Not open yet: Zome is not selling or moving domains yet. This page explains how it will work, so you can decide ahead of time. Until it opens, keep your domain where it is and connect it: see Connect your own domain.
Moving a domain to Zome means the registration itself comes over from your current registrar. Then your website, your domain and its yearly renewal are all in one place. You never have to do this for your website to work: pointing the domain at Zome is enough. See Point your domain or transfer it: which do I need?.
Before you start
- You need a paid plan or a trial. Only the account owner can move a domain.
- The domain must be unlocked at your current registrar.
- It must be more than 60 days since the domain was registered, and more than 60 days since its last transfer. This is a rule for every registrar. Zome shows the date you can move it.
- It must not be expiring in the next 30 days or already expired. Renew it at your current registrar first, then move it.
- Zome must handle its ending. Common ones such as .com, .net and .org can move. Country endings such as .ca or .co.uk are the ones most likely to be refused, and Zome tells you before you pay. If yours cannot move, keep it where it is and connect it instead.
Zome checks all of this before you pay and tells you plainly what is in the way and what to do about it.
Connect first, then move
Zome suggests connecting your domain to your website first and moving it second. While it is connected, the domain keeps working on its old settings, so nothing goes offline. If your website already opens at the domain, Zome suggests moving it now.
The three steps at your current registrar
- Unlock it at your current registrar. Turn off the transfer lock (it is sometimes called "domain lock"). It is on by default, to protect you from thieves.
- Ask for the authorization code. Your current registrar can give you a code, also called an EPP code or transfer key. You paste it into Zome. Zome keeps it encrypted for 24 hours at most and deletes it as soon as it is used.
- Watch your email for an approval request. Your current registrar may email the domain contact to approve the transfer. If you get that message, approve it, or the transfer waits.
Start the move
- Go to Website and open the Publish and domain tab.
- Under Move my domain to Zome, type your domain.
- Zome shows whether it can move, the price, what it includes and what it found about your email. Read your email findings and tick that they look right: see What happens to your email when you move a domain.
- Paste the authorization code and pay on the secure payment page.
What you pay
You pay once, in US dollars (US$). The price includes one more year added to the time your domain already has, so you do not lose any time by moving. After that the domain renews every year at the price shown, on the card you paid with. See Renewals, reminders and what they cost.
How long it takes
Usually 5 to 7 days for .com, .net, .org, .info, .biz, .app and .dev, and up to 10 for .io, .co and .ca. It can be faster if your current registrar approves it right away. This is what is usual, not a promise: your current registrar and the registry decide. Your website and your email keep working the whole time.
Zome emails you when it starts, and again when the domain is with Zome and live. If it takes longer than usual, see My domain transfer is taking a long time.
If it does not work
If your current registrar does not release the domain (a lock that is still on, a wrong or old code, or an approval email nobody answered), Zome refunds you in full and emails you the reason and what to fix. A refund can take 5 to 10 days to show on your statement. Then you can start again. Your website and your email are not touched either way.