Choosing a Domain Registrar You Can Leave

The one asset you cannot rebuild

You can rewrite a site, move a host, and change a mail provider. A domain you can only hold or lose. That asymmetry should decide how you choose a registrar, and it is the opposite of how most people choose one.

Choose on exit, not on entry

Every registrar will sell you a domain cheaply. What matters is what happens when you want to leave, because the exit is where the costs are hidden:

• Is there a transfer-out lock? Some registrars require you to disable a lock

in one place, get an authorisation code in another, and wait. Know the steps before you need them.

• How long is the wait? A transfer normally takes several days. If the

registrar adds its own delay on top, that is a day of your site's life.

• What does support look like when something breaks? A domain that has

expired because a renewal email went unread is a support problem, and it is the worst time to discover support is a form that answers in three days.

Read the renewal price, not the first-year price

Domains are routinely sold at a low first-year price and renewed at a much higher one. The first-year price is a promotion; the renewal price is the cost. A domain is held for years, so the number that matters is the one on the renewal notice.

Check it before you buy, not after. The difference between a promotional first year and a realistic renewal is often several times the headline figure, and it compounds every year you keep the name.

Own the account, and know who owns it

The domain should be in an account you control, with an email address you will still have in five years, and with two-factor authentication on. A domain held in a web designer's account, or registered to an address that belonged to a former employee, is a domain you do not own in any practical sense.

The checklist

• Transfer-out is self-service and documented.
• Renewal price is published and reasonable.
• Two-factor authentication is available and on.
• The registrant contact is an address you control.
• Auto-renew is on, and the payment method will not expire quietly.
• The nameservers can be changed without contacting support.

Six lines. None of them is about price, and all of them are about whether the domain stays yours.