This page provides an overview of Cloud Domains features and capabilities. Cloud Domains enables you to register and configure a domain in Google Cloud.
Cloud Domains is available in all the countries where Google Cloud is available.
Benefits of using Cloud Domains
Cloud Domains provides the following benefits:
Enables you to register or transfer a domain through Google Cloud and seamlessly attach it to any desired application. You can perform these steps by calling the Cloud Domains API or by using the Google Cloud CLI or the Google Cloud console.
Bills your domains through the same Cloud Billing account that you already have. Cloud Domains also automatically renews your registered domain as long as your Cloud Billing account stays active.
Is available in all locations where Google Cloud is available.
Enables you to manage domain registrations per project, not per individual. You can manage one or more of your domains in Cloud Domains as part of a single project, or export your domain to Google Domains if you want to manage it individually. Cloud Domains allows team collaboration because the domain is associated with the project. You can use Identity and Access Management (IAM) to manage all permissions in one place. Google Domains allows direct management of an individual account.
Supports programmatic access to domain registration, letting you integrate your systems. You can control access to the API by using standard Google Cloud permissions and quotas.
Offers the same registration prices as Google Domains if you pay in USD. There can be minor differences when using other currencies due to differences in calculating exchange rates. For detailed pricing information, see Pricing.
If you use Cloud DNS to configure your domain name servers, Cloud DNS bills you separately.
Supported use cases
You can use Cloud Domains to do the following:
- Search for available domains.
- Buy a domain name.
- Import domains from Google Domains into Cloud Domains.
- Transfer in an existing domain from another registrar.
- Manage your registration.
- Optional: Export the domain from Cloud Domains and move it to Google Domains for individual management instead of managing it under a Google Cloud project.
DNS providers
Name servers identify the location of your domain on the internet and define your domain's DNS providers. When you register a domain with Cloud Domains, you must choose a DNS provider for the domain. The following table summarizes the three DNS provider options in Cloud Domains.
| DNS provider | Description | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud DNS | Google recommends that you use Cloud DNS as your DNS provider for all your name servers. | Additional Cloud DNS charges apply. For details, see the Cloud DNS pricing page. |
| Google Domains | If you choose this option, you can use Cloud Domains to configure your name servers, and then use Google Domains to configure your DNS resource records. Note: Using Google Domains does not allow API access. |
No additional cost. |
| Custom name servers | If you choose this option, you can use Cloud Domains to configure your name servers, and then use a third-party DNS provider to configure your DNS resource records. | Check with your DNS provider. |
For instructions about registering a domain, see Register a domain.
Supported domain endings (TLDs)
Cloud Domains supports all the domain endings listed in the Pricing table. Any domain ending that is not listed on the Cloud Domains pricing page is not supported.
For detailed information about domain endings, click the domain ending on the Google Domains supported domain endings page.
Auto-renewal
After you set up Cloud Billing and complete your domain registration, Cloud Domains automatically sets up the registration to renew every year. Auto-renewal helps you keep ownership of your domain by not missing a payment. For more information, see Billing for renewals.
During the registration process, the price for each domain is available. The
total cost is calculated on the registration page as you add domains to your
cart. Prices vary based on TLDs. For example, if you buy example.com,
example.blog, and example.art, the cost of each of these domains might be
different because the TLDs .com, .blog, and .art have different costs.
For detailed pricing information, see Pricing. For billing, see Billing questions.
To stop auto-renewal of your registration, you have two options:
DNS security (DNSSEC)
Cloud Domains supports DNSSEC, which protects your domains from spoofing and cache poisoning attacks. When you use a validating resolver like Google Public DNS, DNSSEC provides strong authentication (but not encryption) of domain lookups. For more information about DNSSEC, see the DNSSEC overview.
If you use Cloud DNS to provide name servers for Cloud Domains, you can enable or disable managed DNSSEC when you create a public zone for your domain. For instructions, see Create a public zone. If you use Google Domains as your DNS provider, you can enable or disable managed DNSSEC during the domain registration process. For instructions, see Register a domain.
Contact information
When you register a domain, you must submit contact information for that domain. There are three types of contact information:
- Registrant: owner of the domain
- Admin: person responsible for administrative decisions about the domain
- Technical: person responsible for technical changes to the domain
You can choose to enter the same information for all three types of contacts for a domain or choose to enter different contact details for each type of contact. You can also modify the settings as needed.
Accurate contact information is key because the registrant is the rightful owner of the domain. Access to the registrant's contact information, including email, phone number, or mailing address, can be used to gain management access to the domain.
Your contact information also enables ICANN to reach you in case of any problems. This information becomes the public contact information for your domain in the WHOIS database. You can control the amount of information available to the public by choosing the appropriate privacy protection settings.
Privacy protection
When you register a domain, ICANN requires Cloud Domains to publish the registrant's name and other contact information in the WHOIS database. The WHOIS database is open to the public, which means that published contact information is available to anyone at any time.
Cloud Domains provides three privacy-protection options for
most domain suffixes (for example, .com, .net) that let you make some,
none, or all of your information private.
| Privacy option | Description |
|---|---|
| Privacy protection on | Choosing this option ensures that your contact information is not available to the public. To help protect your contact information and prevent spam, a third party provides alternate (proxy) contact information for your domain in the public directory. The third-party provider forwards all messages that are sent to your proxy contact information to the actual private contact information. Cloud Domains does not offer privacy protection for all domain endings or top-level domains (TLDs). Registries, the organizations that manage domain endings, have policies prohibiting the use of privacy protection for certain TLDs. To see privacy information for a specific TLD, click the TLD on the Supported TLD reference page. Privacy information for the TLD is available in the DNS reference section. |
| Limit your info available to the public | Choosing this option makes limited personal contact information available to the public. The actual information available publicly depends on the domain that you have chosen. To see privacy information for a specific TLD, click the TLD on the Supported TLD reference page. Privacy information for the TLD is available in the DNS reference section. |
| Make all contact info public | Choosing this option makes all your contact information available to the public through the WHOIS database. |
Access control
Google Cloud offers IAM, which enables you to assign access to specific Google Cloud resources and prevents unwanted access to other resources.
For details about access control and how to manage access for Cloud Domains, see Roles and permissions.
Limitations
- If you use Cloud DNS to configure DNS for your domains, there is an additional cost to using Cloud DNS.
- Billing with Google Domains but managing the domain with Google Cloud is not supported. You can either bill your domain by using Google Cloud, export your domain to Google Domains, transfer out your domain to other registrars, or delete the registration resource.
What's next
- To get started with Cloud Domains, see the Quickstart.
- To access API information, see the Cloud Domains API.
- To find solutions for common issues that you might encounter when using Cloud Domains, see Troubleshooting.
- To learn more about Cloud DNS, see the Cloud DNS overview.