Providers / Namecheap
Domains and DNS
Namecheap domains, keys and logins
What every Namecheap credential a founder holds does, whether it expires, and what tends to break. Each fact links to Namecheap's own docs.
At a glance
| Credential | Expiry | Permissions |
|---|---|---|
| Namecheap dashboard login | Not documented | – |
| Namecheap API key (API Access) | Not documented | Not documented |
Each credential
Namecheap dashboard login
- Not documented
Dashboard login used to manage domains and enable API access. Password/2FA policy not confirmed in sources.
Namecheap API key (API Access)
- Not documented
Enabled under Profile > Tools > Namecheap API Access. At least one whitelisted IPv4 address is required before API calls work; only IPv4 is accepted. Whitelist is managed on the API Access page, not via the API. API access requires 20+ domains, a $50+ balance, or $50+ spent in the last two years. No key expiry is stated in the docs. Sandbox is a separate account with its own key.
What usually goes wrong
- API calls are rejected when the calling server's IPv4 address is not on the whitelist, e.g. after a dynamic IP or cloud egress change
- IPv6-only egress cannot satisfy the IPv4-only whitelist
- API access can be lost if the account no longer meets eligibility (domain count, balance or spend)
Renewals and billing
- Domain registrations. Each domain has its own expiry date and auto-renew flag. Per Namecheap support articles (from search results, not fully fetched): auto-renew attempts renewal 30 days before expiry and retries every 24 hours; it fails if balance is empty or card declined. Most gTLDs have a ~30 day renew grace period, then a Redemption Grace Period with a higher fee, with release around 80-85 days after expiry; some ccTLDs have none.
API access eligibility depends on account balance or spend (see api_key notes).
Where to find it in Namecheap
- Open Namecheap domain list
- Open Namecheap payment cards (tick Use for auto-renewal)
- Namecheap API introduction
What Namecheap's docs don't say
We couldn't confirm these from official docs, so don't rely on them either way:
- Whether the API key expires or can be rotated on a schedule
- Whether the API key can be scoped to specific commands
- Domain expiry fields returned by domains.getList (method page returned 403)
- Billing model for domain renewals (prepaid balance vs card)
- Whether the whitelist can be changed through the API
- Domain auto-renew default for new domains and how it is set via API
- Whether the API key can be reset or regenerated
Rotating or replacing a Namecheap key
The steps are the same for most providers: make the new key, deploy it everywhere the old one is used, check it works, then revoke the old one. Our guides walk through it:
Sources
- www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/9739/63/api-faq/
- www.namecheap.com/support/api/intro/
- www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/10064/2207/what-happens-to-my-domain-name-after-it-expires/
- www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/10564/2207/can-i-set-up-automatic-billing-for-my-namecheap-services/
Related providers
Keep track of every Namecheap key
StackHangar stores your Namecheap keys in an encrypted vault, grouped by the product they belong to, warns you before they expire, and walks you through rotating them. We can't read your secrets.