Domain names
find the name.
keep the name.
Register a domain, transfer one in, or search what is still free — with real DNS control and renewal prices printed next to registration prices rather than buried until year two.
Live availability across every extension we sell — with the yearly renewal and the real 3-year cost shown, not just the sign-up price.
one price, printed twice.
The oldest trick in domain retail is a headline price for the first year that quietly multiplies when it renews — because almost nobody moves a domain over a few pounds, and the seller knows it. So the cheap number gets the sale and the real number arrives twelve months later.
We show both. Every price on this page and in every search puts the yearly renewal right beside the registration price, so the figure you plan around is the figure you actually pay. No introductory rate, no reset, no surprise on the second invoice.
What honest pricing means here
- Renewal shown next to registration, everywhere
- The real 3-year cost totalled up, not just year one
- No cheap-first-year rate that jumps on renewal
- Registry fees already included in the figure you see
- The exact price confirmed before you check out
domain prices
Register, transfer and renew prices for the extensions UK businesses reach for first. Read live from our billing system.
| Extension | Register | Transfer | Renew / yr | 3-yr cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| .co.uk | £10.75 / yr | — | £11.00 | £32.75 |
| .com | £10.99 / yr | £10.99 | £10.99 | £32.97 |
| .uk | £12.00 / yr | — | £12.00 | £36.00 |
| .net | £13.99 / yr | £14.99 | £13.99 | £41.97 |
| .org | £12.99 / yr | £12.99 | £12.99 | £38.97 |
| .io | — / yr | — | — | — |
| .dev | £11.99 / yr | £11.99 | £11.99 | £35.97 |
| .cloud | £6.99 / yr | £6.99 | £6.99 | £20.97 |
Prices are read live from our billing system and shown inclusive of the registry fee — the Register column is what you pay at checkout, the Renew column is what it costs to keep each year after, and the 3-yr cost column adds those up (register once, renew twice) so the real figure is on the page, not just the sign-up number. Searching a specific name shows its exact price before you commit.
new to this? a domain is two parts.
Buying your first domain sounds more technical than it is. A domain name is simply a name you choose plus an ending — and the ending you pick says as much about you as the name does.
A .co.uk or .uk tells a UK audience you are British and is registered through Nominet, the national registry. A .com reads as international. Endings like .io and .dev lean technical. If you are weighing .co.uk against .uk specifically, the guide below covers who can register which and whether to own both.
.co.uk or .uk — which to pickAnatomy of a domain
yourbusiness.co.uk
The name — yourbusiness
The part you choose. Your brand, kept short and easy to say aloud. This is what you are really searching for above — whether it is still free to register.
The ending — .co.uk
The extension, sometimes called the TLD. .co.uk and .uk are run by Nominet, the official UK registry, and read as unmistakably British. .com signals international; .io and .dev lean technical.
moving a domain to us.
Transferring a domain in sounds risky and almost never is. You are changing who looks after the registration, nothing else — the site and email carry on pointing wherever they already do.
Best of all, you do not lose the time you have paid for. The remaining term comes with the domain, and a transfer usually adds a further year on top.
Unlock the domain where it lives now
Domains ship with a registrar lock that blocks transfers — a good thing the rest of the time. Turn it off in your current provider's control panel so a transfer can start.
Get the authorisation code
For most extensions this is an EPP or auth code — a one-time password proving the domain is yours to move. For .uk names there is no code: you change the domain's IPS tag at Nominet to point at us instead.
Start the transfer here and pay
Enter the name, pay the transfer price, and the time you have already paid for comes with it. A transfer normally adds a year on top rather than resetting the clock — you never lose the months left on your current registration.
Approve, then let the registries do the rest
You confirm by email and the registry handles the handover. Most transfers complete within a few days; .uk tag changes are usually same-day. Your website and email keep running throughout — a transfer moves the registrar, not your DNS.
point it wherever you like.
Connecting a name to a website confuses almost everyone the first time, mostly because there are two ways to do it and nobody says when to use which. Here is the whole thing.
Point the whole domain — nameservers
Hand the entire domain to one host by setting its nameservers. Everything — website, email, subdomains — is then managed in that host's control panel. Simplest when one provider runs the lot.
Point just the website — an A record
Send only the website to a server's IP address with an A record (or a CNAME), and leave everything else where it is. Right when your email lives with one provider and your site with another.
Every domain includes full DNS record editing — A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, SRV and CAA — that you change yourself, no ticket to move a record. Read the plain-English guide to pointing a domain at your hosting.
Cloudflare proxy on request
Route any domain through Cloudflare and visitors reach their global network first, not your server directly. Optional, per domain — the standard DNS is perfectly good on its own.
Your origin IP stays hidden
Proxied DNS keeps your server's real address off the public record, tucked behind Cloudflare's edge where a scanner cannot reach it directly.
CDN and DDoS filtering
Cloudflare's caching serves visitors from a location near them, and its attack filtering sits in front of the site — both included with the proxy at no extra charge from us.
locked to you, private by default.
A domain is an asset, and two small settings decide how safe and how public it is. Both are handled for you rather than sold back as extras.
Registrar lock, on by default
A flag at the registry that blocks a domain being transferred away without your say-so — the main defence against a name being hijacked. On from the start; you unlock it yourself the day you genuinely want to move.
WHOIS privacy where allowed
Registering a domain records contact details publicly. WHOIS privacy swaps your name and address for a privacy service, so a registration does not publish your home address. Included wherever the registry permits it.
Nominet opt-out for .uk
For .uk domains, Nominet lets a non-trading individual keep their address out of the public record instead. A genuine registered business is expected to show its details — that is the trade-off of the shorter British name.
It is your name to take
We never obstruct a transfer out or charge you to release a domain you own. When you want to leave, you unlock it, take the code and go. An honest lock is a safety catch, not a trap.
the difference is in what you are not told.
Nobody sells a domain badly on the search page — the gaps show up later, in the renewal invoice and the add-ons. This is where we differ from the cheap end of the market.
| A typical budget registrar | SPARKZ | |
|---|---|---|
| Renewal price shown next to registration | Not included | Included |
| Cheap first-year rate that jumps later | Common | Never |
| WHOIS privacy | Often a paid add-on | Included where the registry allows |
| Full DNS records you can edit yourself | Sometimes restricted | Included |
| Cloudflare proxy on request | Not included | Included |
| Registrar lock | Varies | On by default |
| Transfer away when you like | Sometimes obstructed | Never blocked — it's your name |
The left-hand column describes practices common across the low-cost end of the market, not any one company — but you have almost certainly met most of them.
domain questions
The things people ask when registering or moving a domain for the first time — answered plainly.
How do I register a domain name in the UK?
Type the name into the search at the top of this page. We check it live against the registries and show which extensions are still free — .co.uk, .uk, .com and the rest — with the price next to each. Pick the one you want, add it to your basket and check out. If you also need hosting or email, add those in the same order and we set the whole thing up together.
How much does a .co.uk or .uk domain cost?
The price table on this page is read live from our billing system, so it is always current — nothing here is a figure typed in by hand that could go stale. Searching a specific name shows its exact registration price before you commit, alongside the yearly renewal so you can see the real long-term cost, not just a sign-up teaser.
Do your prices jump after the first year?
No. The renewal price sits right next to the registration price in the table above and in the search results, because it is the number that actually matters over the life of a domain. A lot of registrars advertise a low first-year rate that quietly multiplies on renewal; we would rather show you both up front and let you decide with the full picture.
What is the difference between .co.uk and .uk?
Both are run by Nominet, the UK registry, and are functionally identical. .co.uk has been the default British domain since the 1990s and is what most people type by reflex; .uk is shorter and cleaner, which reads better on a van or spoken aloud. Neither carries any search-ranking advantage over the other. Many businesses register both and redirect one to the other. Our guide walks through which to lead with.
Can I transfer my existing domain to SPARKZ?
Yes. Unlock the domain at your current registrar and get its authorisation (EPP) code, or for a .uk name change the IPS tag at Nominet to point at us. Start the transfer here and the time you have already paid for comes across — a transfer usually adds a year on top rather than resetting it. Your website and email keep working the whole time, because a transfer moves the registrar, not your DNS.
Will my website or email go down during a transfer?
No. Transferring a domain changes who the registrar is — it does not touch your DNS records, so your site and mailboxes carry on pointing wherever they already point. If you are also moving your hosting or email to us, we set the new DNS up and verified before switching anything over, so there is no gap.
Do I need hosting to buy a domain?
No. You can register a name on its own and simply hold it — to protect a brand, or before a site is ready. When you are ready to connect it, you point it at your hosting with either nameservers or an A record; our guide explains the difference in plain terms and which one you want.
What are nameservers and A records?
They are the two ways to connect a domain to a website. Setting nameservers hands the whole domain to one host, which then manages everything — site, email and subdomains — in one place. An A record points just the website to a server's IP address and leaves everything else untouched, which is what you want when your email lives with a different provider. Every domain with us includes full DNS record editing (A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, SRV and CAA), so you can set either yourself without raising a ticket.
What is WHOIS privacy, and do I get it?
Every domain registration records contact details, and WHOIS privacy replaces your personal name and address in the public record with a privacy service, so registering a domain does not publish your home address. It is included where the registry allows it. For .uk domains, Nominet lets non-trading individuals opt their address out of the public WHOIS instead — a genuine registered business is expected to show its details.
What is a registrar lock?
A registrar lock is a flag that stops a domain being transferred away without your say-so — the main defence against a name being hijacked. We switch it on by default on every domain. When you genuinely want to move a domain elsewhere, you unlock it yourself in a couple of clicks; it is a safety catch, not a way to trap you.
Can I use Cloudflare with my domain?
Yes, on request, per domain. We can route any domain through Cloudflare so visitors reach its global network first — that hides your server's real IP address, adds a CDN that serves people from nearby, and puts DDoS filtering in front of the site. It is entirely optional; the standard DNS we provide is perfectly good without it.
claim the name before someone else does.
Good names go fast, and the only way to know a name is still yours to take is to check it. It costs nothing to look.