Renewal, cancellation and restore
Renewal is automatic and yearly
Every domain renews for one year on its own. There is no auto-renew switch: the only way to stop a renewal is to cancel the domain, and the only way to resume is to revoke the cancellation.
The Contract Details panel is the authority on dates. It shows Next renewal while the domain is active, with in {days} days beside it, and switches to Expires on plus Cancelled on once you have cancelled.
When the price moves
Registry prices change, sometimes sharply, and yours changes with them. 30 days before a renewal the price you are about to be charged is compared against what you last paid, and if it has moved you are emailed. Nothing is silently re-priced without that mail going out first.
When a payment fails
A failed renewal payment puts the subscription into a suspended state. Be clear about what that does and does not mean:
| What happens | What does not happen |
|---|---|
The domain's badge in the list turns to Suspended | The domain is not deleted |
| You are notified that the payment failed | The registration is not surrendered at the registry |
| The "Suspended" filter on the domain list starts showing it | DNS keeps answering and mail keeps flowing |
A suspended subscription is not a safe resting place
Nothing about it stops the registration itself running out on schedule. Fix the payment method rather than waiting to see what happens, because once the registration lapses the way back is a paid restore, not a retried payment.
Cancelling
Domain Actions → Cancel asks when the cancellation should take effect.
At the end of the registration period is the option to take, and the portal says why:
Recommended. The domain remains active until then and can be transferred to
another provider by AuthCode at any point before the period ends.Custom date is anything from tomorrow to the day before the period ends, so every custom date is an early one, and the portal is blunt about the cost:
Choosing a date before the end of the registration period forfeits the fee
already paid to the registry. No refund is possible, because we acquired the
period from the registry irrevocably.Only an end-of-period cancellation can be undone
An end-of-period cancellation is revocable right up until it takes effect. A custom date books a deletion at the registry, and that booking cannot be withdrawn here. Attempting it is refused rather than half-done. If you are not certain, cancel at the end of the period.
Either way the confirmation stage restates the consequence:
The domain will be deleted on the date shown and is then released for
registration again.Cancelling a subscription cancels the domains on it
A domain attached to a subscription you cancel is cancelled with it, at the end of its own period. If you meant to keep the domain and drop the rest, move the domain first.
Restoring
Domain Actions → Revoke cancellation handles both cases, and it works out which one applies before asking you for anything.
Before the cancellation has taken effect, it is free and immediate:
After revocation, the domain will continue to be renewed and billed as usual.After the registration has lapsed, it is a registry redemption and it costs money. The portal prices it first:
This domain has already expired. It can only be recovered from the registry for
a fee. Do you want to do that?The fee is shown as Redemption fee before you agree, and the button carries the amount: Recover for {price}. Then:
The amount is charged immediately to your saved payment method. If the registry
restore fails, we refund it automatically.Redemption is a registry operation on a registry clock
How long a lapsed domain stays redeemable is the registry's rule, not ours, and it differs by extension. There is no window we can promise you. Ask for the quote as soon as you realise: if the answer is No price is available for this domain right now. Please contact support. the registry is no longer offering it, and the name may already be back on the open market.
A restore is deliberately hard to double-charge. A second attempt while one is running is refused rather than queued, and so is one for a restore that already succeeded. If the price at the registry moved between the quote and your confirmation, the charge is refused too, because you agreed to a different number.
What's next
- Transfers to move a domain out instead of cancelling it
- Registering a domain for what verification a registration needs