I can’t put my free domain live
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I’ve created a website using the free hosting on WordPress and attached it to my own domain. Whenever I tried to launch the site “they all direct me to purchase a domain or upgrade before allowing the launch… How can I make my “free” website visible to the public without any purchases? I did use the AI assistant to build the site.
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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You can use the AI website builder for free to create a new site. Upgrade to a Premium or Business plan to launch the site publicly.
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What you’re experiencing is expected behaviour for sites created using the AI Website Builder.
When a site is built with AI on WordPress.com, it requires a paid hosting plan( Minimum Premium Plan) to be launched publicly. This is why you’re only seeing paid plan options and no free plan when you click the Launch button.
You can read more about this here:
https://wordpress.com/support/ai-website-builder/
Please refer to the screenshot.
https://prnt.sc/BnrLimtGOn5Q
So yes, this is happening because the site was created with AI assistance. To launch it publicly, you’ll need to upgrade to one of the available paid (Premium or Business) plans.
I hope this clarifies the confusion.
Let me know if you have any further questions or need help with anything. -
Thanks for coming back to me. I didn’t know I had to pay for the AI builder (I was just testing it out but didn’t know I was locked into that option) how can I revert to a free option. If I need to rebuild the site how do I go about doing that ?
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Hi @ragdolltts
Unfortunately, we won’t be able to revert the same site to a free option.
We’ll need to build a new without the AI builder and point your existing domain there. Here’s what you’ll do:
- Go to https://wordpress.com/start and create a new site
- Skip purchasing a domain and select the Free Plan for this site.
- Transfer your domain to the new site you just created. You can follow this guide in doing so – Transfer a domain to another site
Could you try these steps in your account so you can revert to a free option and rebuild your site?
Let me know if you have any questions.
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For anyone else who might read this thread, according to the recently updated Support Guide on the AI website builder, it’s now possible to launch with a Personal plan.
Use the AI website builder on WordPress.com to create a fully designed website in minutes—without coding, templates, or technical knowledge. This guide will show you how to create your website with AI. You can use the AI website builder for free to create a new site. Upgrade to a Personal, Premium, or Business plan to launch the site publicly. In this guideVideo tutorialHow
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