Buy your domain name

You do. The domain is registered under the contact details you enter at checkout, and you keep the right to use it for as long as you keep renewing it. You can manage it from your Hostinger account at any time.

No. Every domain is registered for a set number of years and has to be renewed to stay yours. Auto-renewal is turned on by default, so your domain renews before it expires unless you switch it off.

Allow up to 4 hours for a new domain to become active. In some cases it can take up to 24 hours. After you point the domain to a website, DNS changes can take up to 24 hours to spread worldwide, and rarely up to 72 hours. Confirm your contact email within 15 days of buying, as ICANN requires, or the domain will be suspended.

Each extension has its own renewal price, shown in the price table before you buy. With auto-renewal on, which is the default, we charge the renewal 27 days before the domain expires. You can turn it off in hPanel under Billing > Subscriptions. If a domain expires, your website and email linked to it stop working. You can usually renew during a grace period that depends on the extension. After that, getting the domain back costs an extra redemption fee.

Domains are not covered by our 30-day money-back guarantee. Most generic extensions, such as .com, .net and .org, can be refunded if you ask within 96 hours of buying. Most country-code extensions, renewals, redemption fees and free domains can't be refunded.

Only if the current owner agrees to sell it to you, or lets it expire and it is released. Released domains are open to anyone, so you can register the name as soon as it becomes available. If you agree a sale with the owner, they can transfer the domain to you with its authorization code.

No. You can buy a domain on its own and add hosting later, when you're ready to put a website on it. Until then, the domain is yours to hold, renew and manage in hPanel. If you already plan to get hosting, eligible annual hosting plans include a free domain for the first year, so check that before you pay for one separately.

Go for .com if the name you want is available in that extension. If it's taken, look at the other extensions in the price table on this page, such as .net, .online or .store, and pick the one that fits your project. If your audience is mainly in one country, a country-code extension for that country tells visitors you're local. Whatever you choose, compare the renewal price and not only the first-year price, because the renewal is what you'll pay every year after that.

Free SSL certificates come with our Web, Cloud and Agency hosting plans and cover every domain and subdomain you add to them. If you build your site with our AI website builder, SSL certificates are managed for you automatically.