// transfer guide
how to transfer a domain away from GoDaddy.
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
- GoDaddy bundles domains with hosting, email and protection plans more aggressively than most registrars. if the unlock toggle is greyed out, an attached product is almost always why.
- ICANN locks a domain for 60 days after registration, after a previous transfer, and after a change of registrant contact. editing the registrant name or email to "fix" the auth code delivery can therefore start a fresh 60-day block — sort the contact address out first, then wait it out.
- GoDaddy doesn't charge you to send a domain out, but the gaining registrar bills a year's renewal. that year is added to your expiry date, so it's prepaid time rather than a lost fee.
step by step.
- sign in and open your domain list — GoDaddy's current UI calls this the "Domain Portfolio"; older accounts land on "My Products" and link through to Domains.
- if the domain came bundled with hosting, a website builder plan or Domain Protection, deal with those add-ons first — bundled domains frequently refuse to unlock until the bundle is separated.
- click the domain to open its settings and find the transfer controls; GoDaddy groups the lock and the code request together under "Transfer out".
- switch off the domain (registrar) lock and give it a minute to take effect before requesting anything.
- if Domain Privacy or Domains By Proxy is on, turn it off — the auth code goes to the registrant email on file, and proxy forwarding is the usual reason it never lands.
- check the registrant contact email is an inbox you can actually read, and fix it well before you plan the transfer, not during it (see the notes).
- request the authorisation code — GoDaddy emails it rather than showing it on screen, and it can take a few minutes to arrive.
- paste the code at the gaining registrar, then watch for GoDaddy's transfer confirmation email; approving it releases the domain straight away instead of waiting out the five-day auto-approval window.
is it worth it?.
prices verified 10 August 2026 · methodology
Here is where GoDaddy 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 | GoDaddy | cheapest we track | saving / yr | over 5 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| .ai | £105.00 | Cloudflare £58.00 | £47.00 | £235.00 |
| .casino | £140.00 | Porkbun £102.11 | £37.89 | £189.45 |
| .store | £70.00 | Porkbun £34.58 | £35.42 | £177.10 |
| .ing | £35.00 | Porkbun £8.54 | £26.46 | £132.30 |
| .blog | £42.00 | Porkbun £16.68 | £25.32 | £126.60 |
| .marketing | £50.00 | NameSilo £25.99 | £24.01 | £120.05 |
| .holdings | £65.00 | Porkbun £41.09 | £23.91 | £119.55 |
| .online | £44.00 | Porkbun £22.78 | £21.22 | £106.10 |
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 GoDaddy 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 GoDaddy 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