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6 min readUpdated February 23, 2026

How to Use a Custom Domain with WordPress.com for Free

WordPress.com restricts custom domains to paid plans. Learn how to use Edgely as a reverse proxy to serve your WordPress.com site on your own domain at zero cost.

TL;DR — Quick Answer

WordPress.com charges for custom domains on paid plans. Edgely lets you point any domain you own to your WordPress.com site for free — add a CNAME record, enter your WordPress.com URL, and your custom domain goes live with SSL in minutes.

WordPress.com Free Plan and Custom Domains

WordPress.com is the world's most popular website platform, powering over 43% of the web. [1] Its free plan gives you a *.wordpress.com subdomain. Using a custom domain requires a paid Personal plan or higher — starting at $4/month. [2]

If you want to serve your WordPress.com site on your own domain without upgrading, Edgely provides a free reverse proxy that handles this in minutes.

Important: Self-Hosted vs WordPress.com

There are two flavours of WordPress: WordPress.com (managed hosting) and self-hosted WordPress (running your own server with wordpress.org software). This guide covers WordPress.com. If you're self-hosted, you control your own domain — no proxy needed.

Step-by-Step Setup

Step 1 — Find your WordPress.com URL

Your site is live at https://yoursitename.wordpress.com. This is the target URL you'll enter in Edgely.

Step 2 — Add domain in Edgely

Sign up at xedgely.com (free) and click Add Domain:

  • Custom Domain: www.yourdomain.com
  • Target URL: https://yoursitename.wordpress.com

Step 3 — Add a CNAME record

At your DNS registrar (Namecheap, GoDaddy, Cloudflare, etc.) add:

Type:  CNAME
Host:  www
Value: proxy.xedgely.com

Step 4 — Wait for DNS propagation and SSL

DNS propagates within minutes to 24 hours. Edgely provisions a free SSL certificate automatically once your CNAME resolves. [3]

Limitations to Know

  • WordPress.com login: The /wp-admin login page works through the proxy, but sessions are tied to the wordpress.com origin domain.
  • WordPress.com ads: Free plan sites show ads injected by WordPress.com — these will still appear on your custom domain.
  • Jetpack features: Features that rely on domain verification with WordPress.com may not function when proxied.

Edgely is the fastest way to proxy your WordPress.com project to a custom domain. It provisions a free SSL certificate, syncs routing to Vercel Edge Config for sub-millisecond lookups, and optionally caches responses at the edge — all for free on the starter plan.

Key Takeaways

  • WordPress.com custom domains require a paid plan — Edgely proxies your wordpress.com URL to any domain for free.
  • Free plan ads still appear when proxied — upgrade WordPress.com to remove them.
  • SSL is automatic and free with Edgely once your CNAME resolves.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this work with self-hosted WordPress?

Self-hosted WordPress (wordpress.org) runs on your own server where you already control the domain. Edgely is most useful for WordPress.com managed hosting where custom domains require a paid plan.

Will WordPress.com ads appear on my custom domain?

WordPress.com injects ads on free-plan sites at the server level. These ads are part of the HTML Edgely proxies, so they'll still appear. Upgrade to a WordPress.com paid plan to remove them.

Can I use the apex domain (yourdomain.com) instead of www?

Use Cloudflare CNAME Flattening on the root record, or set up a redirect from the apex to www at your registrar.

Sources & Citations

  1. [1]WordPress Market Share (W3Techs)— w3techs.com
  2. [2]WordPress.com Pricing— wordpress.com
  3. [3]Let's Encrypt Free SSL— letsencrypt.org

Ready to add your custom domain?

Set up your reverse proxy in under 5 minutes — free, with SSL and edge caching included.

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