- Should an agency hold client domains in its own account?
- We would advise against it, and this is editorial judgement rather than a scored criterion. A domain registered in the agency's account is legally the agency's, which makes offboarding a negotiation and leaves the client stranded if the agency stops trading. The cleaner arrangement is the client's entity as registrant with the agency holding administrative or technical access. Where a registrar supports sub-accounts or team roles, use them — though note we do not currently track those features, so check them directly.
- Why can't I transfer a client's domain after updating the WHOIS contact?
- Because a change to the registrant contact starts a 60-day transfer lock under ICANN policy, the same lock that applies after a new registration or a completed transfer. It is the most common self-inflicted delay in agency onboarding. Transfer the domain first, then update the contact. Registrants can opt out of the post-change lock at some registrars, but the opt-out has to be set before the change, not after.
- How much does a client book of domains actually cost?
- On verified .com prices read on 2026-08-19, a renewal ranges from $10.18 all in at Spaceship to $18.99 at Hover. Fifty domains is therefore $509.00 to $949.50 a year — a $440.50 spread for identical assets. Dynadot at $10.88 and Porkbun at $11.08 are both flat, meaning the first year equals the renewal, which makes a client book easy to forecast. Registrars that discount the first year make the same book cheaper to quote and dearer to keep.
- Is it cheaper to transfer client domains in than to renew them where they are?
- Sometimes, and it depends heavily on the destination registrar rather than on the domain. A transfer adds a year to the registration for most gTLDs, so where a registrar prices transfers below its own renewals, moving a domain is a cheaper year rather than only a cheaper move. NameSilo and Namecheap do this on most of their verified extensions while Porkbun and Dynadot almost never do. The registrar-by-registrar breakdown is on our page for domain investors, which covers the same mechanic across whole portfolios.
- Which registrar has the best bulk tools for agencies?
- Of the six whose prices we verify, Dynadot scores highest on developer tools at 9.0, with Porkbun and NameSilo at 8.5 — all three publish an API and bulk management. Hover publishes neither and scores 3.5, so it suits a single-client or single-owner setup rather than agency work. What we do not score, and should say plainly, is the agency-specific layer: sub-accounts, per-client billing separation, team permissions and reseller programmes are not tracked in our data, so verify those with the registrar directly before committing a client book.
