How the web works · Comparison
Domain vs DNS vs hosting
Three things people often buy from one company and so assume are one thing. The domain is the name, DNS is the signpost from the name to a server, and hosting is the server itself.
3 options · 7 questions side by side · updated
| Compare | Domain name | DNS | Hosting |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | The name people type, rented by the year | The directory that maps the name to servers | The computers that store and serve the site |
| In everyday terms | A business name | A directory listing its address | The shop building itself |
| Who provides it | A registrar such as Cloudflare or Namecheap | The registrar, Cloudflare or AWS Route 53 | Vercel, Netlify, a shared host or a VPS |
| Typical cost | About $11 to $23 a year for a .com | Usually free | Free tiers to tens of dollars a month |
| What you manage | Renewals, locks and contact details | Records: A, CNAME, MX, TXT | Files, code, builds and servers |
| If it lapses or breaks | Site and email stop; the name can be lost | The name stops leading to the server | The site goes down, though the name still resolves |
| Moving it | Transfer to another registrar | Change the nameservers | Redeploy elsewhere, then update DNS records |
How to choose between Domain name, DNS and Hosting
- Buy the domain from a registrar with fair renewal prices, and keep auto-renew on.
- Keep DNS wherever it is easiest to manage; registrars and Cloudflare host it for free.
- Pick hosting to suit the site: a frontend cloud for modern web apps, shared hosting for WordPress, a VPS for full control.
The options
- Domain nameThe human-friendly name of a website, such as example.com, which you rent by the year from a registrar and point at your hosting.
- DNSThe internet's directory: it turns a name such as example.com into the numeric IP address of the server that should answer.
- HostingHosting and cloudRenting space on a computer that is always online, so your website or app can be reached by anyone, at any hour, through its address.
More comparisons
- Cookies vs localStorage vs IndexedDBThree ways a website can keep data in the visitor's browser. They differ in size, in whether the data travels to the server, and in who can read it.
- TCP vs UDPThe internet's two transport protocols. TCP guarantees that data arrives complete and in order; UDP just sends packets and moves on, which is faster and better for anything live.
- Proxy vs VPN vs firewallThree tools that sit between a device and the network and are often confused. A proxy relays traffic, a VPN tunnels it with encryption, and a firewall decides what may pass at all.
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