Configuring your domain correctly and pointing the necessary DNS records to Kinsta is a crucial part of going live with your site. In our guides linked below, we discuss how to set up the proper DNS records for Cloudflare and non-Cloudflare domains.

Cloudflare vs. Non-Cloudflare Domains

In the context of this article:

  • If your domain is already connected to Cloudflare through your own active Cloudflare account, then it is considered a “Cloudflare domain.”
  • If your domain has no connection to Cloudflare (proxy or DNS), then it is considered a “non-Cloudflare domain.”

Users with active Cloudflare accounts of their own will need to follow a special set of instructions to maintain compatibility between the two Cloudflare zones (their Cloudflare account and our free Cloudflare integration).

Determine if a Domain Is Cloudflare or Non-Cloudflare

When you add your domain in MyKinsta, our system will help guide you through the process and will identify whether or not your domain is a Cloudflare or non-Cloudflare domain.

If you want to check the domain yourself, you can use a tool like Whois.com or whatsmydns.net to view the name servers. Or, you can use the command line interface (CLI) with the following command (replacing example.com with your domain name):

dig +nssearch example.com

If the name servers end with cloudflare.com (e.g. sasha.ns.cloudflare.com), your domain is a Cloudflare domain. If the name servers end with anything else, your domain is a non-Cloudflare domain.

Note: There is one exception to the above, though it isn’t common. If you have a Cloudflare account and you set up custom name servers, they can end with something other than cloudflare.com.

Add Domain Guides

The process for how to point your domain to Kinsta depends on whether your site already uses Cloudflare:

We also recommend reviewing our go-live checklist to make sure you have everything ready to make your site live.

If you need to change your site’s primary domain in MyKinsta (the “main domain” of the site), check out our guide on How To Change Your Primary Domain.