Halt web hosting, keep custom domain and have it point to built-in domain?

Site URL: http://authorsforblackvoices.org

Hi folks, I purchased a custom domain (authorsforblackvoices.org) and monthly web hosting through Squarespace to build, MacGuyver-style, a website that could host an annual charity auction. It worked well enough for the first two years (I made each individual auction item a blog post and had people comment to bid), but this year, I partnered with non-profit who'll host the entire auction on one of those official charity auction sites. So I think it's time to stop paying for web hosting...but keep my custom domain and have it point (I think? Not forward?) to the site's free, permanent built-in domain: authorsforvoicesofcolor.squarespace.com. In other words, I want to hang on to my domain but shunt hosting duties over to Squarespace's free built-in domain.

All the help pages I could find are about pointing your domain to a different site (e.g., https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/215744668#toc-point-to-a-different-squarespace-site), not simply redirecting visitors to the built-in domain for that very site. (To put it another way—sorry if this is overkill, I'm a writer, not a tech person—I want to cancel my monthly web hosting subscription and have anyone who types in authorsforblackvoices.org magically find themselves at the otherwise-identical authorsforvoicesofcolor.squarespace.com.) Anyone know if this is possible? In my dream scenario, I'd just cancel the web hosting and the domain would automatically redirect to the .squarespace.com version, but that may be too Pollyannaish. Thanks so much in advance for any help! 

Please see the last bullet point of Before you begin in Forwarding a Squarespace domain.

It appears SS doesn't support what you want to do.

However. You could transfer your domain to a provider like GoDaddy and I think you'll find they have the feature you are looking for. Please do some research before you transfer to make sure the provider you choose can do what you want.

11 hours ago, AndiB said:

I want to cancel my monthly web hosting subscription and have anyone who types in authorsforblackvoices.org magically find themselves at the otherwise-identical authorsforvoicesofcolor.squarespace.com

The domain ending ".squarespace.com" is built-in to your Squarespace website. If you cancel the web hosting subscription with Squarespace, the built-in Squarespace domain "authorsforvoicesofcolor.squarespace.com" will be deleted too.

If you are cancelling your Squarespace website, you'll probably want to try to forward your custom domain (authorsforblackvoices.org) to your page on the official charity auction site you will be using.

But now that you're partnering with a non-profit for the auction, cutting some costs and ditching the monthly web hosting subscription makes sense. To answer your question, yes, it's totally possible to keep your custom domain and have it a point to Squarespace's free built-in domain. You don't need to forward it. Just update your domain's DNS settings to point to the new site. If you're looking for some alternatives, have you considered VPS hosting? It's like having your own private server gives you more control and flexibility. Check out ishosting.com/en/vps for some options. Hope that helps, and good luck with your future charity auctions!