// transfer guide
how to transfer a domain away from Porkbun.
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
- Porkbun already sits at the cheap end and bundles in WHOIS privacy, and often SSL and email forwarding, at no extra cost. moving purely to save money rarely works out — price the new registrar's renewal and its charge for privacy before committing.
- the free extras stop when the domain leaves. if you rely on Porkbun's email forwarding or their DNS, set up replacements before the transfer completes, not after it.
- ICANN's 60-day lock after registration or a previous transfer applies, and don't start a transfer in the final days before expiry — five days of transfer against a live expiry date is how domains get dropped.
step by step.
- sign in and open your domain list from the account area.
- expand the domain's details panel — Porkbun keeps the lock, the privacy toggle and the auth code together in that expanded panel rather than on separate pages.
- switch the registrar lock off.
- turn WHOIS privacy off if the auth code email doesn't arrive; privacy is included free at Porkbun so it's usually on by default.
- check the registrant contact email is current.
- copy or request the auth code from the same panel.
- enter it at the gaining registrar, then approve Porkbun's confirmation email to release the domain early.
is it worth it?.
prices verified 10 August 2026 · methodology
Here is where Porkbun 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 | Porkbun | cheapest we track | saving / yr | over 5 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| .property | £81.77 | Dynadot £30.00 | £51.77 | £258.85 |
| .health | £49.22 | Namecheap £28.00 | £21.22 | £106.10 |
| .co | £24.65 | Cloudflare £11.49 | £13.16 | £65.80 |
| .codes | £45.16 | Namecheap £35.00 | £10.16 | £50.80 |
| .fund | £45.16 | Namecheap £35.00 | £10.16 | £50.80 |
| .io | £40.92 | Dynadot £32.00 | £8.92 | £44.60 |
| .ai | £65.33 | Cloudflare £58.00 | £7.33 | £36.65 |
| .academy | £29.70 | Cloudflare £22.50 | £7.20 | £36.00 |
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 Porkbun 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 Porkbun 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