Whether you own your website when you pay monthly comes down to four things you can check today.
Plenty of owners find out who really owns their site on the day they try to leave. This guide explains what ownership means for each piece of a website, what happens when you stop paying on different kinds of plans, and how to move to any other provider without losing your address or your customers.
The short answer
Paying monthly does not decide ownership; the contract and the accounts do. You own your website if the domain is registered in your name, the hosting account is yours or will be handed over, and the contract says the content and code are yours. On builder plans and many pay-monthly deals you are renting: stop paying and the site goes. With us you hold the domain, hosting account, code and content from day one. Care is a three-year contract that you can cancel anytime after 24 monthly payments, and the site stays yours either way.
The four things that make up a website
Ownership is four separate questions. A site can be yours on one and rented on another.
| Piece | Who should hold it | How to check |
|---|---|---|
| The domain name | You, as the registrant, with the login in your email | Search your domain at lookup.icann.org to see the registrar, then log in there. If you have never had a login, someone else holds it. |
| The hosting account | You, or a provider contracted to hand it over | Ask for the name on the account and who gets the bill. On a builder, the hosting and the site are the same subscription. |
| The content | You: your words, photos, logo and customer data | Check the contract for a clause giving you rights to everything you supplied and everything made for you. |
| The code and design | You, if you want to be able to move the site | Ask whether you can get a copy of the files. Wix's help center says sites made in its editor cannot be exported to another host; Squarespace's export covers pages, one blog and basic blocks, not the design or a store. |
Under US copyright law, the person who creates a work generally owns it unless a written agreement says otherwise, so ownership of custom code and design should be spelled out in writing.
Monthly plans compared with paying outright
| Kind of plan | Usually yours | Usually rented |
|---|---|---|
| DIY builder subscription (Wix, Squarespace) | Your words and photos, and the domain if you registered it yourself | The design, the code and the hosting; the site only runs on that platform |
| Pay-monthly design service | Depends on the contract. One national service hands over the site after month 12; others never do | Often the whole site until the term ends, with the remaining months due if you leave early |
| Agency build paid up front | Usually the code and content | Check the hosting account and domain, which agencies sometimes keep in their own name |
| Point It Here, $499 then $49 a month | Domain, hosting account, code and content, from day one | Nothing you own. The $49 pays for our care; after 24 monthly payments you can end it anytime, and the site, domain and content stay yours |
| Point It Here, $1,449 once | Everything, with a year of hosting included | Nothing |
Renting is a reasonable choice when you want no upfront cost and no responsibility, and you accept that leaving means starting over. Owning matters more the longer you plan to be in business and the more your address and search standing are worth.
What happens when you stop paying
- On a builder: the site goes offline when the plan lapses. You keep a domain you registered elsewhere and any copies of your words and photos.
- On a rented monthly site: the provider usually takes the site down or keeps the design. If they hold the domain, your address can go with it.
- On an agency site you paid for: the site keeps running as long as someone pays the host. If the hosting is under the agency's account, arrange the handover before you cancel.
- On our care plan: the domain, hosting account, code and content are already in your name. What stops is our work: monitoring, fixes and the monthly changes. An exit plan is written at the start of every engagement, and if you leave you take everything with a plain-language guide to running it.
How to check what you own today
- Search your domain at lookup.icann.org and note the registrar and expiry date.
- Log in to that registrar. Confirm the account email is one you control and that auto-renew is on.
- Ask your provider, in writing, whose name the hosting account is in and whether they will hand over the login.
- Read your contract for the words "license", "ownership", "assignment" and "termination". A license means you are using something they own.
- Ask for a full copy of your site's files or an export, and see what arrives.
- Check your Google Business Profile lists you as the primary owner, not your designer.
How to leave any provider
- Get the domain first. ICANN says moving a domain between registrars is the registrant's right, and the registrar must give you the transfer code within five calendar days of asking. A registrar may refuse a transfer in the first 60 days after registration.
- Copy your content. Download photos, page text, blog posts, form submissions and customer lists before anything is switched off.
- List every page address. Your new site should send each old address to its new one with a permanent redirect. Google's site move guidance says to keep redirects at least a year.
- Move email carefully. If your email runs through the old provider or the domain's settings, set it up on the new side before you change anything.
- Cancel last. Only after the new site is live, email works and the domain is in your account.
Moving from a builder to your own site is covered on our website redesign page.
Questions owners ask us
Who legally owns a website a designer built for me?
Under US copyright law the creator of a work generally owns it unless a written agreement transfers it, so a site you paid for is not automatically yours. Ask for a contract that assigns the code, design and content to you. Keep the domain registered in your own name regardless.
Can my web designer keep my domain if we part ways?
If the domain is registered in their name or account, they control it, and getting it back depends on their goodwill or your contract. Search your domain at lookup.icann.org to find the registrar, then make sure the account is yours.
If I cancel Wix or Squarespace, what do I keep?
You keep your words, photos and a domain you registered with another registrar. The design stays behind: Wix says its sites cannot be exported to another host, and Squarespace's export leaves out the design and store pages.
What does an exit plan in a website contract mean?
It is a written description, agreed at the start, of how you leave: what files and logins you receive, how the domain and hosting move, and what it costs. We write one at the start of every engagement.
Is renting a website ever the smarter choice?
Yes, when you need to be online with no upfront cost, you do not plan to keep the site long, or you are testing an idea. Read the minimum term and the exit terms first.
What happens to my site if I stop the $49 care plan with you?
It stays yours, because the domain, hosting account, code and content are in your name from day one. Our monitoring, fixes and monthly changes stop, and you follow the exit plan written at the start to keep it running or move it.
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