Getting a Domain Name — Registrars, TLDs, what to buy
Do You Even Need One?
Your app already lives at yourapp.vercel.app. For a lot of situations, that's completely fine — especially while you're still building and testing.
A custom domain like yourapp.com is worth buying when:
- You're going to share it with real users or customers.
- You're building an actual product or business tool.
- You want it to look polished and professional.
- You want a URL people can remember and type without thinking.
The cost? About $10–15 a year for a .com. The price of a couple of coffees, for something that makes your project feel real.
Choosing a Good Name
You don't need a perfect name. You need a reasonable one you can pick today and move on from. A few guidelines:
Short wins. dailyfocus.app beats mydailyfocustaskmanager.com every time.
Say it out loud. If someone hears the name and can't spell it, that's a problem. Clystra is hard to spell from sound. FocusFlow is not.
Check more than .com. Just because .com is taken doesn't mean .io, .app, or .co is. Often a great name is available on a different TLD.
Skip the hyphens. focus-dashboard.com is harder to say and share than focusdashboard.com.
Don't overthink it. You can always switch domains later. Pick something decent and keep moving — shipping matters more than the perfect name.
Understanding TLDs
The TLD is the ending — the .com, .io, .app part. They aren't just decoration; they carry a bit of signal, and they cost different amounts.
| TLD | Feel | Typical price/year | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
.com | The default. Most trusted, most recognized. | $10–15 | Almost anything |
.io | Popular with tech and startups. | $30–60 | Developer tools, SaaS |
.app | Clean, modern. Always HTTPS-secured by design. | $15–20 | Apps, mobile-first products |
.co | A short, friendly stand-in for .com. | $25–35 | Startups when .com is taken |
.net | Older, still solid. | $12–18 | Backups, networks, communities |
If you have no strong opinion, get the .com. It's the address people assume by default.
Where to Buy a Domain
The place you buy a domain is called a registrar. They all sell the same thing; they differ in price, interface, and how aggressively they upsell you.
Namecheap — recommended for beginners. Fair prices, a clean interface, and free privacy protection (more on that below). namecheap.com
Cloudflare Registrar — the cheapest option, because they sell at cost with no markup on renewals. Slightly more technical, and it requires a Cloudflare account. cloudflare.com/registrar
Squarespace Domains (formerly Google Domains) — simple, clean, reliable. domains.squarespace.com
GoDaddy — the biggest registrar. Often dangles a cheap first-year deal that gets expensive on renewal. godaddy.com
Watch out for the renewal trap. Some registrars charge $1.99 for the first year, then $40+ every year after. Always check the renewal price, not just the intro offer.
Buying It (Namecheap as the Example)
- Go to
namecheap.com. - Type your desired domain into the search bar.
- You'll see availability and prices across several TLDs at once.
- Add the one you want to your cart.
- During checkout, look for two settings worth turning on:
- Auto-Renew — enable it. You never want your domain to lapse by accident and get snapped up by someone else.
- Domain Privacy (Namecheap calls it WhoisGuard) — enable it. It's free and hides your name, address, and phone number from public domain records.
- Pay with a card.
Once you've bought it, you'll have access to your domain's DNS settings — that's where the next lesson's work happens.
Two Ways You'll Connect It to Vercel
You don't need to act on this yet — just know the two paths exist, because the next lesson uses them.
Option A — Add DNS records at your registrar. You keep your domain at Namecheap (or wherever) and add a couple of records pointing to Vercel. Your registrar stays in charge of DNS. Best if you'll also use the domain for email or other services.
Option B — Hand DNS over to Vercel's nameservers. You point your domain's nameservers at Vercel, and Vercel manages everything from its dashboard. Simplest if Vercel is the only thing using this domain.
For most people building one app, Option B is the easier long-term choice. We'll walk through both next.
Custom Email (Optional)
Once you own a domain, you can have email addresses on it, like hello@yourapp.com. Totally optional — your app works fine without it — but it adds polish if you're building something real.
- Google Workspace (~$6/month per user) — Gmail, but with your own domain.
- Zoho Mail — has a free tier if you want zero cost.
- Cloudflare Email Routing (free) — forwards
you@yourdomain.comstraight to your personal Gmail.
Already Own a Domain?
If you've got a domain sitting somewhere already, you have two options: add the DNS records at your existing registrar (easy — same as Option A above), or transfer the domain to a new registrar (takes a few days and more steps). For this course, the path of least resistance is buying a fresh domain or adding records to one you already control.
Summary
- A custom domain costs ~$10–15/year and is worth it for any project you'll share.
- Pick a short, easy-to-say name and don't agonize — you can change it later.
- The TLD (
.com,.io,.app) carries signal and affects price;.comis the safe default. - Namecheap, Cloudflare, and Squarespace are all solid registrars — check renewal prices.
- Turn on auto-renew and domain privacy at checkout.
- You'll connect the domain to Vercel in the next lesson, via either DNS records or Vercel's nameservers.