The idea of permanently buying a domain is appealing. You wouldn’t have to worry about the hassles and costs of recurring renewals, and there would be no risk of losing ownership due to forgotten renewals. Once a domain name was yours, all stress would be over! Well, all domain purchase stress anyway. But is it possible? Can you buy a domain name forever? 

While the simple answer is no, there are ways to extend your domain registration and enjoy long-term security for your domain, as well as other “lifetime” (ish) benefits. In other words, if you’re wondering how to buy a domain name permanently, what you are about to learn will get you as close as possible. But before we jump into any technicalities, let’s go over the basics of what domain names are and what domain ownership means in practice.

Domain Name Basics

Domain names are a memorable shorthand used to visit websites. Typically, full website addresses are complex IP addresses made up of numbers like 192.168.10.11, which are difficult to memorize. Domain names were created to make it possible for people to visit websites without having to remember strings of numbers.

TLDs or extensions are the last section of a domain name. You’ll recognize TLDs like .com, .net, and .co. These are mostly coordinated by ICAAN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers – a non-profit organization responsible for governing the structure of the Internet), although ICAAN sometimes delegates management of them to other bodies. Registries create and track records when new domains are bought by registrants (end buyers). However, these registries do not directly sell these domains. 

That’s why domain marketplaces like Atom exist – to make buying great, brandable domains simple. After that, domain registrars act as middlemen between you and ICANN or other relevant bodies.

That said, note that you can’t actually “buy” domains from domain registrars. In practicality, registrants pay a fee for domain registrars to maintain a domain lease for a set length, and they keep renewing after that – that’s if they wish to extend their lease.

The good news is that domain renewals are inexpensive. Renewing your domain does not equate to paying the full price you initially paid annually – or however often you need to renew.

Can You Buy a Domain Name Forever?

You can’t buy a domain name permanently, but you can employ specific methods to indefinitely maintain the lease of any domain name you register. 

Why are you not allowed to buy and lock down a domain forever?

ICANN set the upper limit for domain renewals at 10 years to avoid abuse, amongst other reasons.

ICANN enacted this law to make the domain registration and ownership process democratized and void of complications. Imagine a situation where a registrant passes away after permanently buying a domain name, for example. In that instance, the domain would be “lost” forever. No business or entity could register or use it. If those were the rules, we’d run out of real-word and brandable domain names pretty quickly!

Buy a Domain Name (Almost) Forever: How to Register A Domain For As Long As Possible

If ICANN permits registrars to lease domains for 10 years, how can you buy a domain name forever without breaking the rules? By consistently renewing your lease as long as your registrar exists. 

Yes, we know. Continuously renewing your domain lease is a chore. A tasking and boring one at that. Thankfully, there are ways to own your domain almost forever without the attendant stress of frequent renewals. 

Domain Auto-Renewal

Most registrars give users the option to auto-renew their domain names by saving their payment info and setting it up for auto-debit. 

Auto-renewals are a cost-effective and hands-free approach to maintaining domain lease long-term. However, keep your payment information updated with your registrar to avoid failed debits, expiry, and eventual loss of your domain name.

Long-Term Leases

Another way to maintain domain ownership for almost forever is by gunning for the maximum lease time that ICANN permits: 10 years. 

A 10-year lease is cost-effective as most registrars offer discounts for multi-year upfront payments. A long-term lease also reduces the risk or worry of losing your lease, as is the case with a standard 1-year lease.

Lifetime Leases

Although ICANN precludes registrars from offering domain leases above 10 years, a few brands are selling registrants lifetime leases! At this point, you must be questioning the legitimacy and credibility of companies that offer lifetime domain leases. 

Many of these registrars are actually certified and legitimate brands that offer these abnormally long leases – 25  to 100 years in some cases – by registering your domain for the maximum allowed time of 10 years and auto-renewing on your behalf as many times as needed.

While the idea of a lifetime lease sounds fantastic on paper, it comes with huge risks. If the registrar handling your “lifetime” lease goes bust, you may lose your upfront payment for the unfulfilled years. Not to mention that you can also lose your domain if the company goes under without you realizing and making alternative renewal arrangements.

FAQs

How long can you purchase a domain for?

As stipulated by ICANN, you can buy a domain name and renew its lease in increments of 1 year, for a maximum of 10 years at a go.

On the expiry of your 1- to 10-year lease, you can renew it again for as many tenures as needed to maintain “ownership” of the domain name.

How much is a permanent domain?

Because of ICANN rules, it’s not practically possible to sell or buy a domain permanently. Therefore, there are no permanent domains on offer. No price tags either. 

How do you buy a domain name?

You can buy a domain name from domain registrars like Namecheap, GoDaddy, Blue Host, Dream Host, etc. 

These registrars act like middlemen between registrants (you) and registries (who administer domains). Registrars facilitate the marketing, sales, and business aspects of the entire process.

Can a domain name be bought for life?

No, not really. Though some companies offer lifetime domain leases in good faith, a few things could go wrong. 

These companies could go bust, and you risk losing your upfront investment and domain name in some cases.
You might not own it “forever”, but you can keep a domain name indefinitely if you renew it regularly. Find your perfect domain on Atom’s Marketplace, and you’ll want to do just that!