Domain aquiry

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  izaakaidid613 · Member · May 16, 2025 at 5:02 am

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  I recently made a purchases for both a domain name and membership but canceled it due to realizing that wordpress.org is a free alternative that better matches my needs. I succefully canceled it and received my money back but when I tried to enter my domain name request in a 3rd party site, they said the domain name is unavaible/in-use. Is there a waiting period between purchasing the domain and using it elsewhere? If I was to reinstant my domain subcritions, would i be able to use it on other sites as I see fit?

  WP.com: Yes
  Jetpack: No
  Correct account: Yes

  The blog I need help with is: (visible only to moderators and staff)

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  themagicrobot · Member · May 16, 2025 at 7:27 am

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  This account is only a few hours old so if you registered and cancelled the domain immediately it will be released and ready to register elsewhere within 7 days.

  Note that the WordPress.org software is free but to use it to build a site will require you to pay for hosting whether it is here or at some other company. If you let staff re-instate your domain here you could still point it to a site elsewhere and avoid waiting days for the domain release to go through.

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  sajjadisbrilliant · Member · May 16, 2025 at 11:07 am

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  Hey there!

  Thanks for reaching out with your question — great instincts, looking into your domain options.

  You’re absolutely right that WordPress.org is a free software platform. However, using it still requires you to purchase a domain and hosting separately from a third-party provider, so it’s not cost-free to run a self-hosted site.

  Regarding your domain, once a domain is canceled or expires, it doesn’t immediately become available for purchase again. It goes through a series of stages, including multiple periods, where it’s held before being released to the public again, or in some cases, it might be taken by another party. During this stage, restoring the domain may involve an $80 redemption fee.

  You can read more about this process here:
  Stages of Domain Expiration: https://wordpress.com/support/domains/domain-expiration/#stages-of-domain-expiration

  If you’d like to reclaim your domain, and it’s still in your dashboard, you can follow these steps:
  Recover an Expired Domain: https://wordpress.com/support/domains/domain-expiration/#recover-an-expired-domain

  Yes — once you reinstate your domain, you’re absolutely free to use it with a self-hosted website. You can either change the DNS records to point it elsewhere or transfer the domain once the standard 60-day ICANN transfer lock is over.

  If the domain doesn’t appear in your WordPress.com account anymore, please get in touch with us quickly at help@wordpress.com, and we’ll help recover it from our end.

  Let me know how you’d like to proceed — I’m here to help you make the best choice for your setup!