Why this matters
Before you sign or renew a website contract, check that the church owns its domain name and its content, and that it can take a copy of the site when it leaves. Then read the renewal clause for three details: how long each term runs, whether it renews on its own, and how much notice you must give to cancel. With those answers in writing, the church knows exactly how and when it can leave.
Say the relationship ends three years from now. Someone at the church will have to move the site, and every question below is far easier to settle on signing day than on moving day.
At a glance
- Keep the domain and the content in accounts the church owns, whoever builds the site.
- In the renewal clause, find three things: the term length, whether it renews on its own, and the notice window to cancel.
- Ask what leaving costs before you agree to what joining costs.
- If a vendor won't put domain and content ownership in writing, keep looking.
What are the three parts of a church website, and who should own each?
A church website has three parts that can each sit in a different account, and the church should own two of them outright: the domain and the content. The third part, the build, can stay with the vendor as long as you can take a copy when you go.
| Part | What it is | Who should hold it | How to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domain | Your web address, such as yourchurch.org | The church, in an account at the registrar (the company the domain is paid to) that people at the church log into | Look up the registrar and expiry date at lookup.icann.org |
| Content | Your words, photos, service times and sermon audio | The church | Ask in writing whether you can export all of it if you leave |
| Build | The design, the code and the hosting | Can stay with the vendor | Ask whether you get a copy of the site when you go |
A vendor can keep all three in one account with the best intentions, because one account is easier to manage. The trouble only shows up at the exit: if the domain sits in the vendor's account and the content lives only inside their editor, leaving can mean starting over. Separating the parts on day one keeps every option open.
How do you check a contract before you sign or renew?
Work through these four steps in order, with the contract and your domain details in front of you. Each one ends with something to get in writing.
Step 1: Confirm the domain is in the church's name
The church should be the registrant on the domain (the owner of record), with a church email address as the contact, in a registrar account that at least two people at the church can log in to. On your phone, open lookup.icann.org and type your web address. As of October 2026, ICANN's free lookup shows the registrar and the expiry date, though the owner's name may be hidden for privacy. If someone at the church can log in to that registrar account, check that the owner contact there is the church. If not, ask your vendor in writing whose account the domain is in, and if they registered it in their own account to keep things simple, ask them to move it to a church-owned account before you sign anything else.
Step 2: Confirm you can take your content with you
Ask one plain question and get the answer in writing: if we leave, can we export our pages, photos and text in a form the next builder can use? The words are the church's, but if they live only inside an editor with no export, someone ends up retyping them. A written yes, or a written promise of a complete copy of the site at the end, settles it.
Step 3: Read the renewal and cancellation terms out loud
Find the renewal clause and read it slowly. Look for how long each term runs, whether it renews on its own, and how many days' notice you must give to stop it. Say your contract renews every year and asks for 60 days' notice (an illustration, not a real contract): your real decision date is 60 days before the renewal date, and missing it buys another full term. Put that decision date on the church calendar the day you sign, with a reminder to two people.
Step 4: Price the exit as well as the entry
Ask what leaving costs before you sign: a fee to release the domain, a charge to export content, or a penalty for cancelling mid-term. A fair agreement has a clean, cheap exit, written as plainly as the monthly price.
It helps to know what the software alone costs. In our 2026 State of Small Church Websites study, an audit of 2,000 church websites, the median visible platform spend for small church websites (n=1,734) was $16 a month as of July 2026. That is the price of the website software alone, not anyone's time to build or update the site. If a quote runs well above that, ask what the rest pays for, such as someone's time, which can be well worth it as long as the exit terms are written as plainly as the price.
What does getting stuck look like, and how do you get unstuck?
Here are three ways a church can get stuck, each with its fix. The churches are made up for illustration.
- The domain is in someone else's account. Say the volunteer who registered the domain years ago has moved away, and nobody else can log in to point it at a new site. Reach out kindly and ask them to transfer it to a church-owned registrar account. If you can't reach them, call the registrar's support line and ask what it needs from the church to show the name is yours.
- The content has no export. Say the sermon archive, staff bios and service times all live inside a builder with no export button. Before you give notice, save the text of every page, download every photo and sermon file, and keep them in a shared folder the church owns, so the next builder starts from your own material.
- The renewal slipped past. Say the notice window closed two weeks before anyone read the contract, and the site renewed for another full term. Ask the vendor plainly whether they will release you early, since asking costs nothing, then put the next decision date on the calendar with two names beside it.
When is it time to walk away from a vendor agreement?
Walk away, or decline to renew, when a vendor won't put domain and content ownership in writing, or won't tell you plainly what leaving costs. Either one means the church can't leave on its own terms, and in my view that matters more than the monthly price.
Fair disclosure, since Church Digital sells church websites too: every plan is month to month, you can cancel anytime from your account, and if a church ever goes, it keeps a complete copy of its site and content and we help move the domain. Ask us the same questions you would ask anyone else.
You may not need to change anything. If you are happy with your vendor, the domain already sits in a church-owned account and you can export your content, put the renewal date on the calendar and get back to Sunday.
What can you send your vendor today?
Here is a short note you can copy and send to your current vendor, or to one you are about to sign with. It is a template; change it to fit.
> Hi [name], before we sign or renew, could you confirm three things in writing? First, whose registrar account our domain is in. Second, whether we can export our pages, photos and text if we ever leave. Third, our renewal date and how much notice we need to give to cancel. Thank you.
Frequently asked questions
Who owns a church website, the church or the vendor?
The church should own the domain and the content, and the vendor may host the build. Who owns what in practice depends on how the accounts were set up and what the contract says. Before you sign, confirm the church is the registrant on the domain and that you can export your content.
What renewal terms should a church watch for?
Watch the term length, whether it renews on its own, and the notice window to cancel. A long term that renews on its own with a short notice window deserves the closest read. Put the cancellation decision date on a calendar the day you sign so it never passes by accident.
Can we move our domain if the vendor registered it for us?
Yes, and it is easiest with the vendor's help. Ask them to move it into a registrar account the church owns, or to turn off the transfer lock and send you the transfer code (often called an auth code) so you can move it yourself. As of October 2026, a move between registrars needs at least that code and the transfer lock turned off. Do it before you give notice, while things are friendly.
Where this connects in our work
- Our 2026 State of Small Church Websites study for what small church websites spend on software and what else the study measured.
- What a church website actually costs in 2026, to check a quote against what each type of site costs.
- When to scrap and start over on a church website, if leaving a vendor would mean rebuilding.
Next step
If you'd like a second set of eyes before you renew, a free homepage review shows whether your current site is working for a first-time guest, so you can judge the site and the contract separately.