This article covers domain expiration and renewals, billing, and common problems you might run into.
Renewals and expiration
What happens when a domain expires
If your domain expires and is not renewed, Caffeine keeps it registered for a 30-day grace period. During this window you will receive renewal reminders by email and in the Caffeine chat. If the domain is still expired at the end of those 30 days, Caffeine automatically removes it from your account — the domain is deleted from Caffeine's routing system and no longer appears in your domain list. Once removed, the domain name is no longer reserved for you and becomes available for anyone to register.
If auto-renew was not enabled and a domain reaches its expiration date before you renew it, the domain may become unavailable and could be lost. Contact support if your domain has expired and you want to discuss your options.
Auto-renew
You can enable auto-renew from the domain detail page in Settings → Domains. When auto-renew is on, Caffeine renews your domain before it expires using credits from your account.
Auto-renew can only be turned on while the domain is still active. If a domain has already passed its expiration date, the auto-renew toggle is disabled.
When a renewal runs, Caffeine posts a message in your project chat. If renewal succeeds, the message confirms the domain name and its new expiry date. If renewal fails — for example because your credit balance is too low — the message explains why and asks you to try again later or renew manually through Settings → Domains. Keep enough credits in your account to cover the renewal cost. If you receive a failure message and cannot resolve it, contact support before the domain expires.
Manual renewal
Manual renewal is available when your domain is within the renewal window (approximately one year before expiration). Go to Settings → Domains, open the domain, and use the Manual renewal button to renew using Caffeine Credits.
Renewal price cap
Caffeine can process renewals up to a maximum of 1,000 credits ($250 USD). If your domain's renewal price exceeds this limit, the renewal button is disabled and a warning icon appears — you will not be able to renew the domain through Caffeine at this time. Contact support if you are in this situation.
Billing
How domains are paid
Domains are purchased with Caffeine Credits. Credits are valued at 4 credits per $1 USD. The price you pay is shown at checkout before you confirm the purchase.
Taxes and VAT
Tax handling for domain purchases is still being finalized. Prices are shown at checkout before purchase.
Failed purchase — credits missing
If a purchase attempt fails but credits still appear to be missing from your balance, wait a few minutes for your balance to update. If credits do not reappear within a reasonable window, contact support with the time of the purchase attempt and your account email.
Troubleshooting
My domain shows an error status after setup
If domain setup fails, the domain status changes to Error. From here you can retry the setup or remove the domain entirely. To retry, go to your domain settings and select the retry option. If repeated retries do not resolve the issue, contact support with your domain name and the error message shown.
My domain is stuck in "Verifying"
This can happen because of delays at the external registrar or DNS level. These delays are outside Caffeine's control. In most cases the domain activates within a few hours.
If registration cannot complete after an extended period of retrying, Caffeine will automatically move the domain to an Error status. This gives you a clear signal that something went wrong rather than leaving the domain in a permanent "Verifying" state. You can unassign a domain in an error state and contact support for next steps.
If the status has not changed after 24 hours, or if the domain has moved to an error state, contact support with your domain name and project name.
I don't have enough credits to buy a domain
You must have the full credit amount available before purchasing — there is no partial payment or credit reserve option. Top up your credit balance and retry the purchase.
My domain shows a parking page even though it's assigned to a project
Two common causes:
- The project is not in Live mode. Assign the domain and publish your project — the parking page persists until the project is live.
- DNS propagation is still in progress. Wait up to 24 hours. If the parking page persists beyond that, contact support.
My custom domain still shows an older version of my app
In almost all cases, this means the latest draft was never pushed to Live. A custom domain always serves your live app, not your draft preview.
Work through these checks in order:
- Open your project's version history and compare the badges:
- Current = the draft version you are editing now
- Live = the version currently published for users
- If Current and Live are different, publish the latest draft with Go live (or Push version update from the Live dropdown).
- After publishing, wait about a minute and test in an incognito/private browser window.
- Open your default live app URL from Live → Open live app. If this URL still shows the old version, the deployment did not update and you should go live again.
- If the default live app URL shows the new version but the custom domain still shows the old one after a reasonable wait, contact support with:
- project ID
- domain name
- the version number marked Live
- the default live app URL and the custom domain URL
I can't unassign my domain
Unassignment is blocked while a domain is registering or updating. Check the domain's status and wait for it to reach a ready, parked, or error state before trying again. If you are on the Free plan, domain management is restricted until you upgrade to a paid plan.
My app stopped sending emails after I connected my own domain
When you connect an external domain, emails are sent from that domain instead of the default Caffeine domain. For email to work, you must add the mail DNS records (DKIM, DMARC, and SPF) that Caffeine shows during domain setup, in addition to the web routing records. If these mail records are missing, emails will silently fail to deliver. To check whether your mail records are correctly configured, open the domain in Settings → Domains and use the Verify DNS option. It checks each required record against live DNS and tells you which ones are correctly set up and which are missing or incorrect. If you already have a custom SPF record on your domain that includes include:amazonses.com and ends with -all or ~all, Caffeine recognises it as correctly configured — you do not need to replace it. See Connecting a Domain You Already Own for the full list of required records.
Frequently asked questions
Can I transfer my domain to another registrar?
Yes, after the 60-day ICANN lock period that applies to all newly registered domains. During the first 60 days, the domain cannot be transferred. After that window, contact support — the team will manually initiate the transfer. The process involves DNS updates on both sides and typically takes several days.
Will I lose my domain when it expires?
Possibly, if the domain is not renewed in time. Enable auto-renew from the domain detail page while the domain is still active, or renew manually through Settings → Domains before expiration. If auto-renew is on, Caffeine renews using your credit balance and posts a chat message if renewal succeeds or fails — address any failure before the domain expires.
If a domain expires without renewal, you have a 30-day grace period with email and chat reminders. After that, it is removed from your account and the name becomes available for anyone to register. If a domain has already expired, the auto-renew toggle is disabled — contact support to discuss your options. Manual renewal is also blocked if the price exceeds 1,000 credits ($250 USD); contact support in that case.
My purchase failed but I still see credits missing. What do I do?
Wait a few minutes for your balance to update. If credits still appear to be missing after waiting, contact support with the time of the purchase attempt and your account email.
Are there any taxes added on top of the domain price shown?
Tax handling for domain purchases is still being finalized. Check the checkout screen for the final amount before confirming your purchase.
Can I access my app using www.mydomain.com with domains bought through Caffeine?
No. Custom domains are used as apex (naked) domains (mydomain.com). Caffeine does not support the www. subdomain.
Can I access my app using mydomain.com when I bring my own domain?
Yes. Your app lives at a subdomain like www.mydomain.com. To make the apex (naked) domain work too, log into your registrar and set up a permanent (301) redirect from mydomain.com to https://www.mydomain.com. Most registrars call this a URL redirect, domain forwarding, or a 301 redirect. The redirect must point the apex to the www version, not the other way around.