// transfer guide
how to transfer a domain away from 123 Reg.
The actual steps, the gotchas that stop people halfway, and an honest answer on whether moving is worth it for your domains.
read these first
- .uk transfers are free, take effect almost as soon as the IPS tag changes, and do not add a year to your expiry date. gTLD transfers work the other way — they include and add a year.
- 123 Reg quotes prices excluding VAT. compare against another registrar's ex-VAT price or you'll misread the size of the gap.
- ICANN's 60-day lock after registration or a previous transfer applies to gTLDs. .uk runs under Nominet's own rules and isn't bound by it.
step by step.
- sign in to the 123 Reg control panel and open your domain list.
- check what you're actually moving first — .uk domains don't use auth codes at all, so the rest of the process differs (see the next two steps).
- for .uk: find the IPS tag setting in the domain's management screen and change it to the gaining registrar's tag, which they will give you. the transfer then completes on their side, with no code and no confirmation email.
- for .com and other gTLDs: open the domain's settings and turn off the transfer/registrar lock — most registrars group this under a security or transfer heading.
- turn WHOIS privacy off if the auth code email doesn't arrive; the code is sent to the registrant contact address on file.
- request the EPP/auth code and check the registrant inbox rather than your account inbox.
- hand the code to the gaining registrar, then approve the confirmation email 123 Reg sends to release the domain early.
is it worth it?.
prices verified 10 August 2026 · methodology
Here is where 123 Reg sits against the cheapest registrar we track, on the TLDs where the gap is widest. If none of your domains are on this list, the transfer probably is not worth your afternoon.
| TLD | 123 Reg | cheapest we track | saving / yr | over 5 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| .app | £19.00 | Cloudflare £8.57 | £10.43 | £52.15 |
| .com | £19.00 | Cloudflare £8.57 | £10.43 | £52.15 |
| .dev | £19.00 | Cloudflare £8.57 | £10.43 | £52.15 |
| .org | £19.00 | Porkbun £9.35 | £9.65 | £48.25 |
| .net | £19.00 | Porkbun £9.89 | £9.11 | £45.55 |
| .co.uk | £8.99 | Porkbun £4.47 | £4.52 | £22.60 |
| .uk | £8.99 | Porkbun £4.47 | £4.52 | £22.60 |
where to move it
There is no single right answer, because registrars price per TLD — the cheapest place for a .com is often not the cheapest for a .io. The honest approach is to check the TLD you are actually moving: browse renewal prices by TLD, or use the free price check on the exact domain.
One more thing worth doing before you transfer anything: confirm which registrar the domain is really at. Reseller and wholesale arrangements mean the name in a WHOIS record is often not the company billing you. The registrar lookup reads it straight from the registry.
questions people actually ask.
How long does a transfer away from 123 Reg take?
Usually five to seven days. Once you submit the auth code at the new registrar, the losing registrar has five days to release the domain — approving the confirmation email yourself skips most of that wait. The domain keeps resolving throughout, provided you do not change nameservers mid-transfer.
Does transferring away from 123 Reg cost money?
The gaining registrar charges one year's renewal to accept the transfer, and that year is added to your existing expiry rather than replacing it. So you are prepaying a year you were going to buy anyway, at the new registrar's price. Most registrars, including this one, do not charge a separate outbound fee.
Will my website or email go down during the transfer?
No, as long as you leave the nameservers alone. A registrar transfer moves who bills you and who manages the registration; it does not touch DNS records by itself. Change nameservers before or well after the transfer, never during it.
Why can't I transfer my domain yet?
ICANN blocks transfers for 60 days after a domain is registered, after a previous transfer, and after a change to the registrant contact details. If you have just edited the registrant name or email, that clock has probably restarted. There is no way to shorten it — you wait it out.
// stop checking one at a time
find every domain worth moving, in one pass.
Doing this domain by domain is how people give up halfway. Owndle imports your whole portfolio, works out the gap on each one, and ranks them by how much moving would actually save — then alerts you before each renewal so nothing lapses in the meantime.
start free — 10 domains →// no card · magic-link sign-in · alerts at 90/30/7/1 days