You found an expiring domain with real links and want to catch it when it drops. This compares the backorder services that still take orders in 2026, what each one charges, what happens when somebody else wants the same name, and when skipping the drop altogether is the cheaper way to own it.
SEODomain team
No drop, no bidding
Expired domains that are already caught and vetted
DR, backlinks, referring domains, first registration year and a fixed asking price on every listing. Membership $24.50/mo billed yearly, or $49/mo, reveals the names and the Ahrefs reports.
Browse vetted domains Unlock one listing freeThe short answer
Use DropCatch as your main domain backorder service for an expiring .com: $59, charged only on a catch. Add Dynadot ($24.99) and SnapNames or NameJet ($79) on the same name to widen your odds, because each service catches through different registrars. GoDaddy no longer sells backorders. If the domain has real backlinks, expect an auction, and set a ceiling below what a vetted domain costs outright. All of these drop catching services work on .com; for country codes such as .io and .co the specialist is covered in our Park.io review.
These are the entry fees, the price you pay when your backorder is the only one on the name. All three live services charge nothing up front and bill you only after a catch or a win.
The spread looks large, $24.99 against $79, but it hardly matters for the names SEO buyers want. A domain with a few hundred referring domains shows up on every free drop list, collects several backorders and goes to auction, where the entry fee is replaced by the winning bid.
The column that decides your real cost is the third one. Who else is allowed into the auction matters more than the entry fee.
| Service | Backorder fee | When you pay | If others want it | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DropCatch | $59 per .com | Only if the name is caught | Public auction, 3 to 5 days, open to every verified user | Expiring .com names in pending delete |
| Dynadot | $24.99 per .com; high priority only on some extensions | Only if the name is caught | Backorder auction open to eligible Dynadot users; first backorder holds the opening bid | Cheap second line on names DropCatch may miss |
| SnapNames and NameJet | $79 minimum (raised from $69 in 2016) | Only if the name is won | Private auction among backorder holders only | Names released through their partner registrars |
| GoDaddy | No longer sold | New backorders stopped on August 8, 2024 | Expiring GoDaddy names go to GoDaddy Auctions instead | Bidding on names before they ever drop |
| SEODomain | No backorder, fixed asking price | When you buy the listed domain | No auction; first buyer gets it | One vetted domain with the links already checked |
DropCatch and Dynadot figures come from their own backorder pages in September 2026. SnapNames and NameJet share inventory and a $79 minimum, the figure both have charged since July 2016; our SnapNames and NameJet backorder review lists which registrars feed them. We left out services whose current terms we could not confirm.
DropCatch, the default for .com
$59 per .com, nothing charged unless it catches. It is built for the moment a name is released and is the service investors on NamePros keep naming first. Two or more backorders open a public auction of 3 to 5 days that any verified user can join, which is where the price climbs. Our DropCatch review covers the account checks and payment deadlines in detail.
Dynadot, the cheap second line
$24.99 for a standard .com backorder, charged only on a catch; high priority shows up only on some extensions such as .info. If several people backorder the same name it goes to a public backorder auction of 7 to 10 days, and whoever backordered first holds the opening bid. The Dynadot backorder review covers the account rule and the 47-hour payment window.
SnapNames and NameJet, the private route
The two share inventory and a $79 minimum. Their advantage is the auction model: when a name is contested, only people who placed a backorder can bid, so the field is smaller than at DropCatch. They also receive names through partner registrars that other catchers never see, listed in our NameJet backorder review.
GoDaddy, no longer a backorder service
GoDaddy stopped selling backorders on August 8, 2024. Its expiring names now go to GoDaddy Auctions: a 10-day auction, then a closeout where the price falls by the day. That is bidding before a drop, not a backorder, and plenty of names with links are sold there before any catcher gets a chance. The GoDaddy expired domain auction review covers how that works. Namecheap sells no backorder either; its expired names go to auction, see the Namecheap Auctions review. The registrar auctions and the backorder auctions are compared together in expired domain auction sites.
A backorder service sells the catch. It does not tell you whether the backlinks are real, whether the old site was a spam network or whether Google still indexes the name. That work sits with you: an Ahrefs or Majestic plan (Ahrefs Lite starts at $129 a month), the Wayback history, the anchor text, and an evening per shortlist.
Then comes the auction. The names worth your time are the ones every investor saw on the same free drop list. Three backorders at DropCatch plus two at SnapNames means two auctions you can lose, and one you can win at a price nobody predicted. Before you bid, look up what a DR 30 expired domain should cost and write your ceiling down.
If the plan is one strong domain for a new site or a 301 redirect this month, the arithmetic often favors buying it outright. Our catalogue is short and hand-picked: the listings live today are priced from $1,800 to $2,400 with Ahrefs DR from 42 to 51, and that price is the whole price of the name. Membership is $24.50/mo billed yearly or $49/mo and hands over the Ahrefs report with every name, so the checking is done before you see the price.
Check the links first
Read the top referring domains, anchors and Wayback snapshots before you place a single backorder.
Backorder at two or three services
DropCatch, Dynadot and SnapNames each catch through their own registrars. Nothing is charged until one wins.
Verify accounts early
DropCatch verification can take 72 hours. An unverified account cannot bid on a contested name.
Set one ceiling
Use the same maximum at every auction, and compare it with a vetted fixed-price domain before the bidding starts.
Most good names never reach a backorder at all, because the owner renews or the registrar sells them at auction first. It pays to keep a watchlist with value scores for names that are about to expire, so you see them weeks before pending delete instead of on drop day. For every other route, from registrar auctions to curated marketplaces, see where to buy expired domains.
For an expiring .com with real backlinks, DropCatch is the service most domain investors use first, because it is built for the .com drop and catches often. Serious buyers add Dynadot and SnapNames or NameJet on the same name, since each service connects through different registrars and only one of them can win it.
A .com backorder costs $24.99 at Dynadot, $59 at DropCatch and $79 at SnapNames and NameJet. All three charge only if they catch or win the name. That fee is the full price only when you are the sole backorder. With a second backorder the name goes to auction and the winning bid replaces it.
No. GoDaddy stopped selling new backorders on August 8, 2024 and has since retired the service. Expiring names registered at GoDaddy now go to GoDaddy Auctions, where you bid during a 10-day auction or buy in the closeout that follows. Old guides that quote a $22 to $25 GoDaddy backorder are out of date.
Yes, if you really want the name. Each catcher only has a chance through its own registrar connections, so one backorder is one lottery ticket. Placing it at DropCatch, Dynadot and SnapNames costs nothing until one catches it. The risk is winning at two places, so read each service's rules on what happens after a catch.
They are worth it for uncontested names, where $25 to $79 buys a domain nobody else wanted. For an expired domain with a strong backlink profile they rarely stay uncontested, and the auction plus the tools to check the links often costs more than buying a vetted domain at a fixed price.
You get it at the listed backorder fee, which usually includes the first year of registration. At DropCatch and Dynadot the name is simply added to your account after the catch. You still need to check its backlinks and history yourself, because a backorder service sells the catch, not a quality check.
For a portfolio built from many cheap catches, backorder at DropCatch and add Dynadot as a second line; both bill only on success, and the uncontested names come in at $25 to $59. Put SnapNames or NameJet on the names you care about most, for the smaller private auction.
For one expired domain with a real backlink profile, the backorder fee is not the price. The auction is, plus the tools and hours to check what you are bidding on. A vetted domain at a fixed price costs more on the sticker and less in total more often than people expect.
Related reading: DropCatch review, ExpiredDomains.net review, and expired domains for a 301 redirect.