Knowledge base
Renewals, auto-renew and expiry
When we renew, what we charge, and exactly what happens if a renewal fails.
Auto-renew is on by default
We renew a domain before it expires and charge the payment method on your account. The price is the renewal price shown on the domain's own screen, which is not always the price you paid in the first year.
What we send you
Reminders at 60, 30, 14, 7 and 1 days before the domain expires. If the payment fails we tell you the same day and retry — we do not let a domain lapse quietly.
Each reminder goes out on that exact day rather than "within a week of", so if you have turned off the earlier ones you still get the late ones.
Turning it off
Domains → your domain → Auto-renew. If you turn it off, the domain expires on its date and the site attached to it stops resolving. That is a real consequence and the screen says so.
After expiry
There is a grace period during which we can still renew it at the normal price, then a redemption period where the registry charges a substantial recovery fee, then the name is released for anyone to register. The dates differ by extension and the domain's screen shows yours.
Nothing about your site is deleted when a domain expires. The files, the database and the backups are untouched; the name simply stops pointing at them, and re-registering the name restores the site as it was.
Transferring away
Your domain, your decision. Domains → your domain → Transfer out gives you the authorisation code. We do not lock a domain to keep you, and we do not charge to release one.
Still stuck?
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