How to get your own domain

Every site starts on a free address like your-business.wpmaven.site. On Operator or Scale billed yearly, your plan covers up to $12.00 of the first year of a domain of your own: one for each business you pay for. Most names cost less than that, so their first year is free. A name that costs more is still yours to pick: you pay the difference first. We register the domain in your name and connect it to your site. After the first year you pay the renewal once a year, and you see that price before you register.

When your domain becomes available

Your included domain unlocks once your yearly payment has gone through. If you paid by bank transfer or direct debit, that can take a few days. Until then your site’s page says so, and nothing can be registered.

When you switch to yearly billing, also during the $1 first week, the year is charged the moment you confirm the switch. The domain unlocks as soon as that payment has gone through, and stays available for the rest of that year.
If a plan change is scheduled, the domain unlocks once it has taken effect and the yearly payment has gone through.
A yearly plan started before our current prices that was fully discounted with a promotion code does not include a domain. Promotion codes no longer apply to yearly billing, so this only concerns those older plans. A partial discount is fine as long as, after the discount, the payment that started your year came to at least $12.00, and what you paid for this year adds up to at least $12.00 for each included domain, counting the one you are registering.

Choose and register it

Open your site’s page in the dashboard.
In Your own domain, type a name and select Search.
Pick a result. Names ending in .com, .net, .org, .store, .online, .site, .xyz, .co and .io can be registered. Each result shows:
- Included first year: your plan covers the whole first year.
- Pay the $X difference: the first year costs more than $12.00, and you pay the part above it (see below).
- what the domain costs per year after the first, for example $11.99 a year for a .com, plus tax where it applies.
Premium names can be registered too, at the registrar’s premium price. A name whose first year costs more than $500, or whose price we cannot get, is not offered.
Fill in the holder’s details. You are the legal holder of the domain, so registries need your real name, address, email and phone. Privacy protection hides them from public lookups where the registry allows it.
Read the terms and tick two separate boxes:
- the first year and renewal: “Free for the first year. Then $X/year plus tax where it applies, charged to your card on file about 30 days before it renews. Turn renewal off any time.” (or, with a difference, “Your plan covers $12.00 of the first year. You pay the $D difference now, plus tax where it applies. Then $X/year …”), together with your details and the registration agreement;
- on its own: that you ask us to register the domain in your name right away, and that once it is registered you lose your right to withdraw from that registration, so the amount for its first year is kept from any refund (see Refunds).
Then select Register, or Pay $D and register when there is a difference. We email you a copy of what you confirmed, with the amounts and the time, before we register the domain.

Registration usually takes a few minutes. Connecting the domain to your site can take a few hours while the internet updates. The card on your site’s page shows where it is, and you get a notification when your site is live on it. Your old wpmaven.site address keeps working and sends visitors to your domain.

When you pay a difference

Your plan covers up to $12.00 of the first-year price at our registrar, including the registry fee where the ending has one: $0.20 a year on .com, .net, .org, .store, .online, .site and .xyz, none on .co and .io. For a name that costs more, you pay a difference for the part above $12.00. Each search result shows the exact amount before you pay, and the yearly renewal price next to it. Tax is added on top where it applies.

Name	You pay now	Then each year
.com, .net, .org, .store, .online, .site, .xyz	nothing (see the note below)	$11.99 to $22.99, shown per name
.co	$4.99	$34.99
.io	$22.99	$56.99
A premium name at $250 a year	$258.99	the premium renewal, shown before you pay

.store, .online, .site and .xyz have a lower first-year price at our registrar. We quote it as it is, so while it lasts their first year is included. Our prices can change from one day to the next. Each search result shows the amount before you pay, and that is the amount you pay.

How it works:

You pay first. Selecting Pay $D and register opens Stripe’s secure payment page, where you pay by card. When we run a promotion for domains, you enter its code there; codes for plans do not apply to domains.
We register after the payment. As soon as the payment goes through, we check that the name is still free, then register it in your name. Nothing is registered before that. If our prices change while you are on the payment page, you still pay what you were shown, and nothing more.
If you leave the payment page, your site’s page shows Continue to payment and Choose another name. An unpaid page closes after an hour, nothing is charged, and the name is free again.

If the name becomes a premium name or its premium price goes up, we stop offering its domain ending, someone else registers it, or the registrar does not accept the registration after your payment, the domain is not registered. You are told on your site’s page, and our team contacts you about a refund of that payment. The same happens if a promotion code that does not apply to domains was used. Nothing is refunded automatically; a person on the team confirms it.

What each payment shows

Every domain payment shows its parts, and they add up to exactly what you pay before tax:

the domain for the period (the first year, or one more year), and
the registry fee, where the ending has one ($0.20).

Tax is added on top where it applies, as its own line. You see the same amounts on Stripe’s payment page or invoice, in the emails we send you and on your site’s page once you have paid. For example, a .com renewal at $11.99 shows $11.79 for the domain and the $0.20 registry fee. A .co or .io has no registry fee, so it shows one line.

Year one adds up the same way. For a premium .net at $20.00 a year, year one comes to $21.99: $21.79 for the domain and the $0.20 registry fee. Your plan covers $12.00 of it, and you pay $9.99 now: $9.79 for the domain and the $0.20 registry fee.

How renewal works

After the first year, the domain renews once a year at the price you agreed to when you registered, plus tax where it applies. For a premium name that is the premium renewal price shown before you paid. No discount, coupon or promotion code applies to renewals.

About two weeks before the charge, you get a reminder with the date, the price and its parts.
About 30 days before the renewal date, we charge that price to your card on file, the one your plan uses.
We renew the domain only once that payment goes through.

If the payment does not go through, we tell you on your site’s page and by email, and Stripe tries again over the next days. You can:

select Pay now on your site’s page, or use the link in the email, and pay with any card, or
update your card in Billing. We try the new card within a day.

If the renewal is still unpaid a week before the renewal date, you get a last notice. If it is not paid by the renewal date, the domain expires and your site goes back to its free wpmaven.site address.

If the renewal price changes

We never charge more than the price you agreed to. If the yearly price goes up, we ask you first: the reminder before the charge shows the new price, and your site’s page shows Agree to $X/year. If you agree, we charge the new price from then on. If you do not, nothing is charged, and the domain expires on its renewal date. If the price goes down, you pay the lower price.

Renewal works the same way if your plan changes: the renewal is always yours to pay, whatever plan you are on.

Refunds and your domain

The domain is registered in your name and is yours from the moment it is registered. Once it is registered, that registration is fully performed and you lose your right to withdraw from it. So if you cancel your plan, withdraw from it (including within the 14 days an EU consumer has), or get any refund, the amount for the domain’s first year is kept, once:

from your yearly plan payment for that year, the part your plan covered (up to $12.00);
the difference you paid, which is its own payment and is not refunded.

Everything else is refunded as described in Refunds and your right to withdraw. You keep the domain, and the transfer code stays available.

You confirm this before registering, we email you a copy, and the amount is shown on your site’s page afterwards. For example, for a .io the amount for the first year is $34.99: $12.00 from your plan payment and your $22.99 difference payment. For a .com it is $9.08, from your plan payment. A domain registered in an earlier year does not change the refund of a later year’s payment.

If a payment went through but the domain was not registered, nothing is kept: our team refunds that payment with you.

Turn renewal off

On your site’s page, switch off Renew every year. Nothing is charged, and the domain expires on its renewal date. You get a reminder about 30 days and again about 7 days before it expires.

If this year’s renewal is already paid, the domain still renews this time and renewal is off from the next year. To switch renewal back on, turn the switch on and agree to the price shown.

Move your domain to another registrar

The domain is yours. On your site’s page, select Get the transfer code at any time, also after the domain has expired, and give that code to the registrar you are moving to. After expiry, the registrar still has to hold the domain for a code to work, so do not wait long.

Getting the code turns renewal off, so we never charge you for a year your new registrar also bills. If this year’s renewal is already paid, the domain still renews here this time. If you decide to keep the domain with us, turn Renew every year back on.

We check with the registrar before every renewal charge. If the domain has already moved to another registrar, we do not charge for it.

A domain you already own

Connecting a domain you bought elsewhere is not available yet. Your site runs on its free address until it is.