Namecheap Alternative: Moving Domains, DNS and Email to Ucartz

Short answer: if you are looking for a Namecheap alternative, the part that needs care is not the registration but the DNS records and the email that depend on them. Copy every DNS record to its new home first, keep your MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records exactly as they are until email has moved, and only then transfer the domain. At Ucartz, domains start at $5.44 a year with free DNS management, domain forwarding and email forwarding, and the renewal price is listed before you buy. This guide covers the order that keeps your website and email working throughout.

Registrar, DNS and email are three separate things

Most problems during a move come from treating these as one. They can all sit with one company, or with three different ones, and each can move on its own schedule.

Part	What it does	What moving it changes
Registrar	Holds the registration, renewals and the nameserver setting	Who you pay and where you manage the domain. Not, by itself, where it points.
DNS host	Answers for your records: A, CNAME, MX, TXT and others	Every record must exist at the new DNS host before the nameservers change, or the site and email stop.
Email host	Stores mailboxes and sends and receives mail	Mailboxes must be created and copied before the MX records point to the new host.

Step 1: make a full list of your DNS records

Open the DNS panel where your domain is managed today and copy every record into a text file or spreadsheet: type, name, value, priority and TTL. Export the zone file if the panel offers it. Pay special attention to:

• A and AAAA records for the main domain, www and every subdomain (shop, blog, mail, app).
• CNAME records, including verification records for online tools and services.
• MX records, with their priorities.
• TXT records: SPF, DMARC (on the _dmarc name), DKIM keys (on names ending in _domainkey) and site-verification codes.
• Less common records such as SRV and CAA, which are easy to miss.

Then check the live answers with our DNS lookup tool and our SPF, DKIM and DMARC checker, so you have a record of what works today. A lookup only shows the names you ask for, so the panel export is still the complete list.

Step 2: choose where your DNS will live

• With your Ucartz domain: DNS management is free, and you add A, CNAME, MX and TXT records yourself from the client area.
• With your Ucartz hosting: point the domain at the hosting nameservers and manage the zone in Virtualmin or cPanel, next to the website and mailboxes.
• Somewhere else: you can keep DNS with a separate DNS provider and only move the registration. Then nothing about DNS changes at all.

Step 3: lower the TTL, copy the records, then switch nameservers

The TTL of a record is, in the words of RFC 1035, “the time interval that the resource record may be cached before the source of the information should again be consulted”. A long TTL means resolvers keep the old answer for longer after you change it.

1. A day or two before the move, lower the TTL on the records you will change, at your current DNS host. Wait at least as long as the old TTL so caches pick up the shorter value.
2. Create every record from your list at the new DNS host, with the same values.
3. Compare the new zone with your list line by line, especially MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC.
4. Change the nameservers at your registrar to the new DNS host.
5. Check the website and send test emails in both directions. Keep the old zone in place until you are sure everything answers from the new one, and raise the TTLs again once all is stable.

Keep email working during the move

Email is the part people notice first when something goes wrong, so plan it on its own.

• If your email stays where it is (for example a separate business email provider), copy its MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records exactly. Nothing else needs to change, and mail keeps flowing when the nameservers move.
• If you move email to Ucartz hosting, create the same mailboxes first, then copy old messages over IMAP. Migrate Emails over IMAP using imapsync shows the method, and on shared plans our free migration includes email. Point the MX records at the new server only after the mailboxes exist, then run a final copy to pick up late messages.
• Update SPF and DKIM to match the server that now sends your mail. We set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC by default on every new hosting account; if your DNS is hosted elsewhere, add the cPanel SPF and DKIM records at your DNS provider.

For a fuller walk-through of mail settings, see How to Set Up Business Email. If you would rather use Gmail on your own domain, we also sell Google Workspace, set up by our team and billed with your other services.

Step 4: transfer the registration

With DNS and email settled, the registrar transfer is the easy part, because it does not change your records or nameservers by itself. If you are moving from Namecheap and your DNS is still hosted there, finish steps 1 to 3 first, so nothing depends on the old account when the domain leaves.

1. Check the dates with our WHOIS lookup. According to ICANN, a registrar may deny a transfer within 60 days of registration or of a previous transfer, and changing the registrant name, organisation or email can trigger a 60-day transfer lock.
2. Remove the registrar lock and get the EPP (Auth) code from your current registrar. ICANN says it must provide the code within five calendar days if you cannot generate it yourself.
3. Order the transfer in our store and enter the code. Approve any confirmation email that reaches the registrant address.
4. When the domain shows in your Ucartz client area, confirm the nameservers, turn the registrar lock back on and set auto renew.

What it costs at Ucartz

Item	Price
.com transfer, then renewal	$14.43, then $15.34 a year
.in transfer, then renewal	$10.26, then $11.16 a year
.uk and .co.uk transfer	Free (renewal $11.54 a year)
DNS management, domain forwarding, email forwarding	Free
WHOIS privacy	$4.00 a year, where the extension allows it
Hosting with email on your domain	From $1.98 a month (Virtualmin) or $3.99 a month (cPanel)

Transferring a .com, .net, .org or most other generic domains adds one year to the current expiry date, included in the transfer price. All 554 extensions and their prices are on our domain page, and the current price is always the one in our store.

Hosting comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee on your first purchase of that service. It does not cover dedicated servers, domains or expert services, so domain fees are not refunded, and there is no free trial.

FAQ

Will my email stop working when I change nameservers?

Not if the new DNS host has the same MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records before you switch. Email stops when those records are missing at the new host, so compare them line by line first.

Does transferring a domain change its DNS?

Not by itself. The nameservers stay as they are. The risk is DNS hosted by the old registrar: check whether that service continues after the domain leaves, and move the records first if it does not.

How long do DNS changes take?

It depends on the TTL of the old records. Resolvers may keep a cached answer until its TTL runs out, which is why you lower the TTL in advance. Nameserver changes can take longer, because the delegation is cached too.

Can I move only the DNS and keep the domain where it is?

Yes. Point the nameservers at your Ucartz hosting and leave the registration where it is. You can transfer the registration later, or never.

Want help with the records? Open a ticket with your domain and the list of records you exported, and our team will check them before you switch. Free Basic Managed Support covers quick DNS and email setup tasks on every plan.