Hover

Webflow handles site hosting, SSL certificates, and global CDN delivery out of the box. But it does not sell domain names. If you own a domain through a third-party registrar, you need to configure DNS records manually before that domain can serve your Webflow site.

Hover is a domain registrar that pairs well with Webflow because it sells domains without bundling hosting. Connecting a Hover domain to Webflow gives you a branded URL backed by Webflow's hosting infrastructure, with automatic SSL provisioning and CDN delivery. Many current setups use three DNS records in Hover's control panel, but you should always copy the exact values shown in Webflow for your site before publishing.

This integration is most useful for freelancers launching portfolio sites, agencies managing client domains from a single registrar account, and small business owners who want a branded web presence without managing separate hosting. Anyone running a Webflow site on a custom domain registered through Hover will work through this process at least once.

How to integrate Hover with Webflow

What is Hover? Hover is a domain registrar owned by Tucows Inc. that offers domain registration across 300+ TLDs, full DNS management, and optional email forwarding. Hover does not sell web hosting, which makes it a registrar-only service designed to work alongside external platforms like Webflow.

Teams use Hover with Webflow when they want to keep domain registration separate from site hosting. This separation gives you the flexibility to switch hosting platforms later without transferring your domain. It also lets agencies hold multiple client domains in one Hover account while pointing each domain to a different Webflow site.

Webflow handles site hosting, SSL certificates, and global CDN delivery out of the box, so the main setup task here is connecting your registrar-managed domain to Webflow correctly.

The Hover-Webflow integration supports 3 approaches:

• Manual DNS configuration handles the domain connection through the records shown in Hover's control panel and Webflow's site settings.
• Quick Connect via Entri lets you authorize automatic DNS record creation from Webflow's site settings.
• The Webflow API gives you programmatic control over site publishing to custom domains, but requires server-side development and does not extend to standard Hover customer domain management.

Most Hover users rely on manual DNS configuration.

Connect your Hover domain with manual DNS records

Manual DNS configuration is the primary method for connecting a Hover domain to Webflow. In many current setups, you add an A record for the root domain, a CNAME for the www subdomain, and a TXT record for domain verification, then verify the connection in Webflow's site settings. This method requires a paid Webflow site plan and is used for root domain connections; subdomains use a CNAME record only.

Before starting, confirm two prerequisites:

• You have an active paid Webflow site plan (custom domains are not available on the free Starter plan)
• Your domain's nameservers are set to ns1.hover.com and ns2.hover.com (Hover's defaults)

Once those prerequisites are confirmed, retrieve the exact values from Webflow and enter them in Hover.

Retrieve your DNS records from Webflow

Webflow generates the specific record values you need for each site. For many current sites, these values include an A record IP, a CNAME target, and a TXT verification value.

To get your DNS records:

1. Open Site settings > Publishing > Production in your Webflow project.
2. Click Add Custom Domain, select Manually add domain, and enter your domain (for example, yourdomain.com).
3. Copy the A record IP address, CNAME target, and TXT verification value exactly as displayed. Keep this screen open.

Webflow displays the required values on one screen, so you can reference them while working in Hover's control panel. If your site shows a different combination of records, use those values instead of assuming the newer default pattern.

Add DNS records in Hover

Hover pre-populates a default A record pointing to 216.40.34.41. This record conflicts with Webflow's IP and must be deleted before adding the new records.

For many current Webflow sites, the DNS setup in Hover looks like this:

1. Log into your Hover control panel and click Domains, then select your domain.
2. Click the DNS tab, then select the existing default A record's checkbox. Click the Bulk edit dropdown and choose Delete.
3. Click Add a record and create the A record with Type A, Hostname @, and IP Address 198.202.211.1.
4. Click Add a record again and create the CNAME record with Type CNAME, Hostname www, and Target Name cdn.webflow.com.
5. Click Add a record one more time and create the TXT record with Type TXT, Hostname _webflow, and Content set to the full verification value from Webflow exactly as shown there.

Hover does not support CNAME records using @ as the hostname.

Verify and publish in Webflow

After adding records in Hover, return to Webflow to verify the connection and push your site live.

To complete the setup:

1. Go to Site settings > Publishing > Production in Webflow. The dashboard shows which records are connected properly and which are not, enabling targeted troubleshooting.
2. Set www.yourdomain.com as the default domain by hovering over the domain and clicking make default. This helps avoid misconfiguration issues that can happen when the root domain is set as default.
3. Click Publish to deploy your site to the custom domain.

Webflow provisions an SSL certificate automatically through Let's Encrypt once DNS records resolve correctly. No manual SSL configuration is needed. DNS propagation through Hover typically takes 3 to 4 hours but can take up to 48 hours in some cases. You can check propagation status at whatsmydns.net.

Connect a subdomain

Subdomains like blog.yourdomain.com follow a simpler process because Hover's CNAME restriction only applies to the root @ hostname.

To connect a subdomain:

1. In Hover's DNS tab, click Add a record and create a CNAME record with Hostname set to your subdomain prefix (for example, blog) and Target Name set to the value shown in Webflow for that subdomain connection.
2. In Webflow, add the full subdomain (for example, blog.yourdomain.com) as a custom domain in Site settings > Publishing > Production for the relevant Webflow project.
3. Click Publish in Webflow to deploy to the subdomain.

Each subdomain that points to a different Webflow project requires its own paid site plan.

Preserve Hover email alongside Webflow hosting

If you use Hover's email forwarding or a full Hover mailbox on the same domain, the DNS setup described above will not break your email, provided you follow two rules. First, do not delete any existing MX records in Hover's DNS tab when adding Webflow's records. Second, keep your nameservers pointed at ns1.hover.com and ns2.hover.com. MX records and web hosting records operate independently at the DNS level, so adding Webflow's A, CNAME, and TXT records has no effect on mail delivery. Webflow's Hover integration page confirms this coexistence.

Quick connect with Entri

Webflow offers a semi-automated domain connection option called Quick Connect, which uses a third-party service called Entri to detect your DNS provider and configure records on your behalf. If Entri detects Hover, it can handle the DNS changes after you authorize access. If detection fails, Webflow displays the manual DNS values and you proceed with the manual method described above.

To try Quick Connect:

1. In Webflow, open Site settings > Publishing > Production and choose Quick connect domain.
2. Enter your domain name. Entri attempts to identify your DNS provider automatically.
3. If Hover is detected, authorize Entri to add the required DNS records.
4. If Hover is not detected, copy the displayed DNS values and add them manually in Hover's control panel.

After using Quick Connect, verify that your existing MX records are still intact in Hover's DNS tab. The automated process may overwrite records, so confirming email configuration is an important follow-up step.

Automate publishing with the Webflow API

The Webflow Data API v2 provides programmatic access to site and domain management on the Webflow side. Hover does not offer a public consumer API for standard Hover accounts to manage DNS or domains programmatically. Hover does have a limited partner-facing Hover Connect API, but that does not provide general public API access for ordinary Hover customer domains. The Webflow API is useful for teams that want to automate publishing workflows after DNS is configured manually in Hover.

The relevant Webflow API capabilities include:

• List Sites (GET /v2/sites) returns all sites and their associated custom domains
• Get Custom Domains (GET /v2/sites/{site_id}/domains) retrieves domain IDs required for publishing
• Publish Site (POST /v2/sites/{site_id}/publish) deploys a site to one or more custom domains
• Webhooks can trigger real-time notifications on site_publish events, including which domains received the publish

Together, these endpoints cover the Webflow side of post-DNS publishing automation.

All requests require a bearer token generated in Site settings > Apps & integrations > API access. OAuth scopes sites:read and sites:write are typically required for site and publishing operations.

Publish to a Hover domain via the API

After the DNS connection between Hover and Webflow is established manually, you can trigger publishes programmatically instead of using the Webflow dashboard.

To publish via the API:

1. Retrieve your site's custom domain IDs by calling GET https://api.webflow.com/v2/sites/{site_id}/domains with your bearer token.
2. Send a POST request to https://api.webflow.com/v2/sites/{site_id}/publish with the customDomains array containing the domain ID from step 1.
3. Handle the response. The endpoint allows one successful publish per minute.

This workflow still depends on the initial manual DNS setup in Hover.

curl -X POST https://api.webflow.com/v2/sites/580e63e98c9a982ac9b8b741/publish \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <token>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "customDomains": ["660c6449dd97ebc7346ac629"],
    "publishToWebflowSubdomain": false
  }'

This approach is most relevant for teams running CI/CD pipelines or scheduled publishing workflows where manual dashboard access is impractical. Since standard Hover customer domains cannot be managed through a public consumer API, domain-side changes such as DNS updates, renewals, and transfers still require manual action through Hover's control panel.

What can you build with the Hover Webflow integration?

Integrating Hover with Webflow lets you serve a fully hosted Webflow site on a branded custom domain without managing separate hosting infrastructure or SSL certificates.

• Business sites on branded domains: Register your company domain through Hover, point it to Webflow, and get a live site with automatic SSL and CDN delivery. A local consultancy can go from domain registration to a published site in a single afternoon, with all future content updates happening entirely in Webflow.
• Agency client portfolios: Agencies can hold dozens of client domains in a centralized Hover account and point each one to a separate Webflow project. This avoids requesting access to individual client registrar accounts and keeps DNS management in one place across the entire client roster.
• Campaign landing pages on dedicated domains: Marketing teams can register a campaign-specific domain through Hover, connect it to a Webflow landing page with a one-time DNS setup, and update page content visually in Webflow for the life of the campaign without touching DNS again.
• Email and web on the same domain: Small business owners using Hover's email forwarding can run a Webflow site and receive email at the same domain simultaneously. MX records for email and A/CNAME records for Webflow hosting coexist independently in Hover's DNS settings.

If you need more control over automated publishing or multi-site deployment workflows, the API integration path covers those cases with full flexibility.