What is a domain registrar?

A domain registrar is the company that registers your domain name for you. It checks that the name is available and submits it to the registry that runs the extension, such as .co.uk or .com. After that, it manages the registration for as long as you renew it.

You need a registrar as soon as you want your own domain name, for a website or for an email address on that name. Once you've chosen a name, you register your domain name with a registrar. From then on, nobody else can use that name while your registration runs.

What does a domain registrar do?

From the first registration until you let the domain go, the registrar is where you manage it. It does these jobs for you:

• Registers the name. It submits the name to the registry, which keeps the database of names under that extension.
• Keeps your details. It collects the contact details of the registrant, the person or business the domain is registered to, and lets you update them later.
• Handles renewals. It renews the registration before it runs out, a year or more at a time, as long as the renewal is paid.
• Moves domains. It gives you what you need to move the domain to another registrar, such as the authorisation code for a .com.
• Connects the domain. It lets you set the name servers and change the DNS settings that send visitors to your website and email to your inbox. The name servers decide which host manages those settings.

Registrar, registry and registrant: who does what

A domain registrar and a registry do different jobs. The domain registry runs an extension, and the registrar registers names under it. You, the domain registrant, hold the rights to the name. The registry lets registrars sell the names under its extension to you.

For .com and other generic top-level domains, the endings that aren't tied to one country, a fourth party is involved. ICANN, the non-profit that coordinates the internet's naming system, holds the contracts with both the registry and the registrar, and it accredits the registrars.

The parties behind a domain such as harbourlanebakery.co.uk

A country extension is run by its own registry operator, which sets the policies for it. For .co.uk and .uk that registry is Nominet, and registrars register and manage those names through Nominet's systems. For you, this means a .co.uk follows Nominet's rules, so its WHOIS and its transfers work differently from a .com.

How does a domain registrar register your domain?

Registering a domain starts with you: you search for the name, choose it, give your contact details and complete the registration. The registrar then checks the name against the registry's requirements and submits it to the registry, with you as the registrant.

You don't buy a domain for good. You hold the right to use the name for a set period, usually a year or more, and you renew the registration to keep it. For .com and other generic extensions, a single registration can last up to ten years. Our domains are registered for a year at a time and renew automatically by default, so they don't expire by accident. If a registration does run out, the name is no longer reserved for you, and in time someone else can register it.

The registrant details decide who holds the right to the name. Make sure the domain is registered in your own name or your company's name, not in the name of a web designer or an agency. To check, log in to the account where the domain is registered and look at the registrant details. With us, you see them in the control panel. If someone else registered the domain for you, ask them to change the registrant to you.

WHOIS, privacy and finding your registrar

Registrars collect your details when you register and make the registration data available through a public lookup, long known as WHOIS. How much of your data shows depends on the extension.

For .co.uk and other .uk domains, the WHOIS doesn't show your name or address unless you've agreed to it. For other extensions, your name and contact details may be public. Many registrars offer private domain registration, a privacy or proxy service that shows generic contact details in the lookup instead of yours. Ask your registrar what it publishes, and whether you can use such a service.

To find the registrar a domain is with, look up its registration data. ICANN Lookup, ICANN's free lookup tool, covers .com and other generic extensions, and Nominet's WHOIS covers .co.uk. The same lookup is how you find out who a domain is registered to, as far as the registrant has made their details public.

How to choose a domain registrar

Before you choose, look at what you'll pay over time and how easy the domain will be to look after. Check these points:

• Many registrars charge less for the first year than for a renewal. Compare what the domain costs to renew, not only what you pay to register it.
• The range of extensions differs from one registrar to the next, because a registrar needs each registry's approval to sell an extension. Make sure the one you choose offers the domain extensions you want.
• You'll want a support team you can reach for help with renewals, transfers and DNS settings.
• Moving the domain away later should be easy, and you should be able to protect it against transfers you didn't ask for.

For most small businesses, we recommend judging a registrar by its renewal price and its support rather than its first-year offer. You live with those for as long as you keep the domain. If you're also building a website, it's simplest to register the domain with the company that provides your web hosting and can host your email. You then manage all three in one account. If you want a .co.uk domain and the matching .com domain, register both with the same registrar, so they renew in one place.

Search for your name, see which extensions are available and register your domain in your own name.

Questions about domain registrars

Can I move my domain to another registrar?

Yes: for a generic extension such as .com, you can change registrar from 60 days after the domain was registered or last transferred. You need an authorisation code from your current registrar, and the domain's transfer lock has to be switched off. A .co.uk or .uk domain doesn't use a code until 9 February 2027, when Nominet switches .uk transfers to an authorisation code too. Each registrar has an IPS tag, the ID Nominet gives its registrar account. You ask your new registrar for its IPS tag and give it to your current registrar, which changes the domain's tag to it. To transfer your domain to us, you also need access to the email address registered to the domain. For a generic domain like .com, we email you to approve the Domain Registration Agreement.

Does my registrar have to host my website?

No. A domain can stay registered with one company while its name servers, your website and your email are at another host. In that case, you manage the DNS settings at that host, not at your registrar.

Register your domain

When you've settled on a name and the extensions you want, check that the name is available and register your domain with us. You then manage the domain in the same account as your website and email.