Buying only a domain, with no hosting yet: what you can and cannot do

You can. A domain registered on its own is yours and stays reserved, but on its own it shows no website and receives no e-mail: the domain is just the name. The website needs somewhere to live (hosting), and e-mail needs a mailbox service. Registering the name now, before you have the rest, is a normal and cheap way to hold it.

What works and what does not without hosting

Thing With the domain alone
The name is yours and nobody else can register it Yes, as long as it is renewed.
Showing a website No. The site’s files on a server are missing, and so is the domain pointing there.
Receiving e-mail on the domain No. An e-mail service is missing. See the Professional E-mail plan.
Managing DNS records Yes. The domain’s DNS management is available even without hosting with us.
Moving to another provider later Yes, it is a transfer. See the transfer page.

After registering, step by step

1 Register the domain through domain registration, with your real details. The contact details must be those of whoever will own the domain.
2 Keep the login safe and set up renewal. A domain is paid every year, and if renewal fails the name can be lost. See the renewal page.
3 When you have the site or the e-mail, point the domain. Registering and then pointing are two separate steps. See pointing your domain to us: nameservers, step by step.
4 If the domain does not open after pointing it, the cause is usually one of three. See registered the domain and it still does not open.

Two cautions while the domain waits

Keep the registration e-mail address and the panel login safe: renewal notices go there, and an address that no longer exists is the commonest way to lose a domain. And check the holder’s details on the WHOIS lookup, so you know what is public and that the name is registered to whoever should hold it.

A domain with nothing behind it may show an error or a parking page, and whoever lands there may not realise the name is yours. If it will take a while to build the site, put at least a simple page saying who you are.
Not decided yet what to do with the domain? See domain vs web hosting: what is the difference and, to pick the name, the AI domain name generator.

Registered the domain and now want the site or the e-mail? Tell us what you want to do and we will name the next step.

Open a support ticket

SEE ALSO

Domain vs web hosting: what is the difference?

Pointing your domain to us: nameservers, step by step

The Professional E-mail plan

Domain registration

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