Nameservers or A record — which should I use?

Use nameservers unless you have a specific reason not to. Pointing nameservers at your hosting keeps all your records in one place and lets our system manage SSL and email records for you automatically. Only edit a lone A record when your DNS or email is deliberately managed by another provider you want to keep.

How long does a DNS change take?

Typically a few hours, though it can occasionally take up to 24. The delay is normal 'propagation' as networks around the world refresh their cached copy of your records — it isn't something that can be forced. Build or preview your site on the temporary URL in the meantime so you're never waiting idle.

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How to Point Your Domain to Your Hosting (Nameservers & DNS)

Updated 20 July 20266 min read

There are two ways to point a domain at your hosting. The simplest is to change the domain's nameservers to the ones in your welcome email — this hands all DNS control to your hosting and is the recommended option for most people. The alternative is to keep your existing nameservers and just edit the A record to point at your server's IP address, which you'd do if your DNS (or email) is managed elsewhere.

Option 1: change nameservers (recommended)

1Find the two nameservers in your welcome email (they look like ns1.example-dns.com).
2Log in to wherever your domain is registered (the registrar, not the host).
3Find the nameserver or DNS settings for your domain.
4Replace the existing nameservers with the two from your welcome email and save.
5Wait for propagation — usually a few hours, occasionally up to 24. Your hosting now controls all DNS for the domain.

Option 2: edit the A record only

If you want to keep your current DNS provider — for example because your email or other services are configured there — leave the nameservers alone and instead edit the A record for your domain (and the 'www' record) to point at your server's IP address, which is in your welcome email. This points just the website at us while everything else stays put.

How to know it worked

Load your domain in a private/incognito window — a fresh window avoids cached results.
Use an online 'DNS checker' to see the change rolling out across different regions.
Remember SSL can only issue after the domain points at us, so check the padlock an hour or so after DNS resolves.