What is the difference between a registry, registrar and registrant?

There are three different roles that participate in the domain name registration process: The registry, registrar, and registrant. The following information breaks down each role and how they work with one another:

Registry: A domain name registry is an organization that manages top-level domain names. They create domain name extensions, set the rules for that domain name, and work with registrars to sell domain names to the public. For example, VeriSign manages the registration of .com domain names and their domain name system (DNS). To learn more about DNS, see What is DNS?

Registrar: The registrar is an accredited organization, like GoWebsite, that sells domain names to the public. Some have the ability to sell top-level domain names (TLDs) like .com, .net, and .org or country-code top-level domain names (ccTLDs) such as .us, .ca, and .eu.

Registrant: A registrant is the person or company who registers a domain name. Registrants can manage their domain name’s settings through their registrar. When changes are made to the domain, their registrar will send the information to the registry to be updated and saved in the registry’s database. When you register a domain name, you become a registrant!