are always the same: record type (A), name (@ for root, or a subdomain prefix), and value (the IP address).

Step-by-step: connecting your domain

Log into your Marcus dashboard and navigate to your project settings. Under the Domains tab, you'll see an option to add a custom domain. Enter the domain you want to connect—either the root (example.com) or a subdomain (www.example.com). Marcus will display the IP address you need to point your DNS records to.

Next, open a new tab and log into your domain registrar. Find the DNS settings for your domain. Create a new A record. Set the name field to @ if you're using the root domain, or enter the subdomain prefix like www. Paste the IP address Marcus gave you into the value field. Save the record.

Back in the Marcus dashboard, confirm you've updated the DNS. Marcus will begin checking the DNS propagation. Once it detects the correct A record, it will automatically provision a free SSL certificate via Let's Encrypt and mark the domain as active. You don't need to upload certificates or configure HTTPS manually—it's handled for you.

SSL certificates and HTTPS

Every custom domain on Marcus gets an SSL certificate automatically. We use Let's Encrypt, a free certificate authority trusted by all modern browsers. As soon as DNS propagates and Marcus sees your domain pointing to our servers, the system requests and installs a certificate.

This usually happens within minutes, but it can take up to a few hours if DNS propagation is slow. Once the certificate is active, all traffic to your domain is encrypted via HTTPS. Visitors see the padlock icon in their browser, and search engines treat your site as secure.

Certificates renew automatically every 90 days. You don't need to do anything—Marcus handles renewals in the background, so your HTTPS stays valid indefinitely as long as your subscription is active.

DNS propagation timing

DNS changes don't happen instantly. When you update an A record, it can take anywhere from 5 minutes to 48 hours for the change to propagate worldwide. Most updates finish within a few hours, but the exact timing depends on your registrar and the TTL (time-to-live) value set on the old record.

During propagation, some visitors might see your old site or get DNS errors, while others see the new Marcus site. This is normal. Once propagation completes, everyone will see the Marcus-hosted version.

You can check propagation status using free tools like whatsmydns.net or by running dig yourdomain.com in a terminal. If the IP address matches what Marcus gave you, DNS has propagated to that location.

Common DNS issues and fixes

If your domain isn't connecting after 48 hours, the most common issue is an incorrect A record. Double-check that you pointed the record to the exact IP Marcus provided, with no typos or extra spaces. Make sure you edited the A record, not a CNAME or AAAA record—Marcus requires A records specifically.

Some registrars proxy traffic through their own servers (Cloudflare does this by default). If your domain is behind a proxy, turn off the proxy temporarily or configure it to allow direct A records. Otherwise, the IP address won't resolve correctly and Marcus can't provision SSL.

If you're using both the root domain and www, you'll need two A records—one for @ and one for www—both pointing to the same Marcus IP. Some registrars call the root @, others use a blank field. Check your registrar's documentation if you're unsure which syntax to use.

Can I use subdomains?

Yes. Each Marcus project can connect to one custom domain, which can be a root domain or a subdomain. If you want blog.example.com on one project and shop.example.com on another, you'll need two separate projects—each on the Builder tier or bundled under a Studio plan.

Subdomains are set up the same way as root domains. Create an A record for the subdomain prefix (blog, shop, etc.) and point it to the Marcus IP. SSL provisions automatically once DNS propagates, just like with a root domain.