Can You Use a WordPress Domain as a Custom Domain in Framer?
Yes — you can point a domain associated with WordPress to a Framer site, but the process requires understanding what's actually happening under the hood. The short answer involves DNS, not WordPress itself. Here's what that means and why the distinction matters.
What Framer's Custom Domain Feature Actually Does
Framer allows you to publish your site to a custom domain instead of a default .framer.app subdomain. When you add a custom domain in Framer, the platform gives you DNS records — typically a CNAME record or an A record — that you add to wherever your domain's DNS is managed.
Framer doesn't care what platform previously used that domain. It doesn't connect to WordPress. It connects to the domain itself, via DNS settings.
WordPress Is a Platform, Not a Domain Registrar
This is where most confusion starts. WordPress — whether WordPress.com or a self-hosted WordPress.org installation — doesn't own your domain. Your domain is registered through a registrar like Namecheap, GoDaddy, Google Domains (now Squarespace Domains), or Cloudflare.
When people say they have "a WordPress domain," they usually mean one of two things:
- WordPress.com subdomain — something like
yoursite.wordpress.com. This is not a domain you own and cannot be pointed elsewhere. - A custom domain used with WordPress — a real domain (e.g.,
yoursite.com) that you registered and currently have pointed at WordPress hosting. This can be redirected to Framer.
Only the second scenario gives you the flexibility to change DNS settings.
How DNS Redirection Works 🌐
DNS (Domain Name System) is the system that tells the internet where to send traffic when someone types your domain into a browser. When your domain currently points to WordPress, there are DNS records — usually A records pointing to a server IP or CNAME records — directing traffic to your hosting provider.
To use that domain with Framer instead:
- Log into your domain registrar or DNS provider (not WordPress)
- Remove or replace the existing A record or CNAME pointing to WordPress
- Add the DNS records Framer provides in your project's domain settings
- Wait for DNS propagation, which typically takes anywhere from a few minutes to 48 hours
Once propagation completes, visitors to your domain will see your Framer site instead of WordPress.
What Happens to Your WordPress Site
This is a critical point many people overlook. Changing DNS does not delete your WordPress content. Your WordPress files and database remain on the server. However, once DNS propagates to Framer, your WordPress site will no longer be publicly accessible at that domain — traffic goes to Framer instead.
If you want to preserve your WordPress setup while testing Framer, common approaches include:
- Using a subdomain for Framer (e.g.,
new.yoursite.com) while WordPress remains on the root domain - Keeping WordPress accessible via a staging URL provided by your host
- Running Framer on the root domain and setting up 301 redirects for any old WordPress URLs that still get traffic
Variables That Affect How Smoothly This Goes
The process isn't identical for everyone. Several factors determine how straightforward the switch will be:
| Variable | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Where DNS is managed | Registrar, host, or Cloudflare — each has a different interface |
| Whether WordPress.com or self-hosted | WordPress.com subdomains can't be transferred; custom domains can |
| Existing DNS complexity | MX records (email), TXT records, subdomains must be preserved separately |
| Framer plan | Custom domain support requires a paid Framer plan |
| SSL/HTTPS setup | Framer handles SSL automatically, but there can be transition delays |
Email is a particularly easy thing to break accidentally. If your domain handles email through MX records, those need to stay intact when you update your A or CNAME records. Replacing all DNS records instead of just the ones pointing at WordPress is a common mistake.
When Framer and WordPress Coexist
Some setups run Framer and WordPress simultaneously under the same domain using path-based or subdomain routing. For example:
yoursite.com→ Framer (marketing site, landing pages)yoursite.com/blog→ WordPress (CMS-powered blog)
This configuration is more complex and usually requires a reverse proxy or a CDN like Cloudflare with custom routing rules. It's not a native feature of either platform and requires meaningful technical comfort to configure correctly.
The SEO Angle ⚙️
If your WordPress site has established SEO equity — backlinks, indexed pages, search rankings — moving to Framer on the same domain without a redirect plan can cause traffic loss. Search engines will encounter either missing pages or new URLs without understanding the relationship to the old ones.
Proper 301 redirects from old WordPress URLs to their Framer equivalents help preserve that equity. Framer supports redirect rules within the platform, but implementing them requires knowing which old URLs matter.
What Your Situation Actually Determines
Whether this is a simple 20-minute DNS swap or a multi-week migration project depends entirely on your specific setup: how your domain is currently managed, whether email runs through that domain, how much WordPress content you're leaving behind, and what your SEO preservation requirements look like.
The mechanics are straightforward. The complexity lives in the details of your particular configuration — and those details are what make the difference between a clean cutover and an unplanned outage. 🔍