Blog / Who owns your website and domain? 5 questions to ask

Who owns your website and domain? 5 questions to ask

By Mesih · Published October 2, 2026 · 4 min read

Short answer: The person whose name is listed as the registrant of your domain is its owner, so make sure that is you. Ask five things before you agree to anything: who is the registrant, who holds the login, can you take your content with you, what happens if you stop paying, and what every fee is.

You are about to hire someone to build your website, or sign up with a website builder. Before you say yes, find out who will own your website and your domain. A domain is your web address, like yourbusiness.com. The owner of a domain is called the registrant, and it should be you.

Here are five plain questions to ask. Ask them in writing, by email or text, so you have the answers later.

1. Who is the registrant of the domain?

ICANN is the organization that coordinates the domain name system worldwide. It says the registrant is the domain owner whose details appear in the public domain records (called WHOIS). You can look up a domain at lookup.icann.org to see which company is the registrar. Some records also show the registrant, though many hide those details. A registrar is the company you buy and manage the domain through.

Look up your own domain today. If it shows your web person's name or company, that person is the registrant, not you. If the details are hidden, ask your registrar, or the person who set it up, whose name is on the record.

ICANN also says a registrant takes sole responsibility for the registration and use of the domain. That is another reason to want your own name on it.

2. Who holds the login?

Your domain lives in an account at the registrar. Ask whose email address and password are on that account. You want the account in your name, with your email.

ICANN says registrants must give accurate contact details and keep them up to date. It also says you must answer your registrar's messages within 15 days, and that if you let the domain renew automatically, you must keep your payment information current. If the login goes to someone else's inbox, you may never see those messages.

3. Can I take my site and content with me?

Ask what you would get if you left tomorrow, and in what form. Your text, photos, logo and price list are the things you most want back. Ask if you can get them as files you can open.

Also ask who controls the hosting. Hosting is the service that keeps your website files online. ICANN says the domain registrar and the hosting company are separate, and that moving a site means working with your old host, your new host and your registrar. A good answer is a plain list of what you get and how.

4. What happens if I stop paying or leave?

Get this in writing before you sign. Ask:

  • Does the site go offline right away?
  • Who keeps the domain, and can it be moved to another registrar?
  • How long do I have to collect my content?

For a move between registrars, ICANN says the registrant or the administrative contact listed in the domain records can transfer a domain to the registrar of their choice. To do it you need an authorization code (often called an auth-code). ICANN says a registrar must provide one within five calendar days of a request if you can't create it yourself in your account.

One more detail: ICANN says that since December 1, 2016, registrars must lock a domain against transfer for 60 days after certain changes to the registrant's details. So sort out the ownership question early, not the week you want to leave.

5. What are all the fees, and when do they come due?

Ask for a list: setup, hosting, domain, renewal, changes, and any fee to move away. ICANN says registrants are entitled to the terms and pricing, and should not face false advertising or hidden fees from their registrar. Ask to see the agreement too. ICANN says you can review it any time and download a copy.

We wrote a full checklist for offers that say "free" in how to spot hidden fees in a "free website" offer.

Where bizhq is the weaker choice

On the free bizhq plan you cannot use your own .com. Your address is yourname.bizhq.page, which sits under our domain, so that address does not move with you. If owning your own domain matters most to you, buy the .com yourself in your own name and use a plan that connects it. If you would rather have us do that for you, with the domain registered in your name, we offer it as an optional extra: see what it includes. See how the free builders differ in our comparison, or read does a free web address hurt trust?

Your checklist

  1. Look up your domain at lookup.icann.org and ask who the registrant is.
  2. Make sure the registrar account uses your email and a password only you know.
  3. Ask for a written list of what you can take with you and in what form.
  4. Get the leaving terms and every fee in writing.
  5. Save the registrar login and renewal date somewhere safe, and give a trusted person a copy.

Prices and limits in this post were checked on September 20, 2026. They can change, so check the company's own page before you decide.

See it on a sample site

These are made-up businesses built on the free plan, so you can see how a finished site looks and reads on your phone.

Want a free website for your business?

bizhq builds one for you to edit from your phone. No credit card, no hosting fee.

Build my free site

Sources

More from the blog