Custom Domain Dashboards: Share Them on Your Own Domain
TL;DR
A public dashboard used to live at app.dashboardbase.com/s/…. Now it can live at dashboard.yourcompany.com/s/… instead. You type the hostname into your workspace, add one CNAME record where your DNS lives, and we issue and renew the HTTPS certificate. Every share link switches over on its own. It's included in every paid plan, trial included.
Why I built it
The first thing people told me after sharing a dashboard with a client wasn't about the widgets. It was the address. Workspace logo, icon and colours already made the board look like theirs, and then the link said someone else's name.
The same goes for a status page or a board on a reception wall: status.acme.com reads like part of your product, and app.dashboardbase.com/s/0193… reads like a tool you're using. So the address had to be yours too.
What changes when you add a domain
- Share links use it. Once the domain is live, Copy link and Share in the Share dialog hand out the link on your domain, for every member of the workspace.
- Your domain's front door is yours. Pick a public dashboard for
dashboard.yourcompany.com/and visitors land straight on it. Or leave it as a clean page with just your logo. - Nothing of ours shows. On your domain the page carries your logo, your icon in the browser tab and your colours. There's no dashboardbase loading screen, no "powered by" watermark, no title of ours, and no analytics of ours counting your visitors.
- Links preview as yours. Paste a board's link into Slack, LinkedIn, X or a message and the preview shows the board's title and description, your workspace name and your icon. A password-protected board previews as just your workspace name, so nothing behind the password leaks.
- HTTPS is handled. We issue the certificate for your hostname and keep renewing it.
- Live updates keep working. Webhook events still slide onto the board in real time, and password-protected dashboards still ask for their password.
Setting it up
- Open your workspace, go to Branding and find Custom domain. It's for workspace owners.
- Pick a hostname. We suggest a few from your website's domain (
dashboard.,status.,health.), and if you typekpi.we offer to finish it askpi.yourcompany.com. - Add the CNAME record we show you: name
dashboard(or whatever you chose), valuecustomers.dashboardbase.io. Both have copy buttons. - Wait a few minutes. The status moves from Waiting for DNS to Issuing certificate to Active. The page checks for you while it's open, and Check again does it on demand.
It has to be a subdomain like dashboard.yourcompany.com, not yourcompany.com itself. The root of a domain can't carry a CNAME record, and your main website lives there anyway.
We look at your DNS so you don't have to guess
Most DNS setups fail in a handful of ways, and "pending" doesn't tell you which. So we read your domain's DNS and tell you what we found.
Where your DNS lives. We look up your domain's nameservers and name the host: GoDaddy, Cloudflare, Namecheap, Squarespace (including old Google Domains), AWS Route 53, Azure DNS, IONOS, Hostinger, one.com or Simply.com. You get the exact click path for that host and a link to it. For anything else you get clear general steps.
The common mistakes, each with how to fix it:
| What we see | What it means |
|---|---|
| No record yet | Nothing has been added, or it hasn't spread yet. Usually a few minutes |
| A CNAME pointing somewhere else | Often left over from an old tool. Change its value to customers.dashboardbase.io |
| An A record instead of a CNAME | A hostname can only have one or the other. Delete the A record, add the CNAME |
| The root of your domain | Use a subdomain, such as dashboard.yourcompany.com |
| Behind Cloudflare's orange cloud | Cloudflare's proxy hides the record. Click the cloud so it turns grey, "DNS only" |
Nobody else can take your hostname
A hostname only ever shows the dashboards of the workspace that proved it controls the domain's DNS.
There's one case where pointing a CNAME at us isn't proof: when the record was already there before anyone added the domain in dashboardbase. That's usually a record left behind by an earlier setup. Then we also ask for a TXT record, and nothing is served until it's there.
The same TXT record settles disputes. If your hostname is already connected to another workspace, adding it shows you a TXT record to create. Once it's in your DNS, the hostname moves to your workspace.
Plans and limits
- Every paid plan includes it, the 14-day trial too. See pricing.
- One domain per workspace. An agency that keeps a workspace per client can give each client their own.
- If a subscription lapses, the domain pauses instead of disappearing. Its dashboards stop opening, its front page says it isn't available right now, and everything comes back as soon as you resubscribe.
- It's for shared dashboards. People who sign in to edit dashboards still do that at
app.dashboardbase.com. Your domain carries the public boards and your front page, nothing else.
FAQ
Can I use the root of my domain? No. Use a subdomain such as dashboard.yourcompany.com. A CNAME can't sit at the root of a domain.
Do I need to buy a certificate? No. We issue it once your record points at us, and renew it before it expires.
What happens to links I already shared? They keep working on app.dashboardbase.com. New links use your domain.
Can my DNS stay on Cloudflare? Yes. Set the record to "DNS only" (grey cloud) so the CNAME stays visible.
Can I change the domain later? Yes. Change or remove it from the same menu. Removing it sends share links back to app.dashboardbase.com.