EnterraHost
To find an available domain name, type what you want into the search box on the Domains page and press Search domains. Results come back with live pricing, so you see what each name costs before you commit to anything.
There are two habits worth having before you start. Search the name on its own to see it across the most popular extensions at once, and search the full domain when you already know which extension you want. Typing yourbusiness checks it everywhere. Typing yourbusiness.com checks that one.
Three ways to find an available domain name
Three controls sit above the search box and change what the search does with what you type. Traditional finds names built from real words, Brandable finds invented ones, and Creative treats what you type as a description of the business rather than as a name.
One habit is worth having before you start. If you already have a name in mind, leave Creative off, because with it on the search is answering your description rather than checking your name. The three naming styles covers what each one is for and how to choose between them.
Reading the results, and what the prices mean
Every result carries a price and that price is live, pulled from the same source the checkout uses. There is no second price at the end, which is the point of showing it during the search.
Prices vary by extension far more than most people expect, and the popular list on the page is a fair guide to where the value sits. A .com or a .co.za is a few dollars a year. A short extension or one with a good word in it can be hundreds, because that is what the registry charges and we pass it through rather than hiding it.
An extension with no price shown is not one you can buy through us, so a search will say so rather than guess a figure.
What every domain includes
Four things are included rather than sold separately, and they are worth knowing because other registrars charge for some of them.
DNS management is included. You get a panel for the records that decide where your website and mail point. WHOIS privacy is included on eligible extensions, which keeps your personal contact details out of the public register. Transfers arrive from any registrar, so a domain you already own can be moved in rather than only a new one registered. And Cloudflare zones appear in the same panel, so a domain living on Cloudflare's nameservers is still managed from one place rather than two.
When the search comes back empty
It usually means one of three things, in this order.
The extension is popular and the word is common, in which case try Brandable, or look at a different extension, or accept a modifier. A word plus another word, or a word plus a prefix, is often what turns a taken name into an available one.
You may be in Creative mode with a name rather than a description, which is the commonest reason a simple search produces nonsense.
Or the name is available but premium, which means the registry has priced it above the standard rate for that extension. Those do appear in results and they are labelled, and what a premium name is covers why the price is what it is.
What happens when you pick one
Adding a domain puts it in your basket and the checkout follows. Registration is charged up front rather than at renewal time, so a new domain is paid for when you order it and then sits on its own renewal date until you renew.
Registering a domain needs an account, and if you already have one the domain lands in it with the rest of your services. Once it is registered it is managed from the Domains area of the toolbox, including name servers, DNS records and auto-renew. Register a domain walks through that from the search box onward.