When you buy a domain at GoDaddy.com, do you actually own it? Or does GoDaddy own it?

[qzdcg8]

So say in 1 year, I decide to move to another company for hosting. Can I take my domain name from GoDaddy with me to a new company? If GoDaddy is bad in this sense, what other hosting companies would allow me to take my domain name with me?

[Ben Bensen]

You keep your domain name, but you have to pay a small fee. I know because me and my husband have accounts there.

[George]

Most should. But it's best to read through the UA to be sure that you own the site. I think it might also answer your question in their FAQs.

I just did a whois on my website, and it looks like i'm the owner. Godaddy is only mentioned as the registrar.

[Piripipi]

Buying a domain, it's yours, but in a way it's like renting since you have to pay each year. Most likely the only way you couldn't keep it would be if it's a sub domain through that host and not just your own full url.

[mak]

You don't own a domain name, you rent it from ICANN via a domain broker. You can change your registrar and many companies offer incentives to switch to them. This may be more difficult if you have locked the domain, in which case you will have to provide proof of who you are via fax, callbacks, etc...

Your domain registrar can be different from the website host and you can change your host easily - i do it all the time. Just change the "A Record" with your registrar.

From Godaddy:
An A record — short for address record — is a record within a zone file that maps a domain name to an IP address. Also referred to as a host or host name.

Also you will need to change MX records which are the same idea but for email.