Domain Backorder Alternatives: What to Use Now That GoDaddy Backorders Are Gone
GoDaddy stopped selling domain backorders and sent everyone to its auctions instead. Here is what the independent catchers still do, what they charge, and the case where waiting for a drop is the wrong move entirely.
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The short answer
GoDaddy no longer sells domain backorders. It stopped new purchases in August 2024 and closed out the remaining credits the following year, pointing buyers to GoDaddy Auctions for expiring names and to its broker service for names that are already owned. The working replacements are the independent catchers: DropCatch, commonly published at about $59, and SnapNames or NameJet at a published $79 charged only on a successful catch. All three share the same limitation, which is that a backorder does nothing unless the name genuinely reaches deletion, and most names worth having never get that far.
Last updated August 2026
What actually happened to GoDaddy domain backorders
GoDaddy ran a backorder product for years. You paid a fee against a specific domain, GoDaddy watched it, and if the name expired and reached deletion the system attempted to register it for you. If several GoDaddy customers had backed the same name it went to a private auction between them.
In its own announcement GoDaddy said it was phasing the product out. New backorder purchases stopped on 8 August 2024, and customers who already held credits were given until the following August to spend or reassign them. Credits left unused after that deadline were removed. Domain monitoring, the companion feature that watched a name and told you when its status changed, went the same way.
GoDaddy's stated replacement is GoDaddy Auctions, which it describes as the modern route to securing expiring names, with tens of thousands of domains added daily. For a name that is registered and being renewed by its owner, GoDaddy points to its Domain Broker Service instead, where an agent approaches the owner on your behalf for a fee.
That change matters more than it sounds. GoDaddy is the largest registrar in the world, so a very large share of expiring inventory now flows into its own auction platform rather than into the general drop. A backorder placed at an independent catcher cannot reach a name that GoDaddy routes into its auction, because the name never gets deleted in the first place. Where the domain is currently registered has become the first question to ask, before you choose a service.
The life of an expiring .com
- 1Expiry date passes. The site usually stops resolving. The owner still holds every right to renew.
- 2Grace period, about 30 days. Renewal at the normal price. Many names come back here.
- 3Registrar auction. Large registrars list the name themselves. If this happens, it never drops.
- 4Redemption, about 30 days. The owner can still restore it, for a much higher fee.
- 5Pending delete, about 5 days. The outcome is now fixed and the drop time is public.
- 6Deletion. Only here does a backorder fire, and only if your catcher wins the race.
Timings are the common gTLD pattern. Individual registrars and other extensions vary, so confirm the schedule for the specific name.
Domain backorder services compared
Published fees, gathered from each service's own materials and widely reported figures. Treat them as the entry cost rather than the final cost, and confirm current pricing on the provider's site before you commit.
| Service | Published fee | When you pay | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| DropCatch | Commonly published around $59 | On a successful catch | Names genuinely heading for deletion. Operates a large pool of registrar connections. |
| SnapNames | $79 per domain | Free to place, charged on success | Long established catcher. Shares inventory with NameJet, so backing both adds little. |
| NameJet | $79 per domain | Free to place, charged on success | Pre release and private auctions on premium expiring names. |
| GoDaddy Auctions | Membership to bid, then the bid itself | On winning, bids are binding | Anything expiring inside GoDaddy. No catcher can reach this inventory. |
| Domain broker | Commonly 10 to 20 percent, sometimes $99 to $500 up front | Retainer plus commission on success | A registered name the owner is renewing and has no intention of dropping. |
| Aftermarket purchase | The asking price, shown up front | At checkout, through escrow | A dated launch or rebrand where you need a name on a known timeline. |
Where several buyers back the same name, the catcher registers it once and runs a private auction between them. The published fee is a floor, not a price.
Why most backorders never fire
None of this makes backordering a bad tool. It makes it a specific tool, with a narrow window where it works and several ways to miss.
The owner renews
The single most common outcome. An expiry date is not a decision to sell. Plenty of owners let a name lapse and renew inside the grace period without ever noticing.
The registrar auctions it
Large registrars monetize their own expiring inventory. The name goes to their auction platform and is never released to the drop, so your backorder elsewhere simply never triggers.
Someone else catches it
Catching is a race between services with different registrar connections. If your catcher is not the one that wins the registration, the auction happens somewhere you are not bidding.
You win, at a price
A good name with several backorders on it goes to a private auction. The fee bought you a seat, not the domain, and a contested name can settle far above what a comparable listed name would have cost.
The part nobody puts in the sales copy
A backorder has no delivery date. You cannot tell a board, a co-founder or a printer when the name will be yours, because the answer depends on a stranger's renewal habits. If the timeline is soft and the name is a nice extra, that uncertainty is cheap. If a launch date, an entity filing or a rebrand is already booked, it is the most expensive kind of cheap there is.
Backorder, auction, broker or buy: which fits your situation
| Your situation | Best route | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The name is in pending delete and you can see the drop time | Backorder, at more than one catcher | This is the narrow case backorders were built for. Stacking widens the pool of registrar connections working for you. |
| The name is expiring and sits at a large registrar | That registrar's auction | The inventory is routed internally and will not reach the public drop, so no independent catcher can reach it. |
| The name is registered, live, and renewed every year | Broker or direct approach | Nothing is dropping. A backorder here does nothing at all. Someone has to ask the owner. |
| You need a strong name by a fixed date | Buy one already listed | Known price, known timeline, escrowed transfer. The only route with a delivery date attached. |
| You want the exact string and nothing else will do | Broker, and a budget | Attachment to one specific string is what makes an acquisition expensive. Be honest with yourself about whether it is the string or the brand that matters. |
One more thing worth knowing if you are researching an owner before making an approach. Registration data moved from WHOIS to RDAP for gTLDs on 28 January 2025, and most personal contact details have been redacted since GDPR took effect in 2018. Expect to find the registrar and the status codes, not a name and a phone number. Our guide to finding out who owns a domain name covers what is still visible and what is not.
Names you can own this week instead of waiting for a drop
Every listing below is an aftermarket name with its asking price shown. Aftermarket names renew at the standard registrar rate rather than carrying a registry premium every year, so the price you see is a one time cost plus normal renewals.
What a name actually costs, either way
Reported aftermarket data for 2024 and 2025 put the average sale price around $2,345 with a median near $549. The gap between those two numbers is the whole story: a small number of large sales pull the average up, while most names change hands for far less than the headlines suggest.
Set that against a contested backorder. The fee is $59 to $79, but a name several people want goes to auction, and there is no ceiling on that auction. Buyers routinely spend more catching a mediocre expired name than a comparable listed name would have cost outright, because the auction rewards whoever is most emotionally committed rather than whoever did the better analysis.
The distribution of our own asking prices is on the right, read live from current listings.
| Asking price | Names listed |
|---|---|
| Under $1,000 | 138 |
| $1,000 to $2,500 | 127 |
| $2,500 to $5,000 | 86 |
| $5,000 to $10,000 | 51 |
| $10,000 and above | 80 |
Median asking price across all listings: $2,340
How to chase a specific expiring name, in order
Find out where it lives
Look up the registrar and the status codes through RDAP. If it sits at a large registrar with its own auction platform, the name will almost certainly go there rather than to the drop, and that decides your route immediately.
Read the status, not the date
An expiry date tells you very little. The status codes tell you whether the name is in grace, in redemption or in pending delete. Only pending delete gives you a real, published drop time to aim at.
Back it in more than one place
If it is genuinely dropping, place backorders at more than one catcher. Each runs its own pool of registrar connections, so two attempts are meaningfully better than one. Remember SnapNames and NameJet share inventory.
Set your walk away number first
Decide what the name is worth to you before the auction opens, and write it down. Compare it against what a comparable name already listed for sale would cost. If the auction passes that figure, you have a better option waiting.
Questions people ask about domain backorders
Does GoDaddy still offer domain backorders?
No. GoDaddy announced it was phasing the product out, stopped selling new backorders in August 2024, and wound down the remaining credits over the following year. GoDaddy now points buyers to GoDaddy Auctions for expiring inventory and to its Domain Broker Service when a specific name is already owned and registered.
Does a domain backorder work?
Only when the domain actually reaches deletion, which most desirable names never do. A backorder is an instruction to attempt a registration the instant a name drops. If the owner renews during the grace or redemption period, or the registrar routes the name into its own expiry auction instead, the backorder never fires and you get your money back rather than the domain.
How much does a domain backorder cost?
SnapNames and NameJet publish $79 per domain, charged only if the capture succeeds, and DropCatch is commonly published at around $59. Placing the order is usually free. The published fee is a floor rather than a price, because when several people back the same name the capture goes to a private auction between them and the final figure can be many times the fee.
What happens if two people backorder the same domain?
The catching service registers the name once, then runs a private auction among everyone who placed a backorder on it. Only the winner pays the auction price on top of the backorder fee. This is why the advertised fee tells you very little about what a contested name will actually cost you.
What is the best domain backorder service?
For names heading to the drop, DropCatch and SnapNames or NameJet are the established independents, and stacking a backorder at more than one improves the odds because each operates its own pool of registrar connections. For names that are expiring inside GoDaddy, GoDaddy Auctions is where that inventory now goes, so a backorder elsewhere cannot reach it.
Can you backorder a domain that is not expiring?
No. A backorder only targets names moving toward deletion. If the domain is registered and being renewed, the only routes are a direct approach to the owner, a broker acting on your behalf, or buying a comparable name that is already listed for sale. A backorder on a name nobody is dropping simply sits there.
How long does it take for a domain to become available after it expires?
For most gTLDs the sequence runs roughly 30 days of expiration grace, then a 30 day redemption period, then a short pending delete window of about five days before the name is released. That is around 75 days from the expiry date, and the owner can reclaim the name at any point before the final stage.
Is it better to backorder a domain or buy one that is for sale?
It depends on whether you need a specific string or a good name. A backorder is a low cost option on an uncertain outcome with no delivery date. Buying from the aftermarket costs more up front but the name is yours on a known timeline, which matters when a launch, a filing or a rebrand is already scheduled.
What does domain backorder mean?
It means placing a standing request to register a domain the moment its current registration is deleted. You are not buying the name from anyone. You are paying a service to be first in the queue at the registry if and when the name is released, which is a very different thing from a purchase.
Can I get my money back if the backorder fails?
Generally yes. The established catchers charge on a successful capture rather than on placement, so a backorder that never fires costs you nothing beyond the time you spent waiting. Check the specific service's terms, because the refund mechanics differ between a failed catch and a lost auction.
Stop waiting on somebody else's renewal date
Every listing carries its asking price, transfers through escrow, and renews at the standard registrar rate because it is an aftermarket name rather than a registry premium.
Next steps for buyers
Where to buy domain names
Registrars, marketplaces and brokers, and which one fits the name you are chasing.
Domain escrow
How the money and the transfer are sequenced so neither side has to go first.
Premium domains
Why an aftermarket premium renews at the standard rate and a registry premium does not.
Agency and firm naming rules
The state filing words that quietly kill a shortlist before the domain even matters.