Other meanings of Domain name registrar
Internet Governance
A domain name registrar is a company or organization accredited by a top-level domain (TLD) registry to sell and manage the reservation of internet domain names on behalf of the public. Registrars act as intermediaries between domain name registrants and the central registries that maintain the authoritative databases for each TLD, such as .com or .org. They handle the technical and administrative tasks of domain registration, including checking availability, processing payments, and configuring DNS settings. The role of registrars was formalized in the late 1990s when the U.S. government introduced competition into the domain name system, breaking the monopoly of Network Solutions. Today, hundreds of accredited registrars operate globally, ranging from large corporations to small niche providers, all governed by policies set by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
The modern registrar system emerged from the 1998 U.S. Department of Commerce white paper that called for privatization of the domain name system. Prior to that, Network Solutions held a government contract to operate the .com, .net, and .org registries and also served as the sole registrar, a monopoly that led to antitrust concerns. In 1999, ICANN introduced an accreditation program, allowing multiple companies to compete in the retail market while the registry remained a single wholesale operator. The first accredited registrars included GoDaddy (then Jomax Technologies), Tucows, and Register.com, among others. The system was designed to separate registry (wholesale) and registrar (retail) functions, a model that persists today. ICANN's Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) sets baseline requirements, including data escrow, dispute resolution participation, and compliance with WHOIS (now RDAP) obligations. The framework has evolved to address issues like domain tasting, cybersquatting, and the introduction of new gTLDs in 2013, which expanded the registrar market significantly.
Registrars interact with registries through the Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP), a standardized XML-based protocol that allows them to create, renew, transfer, and delete domain names. When a customer registers a domain, the registrar sends an EPP command to the registry, which updates its database and publishes the information in the DNS. Registrars also manage the domain's lifecycle, including the grace period after expiration (typically 30-45 days) and the redemption period (up to 30 days) during which a domain can be restored for a fee. They offer additional services such as DNS hosting, web forwarding, and privacy protection, which replaces the registrant's contact details with a proxy service to reduce spam. Registrars must be accredited separately for each TLD; for example, a registrar accredited for .com may not automatically be accredited for .uk, which is managed by Nominet. The accreditation process involves technical testing, financial background checks, and compliance with ICANN's policies, including the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) that allows trademark holders to challenge abusive registrations.
The registrar market is highly competitive, with a few large players dominating the retail space. GoDaddy is the largest registrar by market share, holding over 20% of all registered domains, followed by Tucows (which operates as OpenSRS for resellers), Namecheap, and Google Domains (which was sold to Squarespace in 2023). Many registrars operate as resellers, offering domain registration through web hosts or website builders, such as Shopify or Wix, which are not accredited themselves but partner with accredited registrars. Pricing varies widely, with some registrars offering promotional rates as low as $0.99 for the first year, but renewal prices are typically higher, often leading to customer churn. The industry has seen consolidation, with acquisitions like GoDaddy's purchase of Neustar's registry business in 2020. Registrars also play a role in the aftermarket, facilitating the sale of expired or premium domains through auctions and marketplaces. The introduction of new gTLDs, such as .app and .xyz, has created new opportunities for registrars to offer niche extensions, though many have struggled to gain traction.
Beyond the mainstream operations, registrars have several niche and historical facets. For instance, the first registrar accreditation was granted to Network Solutions itself, which continued to operate as a registrar after the monopoly ended. The term 'domain tasting' refers to a practice where registrars exploited the five-day grace period to register domains for free, test their traffic, and then drop them, which was curbed by ICANN in 2008 through a fee on deletions. Another obscure detail is that the .us TLD requires registrants to be U.S. citizens or entities, and registrars must enforce this. Some registrars specialize in privacy-focused services, such as Njalla, which acts as a proxy registrant to protect the identity of website owners, operating from the privacy-friendly jurisdiction of Nevis. Additionally, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) maintains a list of accredited registrars, but there are also 'registrar resellers' that are not accredited and must operate through an accredited partner. The role of registrars in the DNS root zone is often misunderstood: they do not control the root servers, but they do manage the delegation of names within TLDs. Finally, the 2013 RAA introduced a requirement for registrars to publish their fees for ICANN's compliance, but this has been inconsistently enforced.
This article focuses on the commercial entity that facilitates domain name registration, distinct from registries and DNS resolvers.
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