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Is it possible to point my domain to Digital Ocean app platform using a CNAME record?

Posted on October 13, 2025

I am consulting with the docs: https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/app-platform/how-to/manage-domains/

There is a screenshot of a radio button that allows to choose between “We manage your domain” and “You manage your domain”.

I cannot find this radio button anywhere in my digital ocean apps admin panel. Are docs outdated?

Can I still just point my subdomain (say, foo.mycompay.com) to an existing domain (say, foo.ondigitalocean.app) using a CNAME record?



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Hi there,

I just checked in my personal account and the radio button should still appear when you add a new domain, it lets you choose between “We manage your domain” (DigitalOcean DNS) and “You manage your domain” (external DNS):

If you don’t see it, make sure you’re adding a new domain or subdomain that isn’t already linked to another App Platform app. If the domain is already in use, the interface may skip that step and just warn you about overwriting existing DNS records (like in the screenshot).

And yes, it’s still perfectly fine to create a CNAME record manually at your registrar that points your subdomain (for example, api.mycompany.com) to your App Platform app’s default hostname (like my-company-api.ondigitalocean.app).

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