Domain expiration / grace period

When a domain hits its expiration date, it doesn't immediately drop off the internet or become available to others. There's a multi-stage grace period for the registrant to renew, with the cost going up at each stage.

The full schedule (for most gTLDs):

Stage 1: Auto-Renew Grace Period (0-45 days)

• Day 0: Expiration date passes.
• Days 1-45: The domain still resolves (DNS still works), and you can renew at normal price. Most registrars auto-renew on day 0 if you have a card on file. If auto-renew fails (expired card, billing issue), the registrar will email you. Renew during this window, no extra fee.
• Days 30-45 (varies by registrar): Domain may stop resolving (registrar puts a "domain expired" parking page in place of your nameservers). DNS goes dark for users.

Exact number of days varies. Most registrars run 30 days; some 40-45.

Stage 2: Redemption Grace Period (RGP) (~30 days)

• The registry suspends the domain. DNS stops resolving. WHOIS status shows pendingDelete or redemptionPeriod.
• You can still recover the domain, but you have to pay a redemption fee: usually $80-$200 plus the renewal fee.
• Recovery is manual through the registrar's support.

Stage 3: Pending Delete (5 days)

• Final 5-day window. Domain is queued for deletion. You can no longer recover it, even with redemption fee.
• WHOIS shows pendingDelete.

Stage 4: Released

• Domain returns to the pool. Anyone can register it on first-come-first-served basis. In practice, domain-drop catchers (services like SnapNames, DropCatch, Dynadot Backorder) have automation that registers high-value domains within milliseconds of release.

Total time from expiration to availability

Roughly 75-80 days for most gTLDs. ccTLDs vary widely. .uk has a slightly different schedule with a longer grace period.

In a SaaS

Two practical implications:

1. Auto-renew is mandatory infrastructure. A custom-domain platform that doesn't auto-renew customer domains will end up with customers losing brand domains. Build the renewal job, monitor it, alert on failure 60 days out.
2. Don't panic at expiration date. Customers who realize their domain expired yesterday think it's gone. Usually they have 30-75 days to fix it. Build a recovery flow in your billing UI: surface expired domains, surface the redemption cost if past auto-renew, let them re-up in 2 clicks.