What is a Domain Registrar?

A registrar sits between you and the registry: it sells domain names to registrants and handles the registration paperwork. Its main job is to reserve domain names on your behalf and record them, along with their nameservers, in the TLD's registry. IP addresses come from your web host or internet provider, not from the registrar.

Buying a domain follows a set sequence. You pick an available name, pay for a registration term (sold in 1-year increments, up to 10 years total), and the registrar records the registration with the TLD's registry, the organization that runs that extension's master database. The registry's record carries the technical details: the domain itself, the registrar sponsoring it, its status, its registration and expiration dates, and its nameservers. The registrar also collects your contact details and keeps them on file; whether those go to the registry as well depends on the TLD and the registration-data policy that applies to it.

The registry keeps the authoritative list of which domain names are taken; the registrar checks it for you, usually through the search tool on its site. Afterward, you renew the domain and set its nameservers through the registrar. Individual DNS records are managed wherever your authoritative DNS is hosted, which can be the registrar, your web host, or a dedicated DNS provider.

Many registrars also offer add-on services: DNS management, auto-renewal, transfer locks, email forwarding, and domain privacy. Whether each one is free or paid varies by registrar, which makes these extras useful comparison points.

To sell generic TLDs like .com, a registrar needs accreditation from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). As of August 2026, ICANN's public directory lists 3,023 accredited registrars. Country-code TLDs such as .de or .uk set their own registrar rules, and some companies sell domains as resellers of an accredited registrar rather than holding accreditation themselves. DreamHost is an ICANN-accredited registrar, and you can search and register domains directly with us.

Registrar, registry, and registrant

Three similar words name three different jobs in every domain registration:

• Registry: the organization that operates a TLD's authoritative database. Verisign, for example, runs the .com registry. Registries wholesale names to registrars instead of selling to the public.
• Registrar: the company that sells registrations to the public and submits each one to the registry.
• Registrant: the person or business that holds the domain. When you register a name, that's you.

Domain registrar vs. web host

No, a domain registrar isn't the same as a web host. The registrar manages your domain name's registration. The host stores your website's files and serves them to visitors. One company can do both jobs, or you can split them: keeping them together gives you one account, one bill, and one support team, while keeping them separate lets you change hosts without touching your domain. Either way works, because a domain registered anywhere can point at any host's nameservers. DreamHost does both, but nothing requires you to buy them in one place.

How to choose a domain registrar

Run five checks before you hand a registrar your domain:

• Confirm ICANN accreditation. Any registrar selling generic TLDs appears in ICANN's public list of accredited registrars.
• Compare the renewal price, not just the first-year promotion. The renewal rate is what you'll pay every year afterward.
• Check whether domain privacy is free or a paid add-on.
• Read the transfer-out policy, so you know you can leave without a fight later.
• Check the support channels, plus the DNS tools if the registrar will also run your nameservers. Plenty of owners manage DNS at their web host or a dedicated DNS provider instead.

Then compare per-TLD pricing across your shortlist. DreamHost's current registration and renewal prices are on our domain pricing page.

Switching registrars

You're not locked in to your first choice. A domain transfer moves a domain to a new registrar using an authorization code (also called an auth or EPP code) that your current registrar must give you. The main constraint is timing: ICANN's transfer rules block moves within the first 60 days after initial registration or after a previous transfer. Not sure which company holds your domain? Run a WHOIS lookup. And if you're bringing a domain to us, our domain transfer page walks you through the steps.