Best domain registrars

A domain is a recurring purchase.

The number in an ad is usually the first-year price. You pay the renewal price every year after that, and it can be very different from the first year.

Before you compare two registrars, find the renewal price for the exact extension you want, such as .com, .co or .io. Then work out what you will pay next year, not only today.

• Look for the renewal price on the checkout page, not only on the landing page.
• Check whether a discount code applies to the first year only.
• If a lower price needs a multi-year term, add up the total cost of that term.

Transfer and recovery rules worth checking

Registrars that sell common extensions such as .com work under policies from ICANN, the body that coordinates domain names. Three of those policies affect what you can do with a domain.

• A change to registrant contact details can trigger a 60-day transfer lock. Some registrars offer an opt-out for this change-of-registrant lock.
• A registrar may deny a transfer during the first 60 days after registration or a previous transfer. Check the rule that applies to your domain.
• When a domain is in a 30-day Redemption Grace Period, the registrar must allow restoration during that period. Its start is not necessarily the expiry date; check the recovery process for your extension.

What the labels in the table mean

The table is built from the offers our feed lists for each store. Here is what each part means.

• Discount label: the explicitly stated domain discount, such as “30% off domains”. A separate discount for hosting or another service is not presented as a domain discount. Confirm the eligible extension and whether renewals are included.
• View offer: opens the retailer so you can review the promotion and its redemption requirements. Confirm the conditions before checkout.
• See all coupons: opens the store’s Blippr page for its other listed offers and available end-date information.
• Live: the offer was in the feed when this page was built. Prices can change before you reach the store.

The details worth checking

Work through these in order. Each one takes a minute on the registrar’s own site.

1. 1Renewal price

   Look up the standard renewal price for your exact extension and the term you plan to buy.

2. 2Privacy & add-ons

   See whether privacy is included or costs extra, and check the cart for other optional charges.

3. 3Transfer policy

   Read the registrar’s transfer guidance, including timing restrictions and any fees.

4. 4Recovery costs

   Check the renewal and restore process before relying on a particular recovery window.

5. 5Support

   Look for the contact channels and hours listed by the registrar.

Do you need privacy protection?

A domain registration includes contact details. Those details are often visible in a public directory. A privacy option replaces them with a proxy in that directory.

Whether you need one depends on how much you want your contact details visible, and what the registrar charges for the option. Check whether it is included or billed separately before you decide.

How we will rank this page

We have not ranked these registrars. This page will keep saying so until each criterion has a documented source. This is the plan:

• Renewal price for .com, taken from each registrar’s public pricing page, with the date we checked it.
• Transfer-out terms, taken from the registrar’s transfer policy.
• Add-on costs, taken from the pricing pages as listed.
• Support channels and hours, taken from the registrar’s support page.

What we have and have not done

We have not bought, renewed or transferred a domain through these registrars. The sources above describe the rules. They don’t show how each registrar applies them.

A future test would register and renew domains ourselves and record the real costs and delays. We will publish those results with dates once we have them. Commission will not be a ranking criterion, and neither will whether a registrar is a partner.