DomainsServerlys team4 min read
Domain vs hosting: the difference, and do you need both?
Summarize with:
A domain is your website's address; hosting is the server that holds it. How they fit together, what each costs, and the mistakes that trip up beginners.
If you are building your first website, two words come up immediately and are often used as if they mean the same thing: domain and hosting. They are separate products, usually bought separately, and you need both for a website to work. The difference takes one sentence: the domain is the address, the hosting is the building.
What is a domain?
A domain name is the address people type to reach your site, like yourbusiness.com. You do not buy it outright; you register it for a period, usually one year at a time, and renew it to keep it. While it is registered to you, nobody else can use that name.
A domain on its own does not show anything. It is a name that points somewhere. Behind the scenes, the Domain Name System (DNS) translates the name into the numeric address of the server that actually holds your website. Our guide to DNS records covers that translation in detail.
What is web hosting?
Hosting is space on a server, a computer that is always on and connected to the internet, that stores your website's files and database and sends them to every visitor's browser. When you "buy hosting" you are renting part of that server, plus the work of keeping it running, secure and backed up.
Hosting comes in different sizes. Most small business sites start on shared or cloud hosting and only move up when traffic or software demands it. If you are unsure which size you need, read how much hosting your website actually needs and shared, cloud, VPS or dedicated.
Domain vs hosting, side by side
| Domain | Hosting | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Your address on the internet | The server that stores and serves your site |
| Example | yourbusiness.com | A cloud hosting plan |
| How you pay | Yearly registration and renewal | Monthly or yearly plan |
| Without the other | A name that points nowhere | A site with no memorable address |
| Can you move it? | Yes, transfer to another registrar | Yes, migrate to another host |
Do you need both?
For a real business website, yes. There are only two exceptions, and both have a catch:
- Website builders often bundle hosting and a domain into one subscription. That is convenient, but the domain is still a separate registration underneath. Make sure it is registered in your name, so you can take it with you if you ever leave.
- Free subdomains like
yourbusiness.somebuilder.comwork without buying a domain, but they look temporary to customers and you never own the address.
You can also own a domain without hosting, which is useful for reserving a name before you are ready to build, or for protecting a misspelling of your main name.
Where business email fits in
An address like hello@yourbusiness.com needs the domain (for the name) and an email service (for the mailbox). The domain's MX records tell the world which server receives your mail. Email can come with your hosting or from a separate provider; either way, it depends on the domain staying registered. Our business email setup guide walks through it, and SPF, DKIM and DMARC keeps your mail out of spam folders.
How a domain and hosting are connected
If you buy both from the same company, they are usually connected for you. If not, you connect them in one of two ways:
- Change the nameservers at your registrar to the ones your host gives you. Your host then manages all of the domain's DNS records. See nameservers explained.
- Keep DNS at the registrar and point an
Arecord (and usually awwwrecord) at your host's server address. Useful when other services, like email, are already set up there.
DNS changes can take a little while to reach every network, so a newly connected domain may work on one device before another.
What each one costs
At Serverlys, a .com costs $14.95 for the first year; other extensions are listed on the domain search page. Hosting starts at $7.95 a month and renews at that same $7.95 a month, plus a one-off $2.95 setup fee, on the entry cloud plan. We show both numbers because the renewal price is the one you will pay for longest; how to read hosting renewal pricing explains why that matters with any host.
Mistakes that cause most first-website headaches
- Registering the domain in someone else's name. A designer or agency registers it "to save you the trouble", then leaves. Keep the registration and the login in your own name. More in keep control of your domain.
- Letting the domain expire. When a domain lapses, the website and every email address on it stop working. Turn on auto-renew and keep the payment card current.
- Assuming the domain moves with the hosting. Moving your website to a new host does not move the domain, and the reverse is also true. They are separate.
- Transferring right after registering. Under ICANN rules a domain generally cannot be transferred to another registrar for 60 days after registration or a previous transfer. Plan around it.
- Skipping WHOIS privacy. Without it, your name and contact details can appear in public domain records. See WHOIS privacy protection.
The author
Serverlys team
The people who run Serverlys hosting, domains and support. We write about what we see every day helping small businesses keep their websites fast, safe and online.
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