diff --git a/templates/js-cypress/.actor/input_schema.json b/templates/js-cypress/.actor/input_schema.json
index c989b5455..984efb9c2 100644
--- a/templates/js-cypress/.actor/input_schema.json
+++ b/templates/js-cypress/.actor/input_schema.json
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
             "type": "string",
             "description": "Base url for the tests.",
             "editor": "textfield",
-            "prefill": "https://apify.com"
+            "prefill": "https://example.com"
         },
         "viewportWidth": {
             "title": "Viewport width",
diff --git a/templates/js-cypress/README.md b/templates/js-cypress/README.md
index e15093cf1..bd38edb43 100644
--- a/templates/js-cypress/README.md
+++ b/templates/js-cypress/README.md
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ Run your [Cypress tests](https://www.cypress.io/) on the Apify Platform effectiv
 
 You can easily run your tests on the Apify Platform, just copy-paste your test files into `cypress/e2e` folder. The tests' names need to end with `-spec.cy.js`.
 
+The bundled example specs visit [`https://example.com`](https://example.com) — a stable site reserved for documentation — so the demo passes reliably out of the box. Point the tests at your own site by setting the `baseUrl` input (or editing `baseUrl` in `cypress.config.js`); `cy.visit('/')` then resolves against it.
+
 You can also customize the test run by specifying other options in the input, e.g. the screen size, video recording, or the default command timeout.
 
 After running the tests, the Apify platform stores the results in a comprehensive way - datasets for JSON results, and key-value store for videos. You can view the results directly on the platform or download them to your local machine using a REST API.
diff --git a/templates/js-cypress/cypress.config.js b/templates/js-cypress/cypress.config.js
index d6dbdb833..26e361a0d 100644
--- a/templates/js-cypress/cypress.config.js
+++ b/templates/js-cypress/cypress.config.js
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { defineConfig } from 'cypress';
 export default defineConfig({
     e2e: {
         // to be able to run the tests locally for Apify CLI versions 17.0.0 and older
-        baseUrl: 'https://apify.com',
+        // Defaults to a stable demo site; override it via the Actor `baseUrl` input.
+        baseUrl: 'https://example.com',
     },
 });
diff --git a/templates/js-cypress/cypress/e2e/first-spec.cy.js b/templates/js-cypress/cypress/e2e/first-spec.cy.js
index da866b5fb..bae5bded5 100644
--- a/templates/js-cypress/cypress/e2e/first-spec.cy.js
+++ b/templates/js-cypress/cypress/e2e/first-spec.cy.js
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 describe('first tests suite', () => {
-    it('visit Apify main page', () => {
+    it('visits the homepage', () => {
+        // `baseUrl` is configured in cypress.config.js (and overridable from the
+        // Actor input), so cy.visit('/') hits whatever site you point it at.
         cy.visit('/');
-        cy.log('Visiting Apify main page');
-        cy.contains('div', 'Apify').should('exist');
+        cy.log('Visiting the homepage');
+        cy.contains('h1', 'Example Domain').should('be.visible');
     });
 });
diff --git a/templates/js-cypress/cypress/e2e/second-spec.cy.js b/templates/js-cypress/cypress/e2e/second-spec.cy.js
index cd27f82ed..8f4f2559c 100644
--- a/templates/js-cypress/cypress/e2e/second-spec.cy.js
+++ b/templates/js-cypress/cypress/e2e/second-spec.cy.js
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 describe('second tests suite', () => {
-    it('visit apify store', () => {
-        cy.visit('/store');
-        cy.log('Visiting Apify Store, clicking on Actor');
-        cy.contains('.ActorStoreItem-title', 'Web Scraper').should('be.visible').click();
-        cy.log('Asserting store Actor redirect');
-        cy.url().should('eq', 'https://apify.com/apify/web-scraper');
+    it('finds the outbound link', () => {
+        cy.visit('/');
+        cy.log('Locating the outbound link by its target');
+        // Select the link by its href attribute rather than its text. This is
+        // robust to copy changes on the page (the visible label may differ) and
+        // demonstrates asserting on an attribute instead of clicking through to
+        // another domain, which Cypress restricts across origins.
+        cy.get('a[href*="iana.org"]').should('be.visible');
     });
 });
diff --git a/templates/js-cypress/cypress/support/e2e.js b/templates/js-cypress/cypress/support/e2e.js
index 17caa83ad..4a014e0b6 100644
--- a/templates/js-cypress/cypress/support/e2e.js
+++ b/templates/js-cypress/cypress/support/e2e.js
@@ -12,3 +12,11 @@
 // You can read more here:
 // https://on.cypress.io/guides/configuration#section-global
 // ***********************************************************
+
+// By default Cypress fails the test if the visited page throws an uncaught
+// exception (e.g. a minified React hydration error like #418:
+// https://react.dev/errors/418). For an end-to-end demo we only care that the
+// page loads and our assertions pass, not that the site's own JavaScript is
+// bug-free, so we swallow page-level exceptions and let the test continue.
+// Remove this if you want your own tests to fail on the visited site's errors.
+Cypress.on('uncaught:exception', () => false);
diff --git a/templates/js-cypress/src/main.js b/templates/js-cypress/src/main.js
index 7e266f967..3adf9f76f 100644
--- a/templates/js-cypress/src/main.js
+++ b/templates/js-cypress/src/main.js
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ import { globby } from 'globby';
 await Actor.init();
 
 // Define the configuration to start the cypress test with - get it from the input of the Actor or use a default config.
-const input = (await Actor.getInput()) || { baseUrl: 'https://apify.com', video: true };
+const input = (await Actor.getInput()) || { baseUrl: 'https://example.com', video: true };
 log.info(`Running tests with following input: ${JSON.stringify(input)}`);
 
 // Helper function to run tests from specific test file with given configuration from INPUT.json