Domains & email
Domain names, hosting, email and DNS: what do you actually need?
Key takeaway
Your domain is the address, hosting runs the website, email handles your messages and DNS points each service to the right place. They can use different providers. Both hosting plans include domain registration and DNS. Moving your website does not automatically require moving your email.
In this guide
Four services, sometimes several providers
Your domain is your business’s web address. Hosting keeps the website online. Email hosting runs your mailboxes. DNS holds the instructions that connect the address to those services. You can buy them from one company, but they do not have to move together.
That distinction is useful when you want a better website host but your current email works well. First identify who provides each service. An invoice for a domain alone does not necessarily mean the same company hosts your website or email.
Domain registration keeps the address available to you
Registering a domain gives you the right to use that address while you keep its registration current and meet the registry’s terms. It does not create website pages or a mailbox by itself. Keep the registration in your business’s control and make sure the contact and renewal details are current.
Both our plans include free domain registration and DNS. If you already own a domain, we help you use it or arrange an agreed transfer. You do not need to register a second address simply because your website hosting changes. Additional domains and particular requirements are confirmed during setup.
Moving a GoDaddy registrationMoving a Crazy Domains registration
Hosting is where the website runs
Website hosting stores or runs the files and services that make your pages available. The required setup depends on how the website was built. A simple HTML site, a WordPress site and a custom app can need different software behind them.
Thunder includes our AWS website hosting at NZ$55 + GST a month per website. Lightning is NZ$99 + GST and adds Arc’s everyday website updates, subject to fair use. Both include SSL, CloudFront CDN, platform security and daily AWS website backups.
Email can stay where it is
An address such as hello@yourbusiness.co.nz uses your domain, but its mailbox might be supplied by Microsoft 365, Google Workspace or another provider. Changing the website does not require moving those mailboxes.
Before a hosting move, record the email provider and existing DNS records. Ask who checks that messages still arrive and that the website’s contact form still works. Email migration or a new mailbox service is separate work unless it is specifically included in your quote.
DNS points people and messages to the right place
DNS translates a domain into the directions used by internet services. Some records send browsers to your website; others direct email or help prove that a sender is authorised. A provider can manage DNS without hosting your website.
Moving the website may only require changing its web records. Replacing the nameservers changes who answers DNS for the whole domain, so the complete set of required records needs to be ready first. Public lookups are helpful, but they do not guarantee that every subdomain or private service has been discovered.
Sources: AWS explanation of DNS and domain registration (opens in a new tab)
What should you give a new host?
Start with your website address, your domain registrar’s name if you know it, and the provider you use for email. Tell us about bookings, shops, subdomains or other business tools connected to the domain. We guide the access and record checks from there.
Do not put passwords or domain transfer codes into a public chat or article comment. Use the secure handover route provided during onboarding. We check the setup and agree the move before changing anything live. Hosting billing begins when your website goes live with us.