A registrar is the company you buy a domain name through and use to manage its registration, renewals and settings.
A domain registrar is the company that sells you a domain name and looks after its registration on your behalf. You can't buy a .com directly from the organisation that runs .com. Instead you go through a registrar, which records your registration with the registry, takes your renewal payments and gives you a dashboard to manage the domain.
For example, when you search for yourbusiness.com and register it, the registrar checks with Verisign (the .com registry) that the name is free, registers it for you, and from then on it's listed as your domain's registrar of record.
How a domain registrar works
The domain system has three main layers:
- ICANN sets the rules for generic extensions and accredits registrars.
- Registries run each extension, such as .com, .org or .site, and keep the master list of names.
- Registrars sell names to the public and talk to registries for you.
Some companies are accredited directly with ICANN and each registry. Others act as resellers for an accredited registrar. Either way, you deal with one company for the domain.
What a registrar lets you do
- Register and renew domains
- Set your domain's nameservers
- Manage DNS records, if they host your DNS
- Lock and unlock the domain with a domain lock
- Get the EPP code to move to another registrar
- Turn on domain privacy
- Update your registrant contact details
Registrar vs web host
Your registrar and your web host don't have to be the same company. The registrar controls the domain itself, while the host stores your website files and often your email. You connect the two by pointing the domain's nameservers or DNS records at your host. Keeping both in one place is simpler to manage, but separating them is common and works perfectly well.
How to choose a domain registrar
Look beyond the first-year price:
- Renewal price: some registrars offer cheap first years and much higher renewals.
- Free extras: WHOIS privacy and DNS management should be included.
- Ownership: the domain must be registered in your name, not the registrar's.
- Transfers: moving away should be straightforward and free.
- Support that can actually help when a domain stops resolving.
Common registrar problems
- Missing renewal emails because your contact address is out of date.
- Not knowing which registrar holds a domain. A WHOIS lookup shows it.
- Being unable to transfer within 60 days of registration or a previous transfer, because of ICANN's transfer lock.