How to buy a domain name
Pick the name, check it is available, and register it at a registrar — the whole thing takes about five minutes and costs roughly $10–$12 a year for a .com. Two things decide whether you did it well. Check the renewal price, not the first-year price: across the verified prices on this site, 76% of them charge less in year one than at renewal, so the advertised figure is usually not what you will pay. And before you close the tab, turn on auto-renew and two-factor authentication — the two settings that prevent the two ways people actually lose domains.
Step 1: decide the extension before the name
The extension changes the price more than the registrar does. A .com renews from about $10 at the cheapest seller we verify, while some newer extensions renew at three times that or more despite advertising a first year under a dollar.
.com remains the default for a reason — it is what people type when they are guessing — but a country extension can be better for a local business, and .org still carries meaning for nonprofits. What matters is checking the renewal for the extension you like before you fall in love with a name in it.
Step 2: check availability, and be careful where
Any registrar's search will tell you whether a name is free. Use one you would actually buy from, and register promptly if you find something you want.
One habit worth having: do the searching at the registrar you intend to buy from, rather than scattering searches across sites you have no relationship with. The concern people raise about search data leaking to speculators is hard to evidence, but the habit costs nothing and removes the question.
Step 3: compare the renewal price, not the promotion
This is the step that separates a good purchase from a regrettable one, and it takes thirty seconds.
Across the price rows we verify, only about a quarter are flat — the same in year one as at every renewal. The rest discount the first year, sometimes enormously: the steepest case in our data is a domain advertised at $0.98 that renews at $48.98, fifty times as much, every year afterwards. The promotion is real, and so is the renewal.
- Look at the renewal column, not the headline price
- Multiply by ten — a domain is usually held for years, and the total is the honest comparison
- Check whether the price shown includes the ICANN fee, which some registrars itemise separately
Step 4: decline what you do not need
Checkout is where the margin lives. Most of what is offered is either free elsewhere or unnecessary at the start.
- WHOIS privacy — should be free; most registrars we track include it, and paying for it is a reason to look elsewhere
- Hosting, site builders, email plans — separate decisions, and cheaper made separately
- SSL certificates — free through Let's Encrypt and issued automatically by most modern hosts
- "Domain protection" bundles — read what they add over the free registrar lock, which is usually little
Step 5: the two settings, before you close the tab
Domains are lost in two ways, and both are preventable in under a minute.
Auto-renew handles the first: inattention. A domain that expires goes through a redemption period where recovery costs far more than a renewal would have, and then it drops and someone else can take it. Two-factor authentication handles the second: an account compromise, after which nameservers can be changed and the domain transferred away. Turn both on now rather than intending to.
Buy a domain name
- 1Choose the extension firstCheck what the extension renews at before choosing a name in it. Extension choice moves the price more than registrar choice does.
- 2Search at a registrar you would buy fromCheck availability where you intend to purchase, and register promptly if the name matters to you.
- 3Compare the renewal, not the first yearLook at the renewal column and multiply by the years you expect to hold it. Confirm whether the ICANN fee is included or itemised separately.
- 4Decline the add-onsWHOIS privacy should be included free. Hosting, email and SSL are separate decisions and usually cheaper bought separately or free.
- 5Complete the registration with accurate contact detailsRegistrant details must be accurate — false data is grounds for cancellation — and the registrant email is where every renewal and transfer notice goes.
- 6Turn on auto-renew and two-factor authenticationThese prevent the two ways domains are actually lost: expiry through inattention, and account compromise. Do both before closing the tab.
Buying a domain: choose the extension first, since extension choice affects price far more than registrar choice; check availability at a registrar you intend to purchase from; compare the renewal price rather than the promotional first-year price, because roughly 76% of verified price rows on this site charge less in year one than at renewal and only about a quarter are flat; decline checkout add-ons, since WHOIS privacy is included free at most tracked registrars and SSL is free via Let's Encrypt; provide accurate registrant contact details, as inaccurate data is grounds for cancellation; then enable auto-renew and two-factor authentication, which address the two common causes of domain loss — lapse through inattention and account compromise.