For AI agents and LLMs: a structured documentation index is available at /llms.txt. Every page has a Markdown sibling — append .md to any URL.

Skip to content
Docs

Work with custom subdomains

Personalize hosted checkout links using custom subdomains to build customer confidence and improve conversion.

AI summary

Add a custom subdomain to personalize hosted checkout links with your company name (e.g., aeroedit.paddle.io/pay), reducing cart abandonment and building customer trust.

  • • Custom subdomains must be approved by Paddle before use; sandbox subdomains follow the format {name}.sandbox.paddle.io and don't require approval.
  • • You can add up to 10 custom subdomains and set one as the default, which is automatically used for new hosted checkouts.
  • • To use a non-default subdomain, copy the Paddle URL and replace pay with your custom subdomain and append /pay to the path.

Custom subdomains help bridge the gap between your app and the checkout flow by putting your company or app name in the hosted checkout link, reducing cart abandonment and building the confidence customers need to complete their purchase.

How it works

You can use hosted checkouts to let users securely make purchases outside your app — no hosting required. Customers tap a button in your app to open a checkout that's fully hosted by Paddle, then they're redirected to your app when they complete their purchase.

By default, hosted checkouts are hosted at pay.paddle.io. For a more branded experience, you can add a custom subdomain to your account and use it for hosted checkout. For example, your hosted checkout can be hosted at aeroedit.paddle.io/pay. This helps to build customer confidence, improving conversion.

Custom subdomains for sandbox accounts are separate, and follow the format aeroedit.sandbox.paddle.io, where aeroedit is your custom subdomain. Custom subdomains on sandbox don't require approval.

Once you add a custom subdomain, you can set it as the default. Your default custom subdomain is used for new hosted checkouts. You can use any custom subdomain for hosted checkouts, not just your default.

You can add up to 10 custom subdomains. To keep the Paddle platform safe for everyone, custom subdomains have to be approved by Paddle before you can use them. You'll get an email from the Paddle team to let you know when your subdomain has been approved.

Add a custom subdomain

  1. Go to Paddle > Checkout > Custom subdomains.
  2. Click New custom subdomain
  3. Enter a descriptive name and an optional description to help you identify this custom subdomain. These aren't shown to customers.
  4. Enter the subdomain you want to use in the Subdomain field. This is the part that goes before paddle.io. For example, enter aeroedit to use aeroedit.paddle.io.
  5. Click Save when you're done.
  6. Wait for an email from Paddle to say that your custom subdomain has been approved.

New subdomain modal dialog with Name, Description, and Subdomain form fields, overlaying a custom subdomains management page.

Set a custom subdomain as default

Your default custom subdomain is used for new hosted checkouts that you create.

  1. Go to Paddle > Checkout > Custom subdomains.
  2. Find the subdomain you want to be the default in the list, then click the action menu and choose Set as default

Custom subdomains table showing aeroedit (approved) and paddle (rejected) entries, with an open action menu displaying Copy URL, Edit subdomain, and Set as default options.

Use a custom subdomain for a hosted checkout

To use your custom subdomain for a hosted checkout, copy a link using your default custom subdomain or copy the Paddle URL and swap pay.paddle.io with your custom subdomain.

Use your default custom subdomain

  1. Go to Paddle > Checkout > Hosted checkouts.
  2. Find the hosted checkout you want to use with a custom domain, then click the button.
  3. Choose Copy custom URL to get a hosted checkout link that uses your default custom subdomain.

Screenshot of the Paddle dashboard 'Hosted checkouts' list view. The interface displays a table with columns for Name, Description, and Redirect URL. Multiple entries are shown with placeholder content. A context menu is open for one of the items showing four options: Edit (with pencil icon), Copy Paddle URL (with copy icon), Copy Custom URL (with copy icon), and Archive (with trash icon in red).

Use another custom subdomain

  1. Go to Paddle > Checkout > Hosted checkouts.
  2. Find the hosted checkout you want to use with a custom domain, then click the button.
  3. Choose Copy Paddle URL to get a hosted checkout link that uses pay.paddle.io or sandbox.pay.paddle.io.
  4. Paste the URL somewhere and replace pay with the custom subdomain you want to use and add /pay to the path. For example, replace pay with aeroedit in pay.paddle.io if your subdomain is aeroedit.

Screenshot of the Paddle dashboard 'Hosted checkouts' list view. The interface displays a table with columns for Name, Description, and Redirect URL. Multiple entries are shown with placeholder content. A context menu is open for one of the items showing four options: Edit (with pencil icon), Copy Paddle URL (with copy icon), Copy Custom URL (with copy icon), and Archive (with trash icon in red).

Your complete URL should look something like this:

Example custom subdomain
https://aeroedit.paddle.io/pay/hsc_01jt8s46kx4nv91002z7vy4ecj_1as3scas9cascascasasx23dsa3asd2a

Was this page helpful?