DreamHost

Domain registration and mailbox hosting stay with outside providers when you use Webflow. Publishing to a custom domain means adding A, CNAME, and TXT records at whichever registrar holds the domain. The Assets panel caps upload sizes, and the video element needs an outside host. Teams with a DreamHost domain and services such as email or a WordPress blog need all of them to keep working after the site moves.

Pointing a DreamHost domain at Webflow takes three DNS records in the DreamHost panel and no nameserver change. The root and www resolve to Webflow while the MX, SPF, and DKIM records stay at DreamHost, so mail keeps flowing. A WordPress blog on DreamPress can live at a subdomain beside the Webflow marketing site. DreamObjects, DreamHost's S3-compatible storage, holds files that exceed the Assets panel limits.

Freelancers and agencies use this setup to launch client sites on domains the client already owns at DreamHost. During a company-site cutover from WordPress to Webflow, IT admins can leave mailboxes untouched. B2B SaaS teams can run marketing on Webflow while the product app uses separate infrastructure under the same domain.

How to integrate DreamHost with Webflow

What is DreamHost? DreamHost is a web hosting provider and domain registrar. It sells shared hosting, DreamPress managed WordPress hosting, VPS and dedicated servers, professional email, and DreamObjects S3-compatible object storage. In this pairing, the DreamHost panel retains domain registration and the DNS zone, along with any mailboxes, while the site publishes from Webflow.

Most DreamHost and Webflow setups start with a domain that already lives at DreamHost. The website moves to Webflow hosting, but the DNS zone, the mailboxes, and sometimes a WordPress install stay behind. You can also build a custom sync that pushes posts from a DreamHost-hosted WordPress blog into the Webflow CMS. It runs through the Webflow Data API, and you maintain it yourself.

• DreamHost DNS records point your domain at Webflow without writing code.
• DreamObjects public URLs let you serve large files from DreamHost through Webflow CMS fields or elements such as Link and Code Embed.
• The Webflow Data API and DreamHost API cover DNS records on the DreamHost side plus publishing and CMS content on the Webflow side, but require server-side development.

Most implementations combine two or more of these methods depending on the complexity of the setup.

Point a DreamHost domain to Webflow with DNS records

You add three records in the DreamHost panel and leave the nameservers on ns1.dreamhost.com, ns2.dreamhost.com, and ns3.dreamhost.com. Hosting works on your registrar's own nameservers, so no delegation change happens. You need a paid Site plan to connect a domain. Sites created before April 21, 2025 carry two A records rather than one, and Webflow tells you to add both. Copy whatever appears in your own Site settings rather than the values printed here. You can also use quick connect instead of editing the DreamHost zone by hand.

Set the domain to DNS Only and add the Webflow records

DNS Only mode removes DreamHost's four default web-hosting A records for the non-www, www, ssh, and ftp hosts. Switching to DNS Only leaves email and your existing custom records in place. An agency launching a client domain keeps the client's mailboxes running through the cutover. Skip this step and DreamHost's own A record sits beside Webflow's on the root, which breaks the connection.

To connect the domain:

1. In Webflow, go to Site settings > Publishing > Production > Add a custom domain > Manually add domain. Enter the domain and click Add domain. The tab shows the records to add, including a one-time verification TXT value.
2. In the DreamHost panel, open Manage Websites and click Manage next to the domain. On the Settings tab, under Non-Hosting Options, click Set to DNS Only, then Yes, Set to DNS Only.
3. Back in Manage Websites, open the domain's three-dot menu and choose DNS Settings. Click Add Record and add an A record for the root (leave the host blank) with the value 198.202.211.1.
4. Add a CNAME record for www with the value cdn.webflow.com. Use an A record at the root because DreamHost accepts CNAME records only for subdomains (Adding custom DNS records).
5. Add a TXT record for _webflow with the one-time-verification=… value from step 1.
6. Return to Site settings > Publishing > Production and click Verify domain. When "Custom domain verified" appears, click Publish, select the domains, and click Publish to selected domains.
7. Click Make default next to the domain visitors should land on, then publish again (Set a default domain).

You can no longer publish to the legacy values 75.2.70.75, 99.83.190.102, and proxy-ssl.webflow.com. They've been blocked since January 13, 2026. If an older zone still carries them, replace them according to the guide to manually migrate DNS records. Make the root the default only after its DNS resolves. Otherwise visitors hit the "too many redirects" error that Webflow's quick-connect guide describes.

Four constraints affect this setup.

• SSL provisions on its own and cannot be turned off. If the domain carries CAA records, configure CAA records to permit both letsencrypt.org and pki.goog.
• DreamHost's free Let's Encrypt certificate requires the domain to be fully hosted, redirected, or parked at DreamHost, so it plays no part in a DNS Only setup.
• DreamHost's managed WordPress on the same domain can override a root A record pointed at Webflow and send traffic back to DreamHost. One engineering team published its own account of that happening, and disabling the managed WordPress service fixed it.
• Sites hosted partly off Webflow need a reverse proxy or the Href prefix setting.

Re-check the zone in DNS Settings after any DreamHost panel change that touches hosting mode.

Keep DreamHost email active on the same domain

MX records are controlled wherever the nameservers point. Nameservers at DreamHost keep mail at DreamHost. Pointing only the website A records elsewhere leaves email, MySQL, FTP, and SSH records at DreamHost. DreamHost's Professional Email plan also works on registration-only accounts with no hosting plan.

To keep mail flowing:

• Leave the MX records as DreamHost created them. Adding custom MX records deactivates DreamHost email for the domain.
• Leave the SPF and DKIM records untouched. DreamHost creates the DKIM record for every domain that uses its email.
• If you add another sending service later, merge it into the existing record, because only one SPF record is allowed per domain. For DreamHost plus Google, DreamHost documents the combined value as v=spf1 mx include:netblocks.dreamhost.com include:relay.mailchannels.net include:_spf.google.com -all.
• Leave the autoconfig CNAME and _autodiscover._tcp SRV records alone as well. Mail clients read them to configure themselves, and removing them breaks automatic setup rather than delivery.

Webflow hosting includes no mailbox component, so your MX records stay with whichever provider you choose.

Serve DreamObjects files in Webflow with Link, CMS, and Code Embed elements

The Assets panel accepts images up to 4 MB, documents and audio up to 10 MB, and ZIP files up to 25 MB. The video element needs a third-party host such as YouTube, Vimeo, or Cloudflare Stream (bandwidth overview). Files beyond those limits can sit in a public DreamObjects bucket.

To reference a DreamObjects file:

1. In the DreamHost panel, open the DreamObjects page, create a bucket, and set its permission to public.
2. Upload the object with s3cmd, the AWS CLI, or another S3 client, then build its public URL as https://s3.us-east-005.dream.io/MY_BUCKET/MY_OBJECT.
3. Add the public URL to Webflow:

• Paste it into a Link element's URL field, or into a CMS link or image field that a Collection List renders.
• For an <img>, <video>, or download button with custom markup, open the Add panel > Advanced > Code Embed, click Open code editor, and reference the URL in your HTML.
• For a script or stylesheet used on every page, reference the URL from Site settings > Custom code in the head or footer code, which needs a Core, Growth, Agency, or Freelancer Workspace plan, or a site with an active Site plan (head and body code).

The public URL form is https://s3.us-east-005.dream.io/MY_BUCKET/MY_OBJECT. DreamHost documents it in its guide to downloading files from DreamObjects. The current us-east-005 cluster sets permissions per bucket, not per object. Buckets can hold the files, but not a static HTML site (DreamObjects cluster overview).

A Code Embed script that fetches from the bucket with JavaScript needs a CORS policy on the bucket. DreamHost's guide to configuring bucket CORS gives the CLI commands:

s3cmd setcors [file.xml] s3://[bucket]
# or
aws s3api put-bucket-cors --endpoint-url https://s3.us-east-005.dream.io \
  --bucket my-bucket --cors-configuration file://cors.json

Apply the policy per bucket; the panel offers no equivalent control.

Code Embed elements hold up to 50,000 characters and run in the browser only; PHP, Python, Ruby, and Perl won't execute. They're available on Core, Growth, Agency, or Freelancer Workspace plans, or on any site with an active Site plan.

Build with the Webflow and DreamHost APIs

DreamHost's API overview lists DNS commands and API metacommands only; the former commands for accounts, domains, mail, databases, and users have been removed. Scripted API calls from a server-side environment are the automation route for DreamHost because no prebuilt connector covers that side. Run these calls in a server-side environment, such as a cron job or CI runner. Browser execution is unsuitable. The pairing suits agencies launching many client domains and teams syncing a WordPress blog on DreamHost into the Webflow CMS.

Available APIs:

• DreamHost DNS API handles listing, adding, and removing A, CNAME, TXT, AAAA, NS, SRV, and NAPTR records.
• DreamObjects S3-compatible API handles bucket and object operations at s3.us-east-005.dream.io. It authenticates with a 20-character Access Key paired with a 40-character Secret Key, and uses signature version 4 only.
• The Data API handles CMS collections, custom domains, publishing, assets, and forms.
• Webhooks trigger real-time events between systems across 14 trigger types, including form_submission, site_publish, and collection_item_published.

Schedule every DreamHost-to-Webflow sync. DreamHost's documented API covers DNS commands and metacommands only, with nothing that pushes an event outward. Shared-hosting cron jobs cover that, including URL-based curl jobs. DreamPress runs its system cron every 15 minutes. The reverse direction can be event-driven. Verify each incoming webhook with the x-webflow-timestamp and x-webflow-signature headers. The same reference specifies a SHA-256 HMAC over timestamp + ":" + JSON.stringify(request_body). Requests older than 5 minutes count as possible replays.

Automate DNS records with the DreamHost DNS API

Every call is an HTTP GET to https://api.dreamhost.com. DreamHost's guide to connecting to the API puts the key in a ?key= query parameter, and the API overview adds that every parameter name must be lowercase. Generate the key on the API page of the DreamHost panel, select dns-list_records, dns-add_record, and dns-remove_record, and click Generate a new API Key now!. Subaccounts need Billing Account Privileges to do this. The documented command list covers DNS records only, so set the domain to DNS Only in the panel first. Add the domain in Site settings before you script anything. The Data API's custom domains reference has no endpoint for adding or verifying a domain.

To add the Webflow records:

1. Add the root A record: GET https://api.dreamhost.com/?key=<KEY>&cmd=dns-add_record&record=example.com&type=A&value=198.202.211.1
2. Add the www CNAME: GET https://api.dreamhost.com/?key=<KEY>&cmd=dns-add_record&record=www.example.com&type=CNAME&value=cdn.webflow.com
3. Add the verification TXT record, URL-encoding the = as %3D: GET https://api.dreamhost.com/?key=<KEY>&cmd=dns-add_record&record=_webflow.example.com&type=TXT&value=one-time-verification%3D01ab2345-...
4. Confirm the zone: GET https://api.dreamhost.com/?key=<KEY>&cmd=dns-list_records&format=json
5. To remove a record later, call dns-remove_record with the exact same record, type, and value used to create it.

dns-list_records does not return records for registration-only domains or dreamhosters.com subdomains. Pass an optional unique_id parameter (up to 64 characters) to prevent duplicate submissions in polling loops. DNS propagation still applies after an API write, so poll dns-list_records rather than assuming an instant change.

Publish to the verified domain with the Webflow Data API

Once the Publishing tab shows "Custom domain verified", the Data API can publish to that domain. Authenticate with Authorization: Bearer <token>, using a Site token or an OAuth token (authentication). The scopes reference lists sites:read for reading domains and sites:write for publishing.

To publish from a script:

1. Fetch the domain ID: GET https://api.webflow.com/v2/sites/{site_id}/custom_domains. Each domain returns id, url, and lastPublished.
2. Queue the publish: POST https://api.webflow.com/v2/sites/{site_id}/publish with the JSON body {"customDomains": ["<domain_id>"], "publishToWebflowSubdomain": false} (Publish).
3. Treat an HTTP 202 response as accepted; the publish runs asynchronously. The endpoint allows one successful publish queue per minute, so space out scheduled runs.
4. To notify a DreamHost-hosted script when a publish completes, register a site_publish webhook with POST https://api.webflow.com/v2/sites/{site_id}/webhooks (sites:write). The payload carries siteId, publishedOn, domains, publishedBy, and publishScope (site_publish event).

Use /v2 paths only. The v1 API deprecation notice puts the cutoff at March 31, 2025, and v1 no longer receives maintenance, updates, or support.

Sync a DreamHost-hosted WordPress blog into the Webflow CMS

You build this with a server-side worker on your DreamHost server. It reads posts from the WordPress REST API, maps fields, and writes them into a Webflow collection using the guide to managing collections and items. A DreamHost cron job runs the worker on a schedule because DreamHost can't push events.

To build the worker:

1. Create items with POST /v2/collections/{collection_id}/items (cms:write) and place fields inside fieldData with at least name and slug (Create Items). Use /v2/collections/{collection_id}/items/bulk for up to 100 items per request.
2. Update existing items with PATCH /v2/collections/{collection_id}/items/{item_id}, or PATCH /v2/collections/{collection_id}/items for bulk changes under the same 100-item cap.
3. Publish with POST /v2/collections/{collection_id}/items/publish and an itemIds array.
4. Reconcile on each run with GET /v2/collections/{collection_id}/items and use limit (max 100) and offset for pagination (list items).
5. For images, either store the WordPress or DreamObjects URL in a link field, or upload through POST /v2/sites/{site_id}/assets with fileName and an MD5 fileHash, then POST the file to the returned uploadUrl with the uploadDetails form fields (assets create).

Run the worker on a cron interval that matches how often the blog publishes. Reconcile by slug if you want a re-run to update items rather than duplicate them. Every item payload nests values inside fieldData, not a top-level fields key.

What you can build with the DreamHost Webflow integration

Integrating DreamHost with Webflow lets you publish on a domain you already own, with mail and storage still at DreamHost, without moving your DNS zone or replacing your mailboxes.

• Marketing site on a DreamHost-registered domain: A freelancer registers example.com at DreamHost, adds the A, CNAME, and TXT records, and publishes the Webflow site. Connecting the custom domain connects both the root and www, and you pick which one to set as default.
• Company site with DreamHost mailboxes: A professional services firm keeps hello@example.com on the DreamHost Professional Email plan while the public pages run on Webflow.
• SaaS subdomain split: A B2B SaaS team serves www.yourSaaS.com from Webflow, blog.yourSaaS.com from DreamPress, and the product app from its own stack, all routed from the DreamHost DNS zone.
• Downloads served from DreamObjects: An education company stores course PDFs and ZIP archives that exceed the Assets panel limits in a public bucket and links them from Link elements.

For dozens of client domains, use the DreamHost DNS API. For a WordPress archive, work through the Webflow CMS API and write the posts into a collection.