Registry, Registrar, Reseller & Holder: understanding the Industry

1 What are the roles of each party?

2 Industry players: understanding the hierarchy

Important ⚠️

The model presented on this page is adopted by most Registries. However, some may differ from this model.
For example: some Registries allow the Holder to order domain names directly from them. They may also give more power to the Holder rather than to the Registrar.

What are the roles of each party?

ICANN

The story begins with ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), a non-profit organisation founded in 1998. Its role is essential: it manages the Internet’s digital resources, such as domain names, and oversees coordination between the various players in the sector.

ICANN also plays a regulatory role by defining the rules and obligations that apply to the entire domain name ecosystem.

The Registry

Registries are key players in the world of domain names. They are the entities responsible for managing specific TLDs, such as .fr or .com. Their main mission is to ensure the proper administration, both technical and organisational, of these TLDs. Thanks to their work, domain names can be created, secured and function optimally.

The Registries are responsible for offering free domain names for purchase. There are two marketing methods:

The most common is via a Registrar. This obtains the domain name from the Registry and then makes it available to the end holder.
More rarely, the Registry may sell the domain name directly to the Holder, without an intermediary.

The Registrar

A Registrar is a company accredited to offer the registration of domain names for the benefit of an end user, called the Holder.

💡 For example, Netim is a Registrar.

Unlike the Registry, which only manages the extensions for which it is responsible, the Registrar offers a wide range of extensions (sometimes several hundred or even thousands). To do this, it works with numerous Registries to offer its customers a wide and varied range.

The Registrar may interact directly with Holders, but may also work with a network of Resellers.

The Reseller

Resellers act as intermediaries by offering to sell domain names to Holders.

However, unlike Registrars, they have no official accreditation with the Registries. Their role is limited to purchasing domain names via accredited Registrars. As a result, their range of services is often more limited.

Resellers come in a variety of profiles: web agencies, freelancers, etc. For many, selling domain names is simply a service that complements their main activity.

The Holder

The Holder is the natural or legal person who registers a domain name, whether for professional or personal use. In other words, it is the end user, the person who holds the rights to use the domain name: creating a website, setting up email addresses, etc.

As the official Holder, he has a number of responsibilities:

He can renew, transfer or delete the domain name at any time
He are legally responsible for the content published on the associated site
In the event of a dispute or legal proceedings, the Holder is considered to be the sole owner of the domain name.