{
  "_meta": {
    "description": "Per-registrar agent profile: a single machine-readable record combining this registrar's identity, editorial category scores, Agent Readiness Index sub-scores, API-access facts, transfer/switch mechanics, and pricing-verification status. It composes data already published on this site and introduces no new facts. Sections not yet covered by a source dataset are null with a coverage note rather than guessed. Every section names the source it is composed from.",
    "site": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com",
    "profile_url": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/registrars/ionos/",
    "methodology_url": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/methodology/",
    "generated_for": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/data/registrars/ionos.json",
    "last_updated": "2026-09-29",
    "disclosure": "Best-Domain-Registrars.com is operated within Just (Just Done LLC). Every registrar is scored by the same published methodology on the same evidence."
  },
  "registrar": {
    "id": "ionos",
    "name": "IONOS",
    "slug": "ionos",
    "website": "https://www.ionos.com",
    "headquarters": "Montabaur, Germany",
    "founded": 1988,
    "icann_accredited": true,
    "wikipedia_url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionos",
    "best_for": [
      "European businesses",
      "Hosting and email bundles",
      "Managed service"
    ],
    "not_ideal_for": [
      "Transparent flat renewal pricing",
      "Lowest .com renewal"
    ],
    "whois_privacy": "Available; contact data redacted under GDPR",
    "two_factor_authentication": "Two-factor authentication (2FA) supported",
    "api_available": true,
    "bulk_tools": true,
    "last_checked": "2026-09-29",
    "last_reviewed": "2026-07-16",
    "source": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/data/registrars.json"
  },
  "editorial_scores": null,
  "agent_readiness": {
    "covered": false,
    "coverage": "This registrar is not yet scored in the Agent Readiness Index; omitted rather than guessed.",
    "source": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/agent-readiness-index/"
  },
  "api_access": {
    "covered": false,
    "coverage": "No verified record in Open Domain Data's registrar_api_capabilities dataset at this version; omitted rather than guessed.",
    "source": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/domain-registrar-api-access/"
  },
  "transfer": {
    "covered": true,
    "transfer_in": null,
    "transfer_out": {
      "prep": [
        "In Domains, open Renewal & Transfer, select the domain, and disable the Domain transfer lock",
        "gTLDs must have been registered under your name for at least 60 days (ICANN)"
      ],
      "auth_code_steps": [
        "Open Domains → Renewal & Transfer and select the domain",
        "Click \"Show Authorization Code\": IONOS requests it from the registry, so it can take a few minutes to display",
        "Give the code to your new registrar"
      ],
      "doc": "https://www.ionos.com/help/domains/transferring-your-domain-away-from-ionos-to-another-provider/getting-the-authorization-code-for-your-domain-with-11-ionos/"
    },
    "hub_url": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/switch/"
  },
  "pricing": {
    "verified": true,
    "status": "verified_primary",
    "method": "headless_render",
    "summary": "IONOS publishes every TLD it sells in one table at ionos.com/domains/domain-name-prices: TLD, Special offer, Domain Bundle Price, Welcome offer, Regular renewal fee, Domain transfers, Restore fee, ICANN fee. The page's own column notes define them: the Special offer is a first-year price available to existing customers for additional domain purchases, the Welcome offer a first-year price limited to a first-time purchase in the United States, and the Regular renewal fee the price after the first year. A new customer pays the Welcome offer where one is printed and otherwise the regular fee, so that is the first-year figure; the Special offer is not a new customer's price and is not taken. The transfer figure is the Domain transfers column, although the column note says transfers are free and a year of renewal is billed at transfer. The ICANN fee column reads 'included' on every row. The table is paginated; scripts/fetch-pricing-headless.mjs selects 500 rows per page in a real Chromium browser and reads every row. Read 2026-09-29.",
    "last_verified": "2026-09-29",
    "primary_sources": [
      "https://www.ionos.com/domains/domain-name-prices"
    ],
    "prices_url": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/registrars/ionos/#pricing",
    "dataset_url": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/data/pricing.csv"
  }
}