Registry vs registrar: who actually controls your domain
The registry holds the record. The registrar sells you access to it. Who does what, who sets the price, and what it means when you buy.
Writing about domains, names and the check nobody does.
Explainers, how-to guides and engineering notes on how domains actually work: who holds the record, why “available” is so often wrong, and what to do about it.
Explainers9 pieces
Explainers
Why did a domain show as available, but I couldn’t buy it?
A checker said “available,” the registrar said no. The eight reasons that happens, how to spot each one, and what to do next.
What is a premium domain, and why does it cost 100x?
A premium domain is priced above the standard rate by the registry or by a reseller. What makes a name premium, whether it renews at that price, and when it’s worth it.
Is domain front-running real?
You searched a name, and the next day it was taken. What front-running is, the one time it demonstrably happened, and the more likely reasons a name disappears.
What happens when a domain expires
Expired domains don’t become free the next day. Grace period, redemption, pending delete, and the auction most people don’t know about. When you can actually get one.
The renewal-price trap in cheap domains
First-year prices are set by registrars. Renewal prices are set by registries, and some extensions have no cap. How to check what you’ll pay in year two.
Does your domain extension affect SEO?
Google treats generic extensions the same. Country codes are different. What the extension does and doesn’t change for ranking, and the one thing that actually matters.
Is .com still worth it?
.com is still the default people type, and it’s still the most crowded extension. When it’s worth fighting for, when it isn’t, and how to decide in five minutes.
Domain hacks explained: kern.ing, del.icio.us and friends
A domain hack splits a word across the dot so the extension finishes it. Famous examples, how to find one, and the country-code risk to check first.
How-to2 pieces
How-to
How to find an available .com in 2026
Clean .coms are scarce, not gone. The name shapes that are still free, how to check properly, and when to stop fighting for .com.
How to write a one-sentence naming brief
Keyword lists produce keyword names. A sentence produces a name. What to put in the sentence, what to leave out, and five briefs rewritten.
Engineering3 pieces
Engineering
How we check 532 registries without guessing
A registry lookup per extension, three possible outcomes, and a timeout that becomes “unverified” instead of “available”. Why a domain check that doesn’t lie takes seconds.
Why we hide “unverified” instead of guessing
When a registry doesn’t give a clear answer, most tools print “available”. Webault hides the name. What causes an unclear answer, and why hiding is the honest choice.
Why we don’t sell domains
A generator that sells domains has a reason to be generous with the word “available”. Webault removed the reason. What that changes, and what it costs.
Studios1 piece
Studios
Why the name you pitched got taken before the client signed
For studios and agencies: why domains vanish between the presentation and the sign-off, and the three-step habit that stops it happening.
AI and agents2 pieces
AI and agents
Why AI makes up domain availability
Language models predict text; they don’t query registries. Why “this domain should be available” is a guess, how to test it in 30 seconds, and the fix.
Prompts that get better name ideas from any LLM
Five prompts for ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini that produce names worth checking, and the one instruction that stops the model padding the list with taken .coms.
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Names nobody has thought of. Proven free before you see them.
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