The domain map: where to register, buy, sell and check a domain

Register a domain

A registrar puts a domain in your name for a year or more and renews it. Any of these will do, and a name can move between registrars later.

Cloudflare Registrarcloudflare.com
Registers and renews domain names inside a Cloudflare account.
Dynadotdynadot.com
Registers domain names, with a marketplace for buying them.
Namecheapnamecheap.com
Registers domain names, with hosting, email and SSL certificates.
Porkbunporkbun.com
Registers domain names, with hosting, email and SSL.
Spaceshipspaceship.com
Registers domain names, with hosting and email.

Buy or sell a domain someone already owns

Most good names are already registered. These are the places owners list them and buyers make offers.

Catch a domain as it expires

When an owner stops renewing, the name drops. These services try to register it the moment it frees up, and auction it when more than one person wants it.

Pay safely

For a sale between strangers, an escrow holds the money until the name has moved.

Escrow.comescrow.com
Holds the buyer's payment until the domain has moved, then pays the seller.

Check a domain's records

Public records show a domain's registrar, dates and status, and who runs each ending, from .com to .ai.

Know what domains sell for

Reported sales, appraisals and the people who track them. A price is only as good as the evidence behind it.

Learn and talk shop

News, forums and a field guide for the first steps.

How the map is made

Each company gets its own page here with one plain line on what it does and a link to its site. Inside each section the order is alphabetical, and our own tools come last, marked url.ventures. Nobody pays to be listed or to move up.

Run one of these companies? Your page is yours to link to. Something wrong, or someone missing? Tell the Desk