Domains
A domain is your address. Hosting is the building. You need both, and once you see it that way the rest of the decision is straightforward.
Published 4 February 2026 6 min read
A domain name is the name people type — yourbrand.com. You register it for a year at a time and renew it.
Web hosting is the space where your website's files and emails live, so that when someone types the name, something appears.
Your domain holds a small set of settings called DNS records. Those records say which server your website is on and where your email should go. Change hosting and you update those records; the domain name itself never changes.
Yes, unless you only want to forward the domain somewhere else. A registered domain with no hosting shows a blank or parked page. Add hosting and the same address shows your website.
Register your domain and pair it with hosting that configures itself — one account, one renewal date.
Both work. Keeping them together means one invoice, one login and automatic setup — the domain is pointed at your hosting for you. Keeping them apart means you copy a couple of settings across yourself.
You hold the registration of your domain for as long as you renew it, and you can transfer it to another provider. Hosting is a service you rent monthly or yearly. Keep your domain renewal on autopay — losing a domain is far more painful than losing a hosting plan.
Our engineers answer setup and migration questions in plain language, 24 hours a day.
