Who owns your website code, your domain and your data?

A website or business app is made of several pieces, and each one has an owner: the domain, the hosting, the code, the data, the content and the third-party accounts it uses. The healthiest setup for a business is having the domain, the accounts and the data in its own name, and agreeing in writing on what happens with the code before work begins.

This isn't about distrusting anyone. It's about making sure that the day you want to switch providers, bring someone else in or simply log in to something, you don't have to wait for someone to reply. One note: I'm not a lawyer. This is a practical guide; for contracts and intellectual property, talk to a lawyer where you are.

The pieces of a project, one by one

• The domain (yourbusiness.com). It's your address online and the one your email runs on. Of all the pieces, this is the one you most want in your name; more in custom domain and business email.
• The hosting. It's where the site lives. It may be in your name or provided by the developer as part of the service; what matters is knowing which, and what happens if it's cut off.
• The code. It's what makes the site or software work. There are nuances here, covered below.
• The data. Customers, orders, bookings, sales, inquiries. It's your business's information.
• The content. Copy, photos, logo, video. If you made it or paid someone to, know what rights you have over each piece.
• Third-party accounts. Google, social media, WhatsApp Business, payment providers, app stores. Every one of them is registered to somebody.

Having a login isn't the same as owning it

Plenty of business owners have the password to their admin panel and assume that's enough. But having a user account doesn't mean the account is in your name. If the developer registered the domain with their own email, it's technically theirs, even if you paid for it and have used it for years.

Here's a simple test: could you renew, transfer or close each piece without asking anyone's permission? If not, it isn't fully yours yet. To see what gets paid for and to whom, what you pay for to have a website may help.

The code: what's worth agreeing on

Code ownership can work several ways, and all of them can be reasonable as long as they're clear. On some projects, the client gets full ownership of everything built for them. On others, the developer keeps pieces they reuse across projects and the client gets an unlimited right to use them. And on hosted platforms, the code is never yours, because you're paying to use a service.

None of these is bad in itself. What matters is knowing which one you have and what it lets you do: Can you move the site to another host? Can someone else modify it? Do you get a copy? Those three questions, answered in writing, protect you more than any technical term. If you're thinking of leaving a platform, moving from WordPress to a custom website covers what comes with you. The same questions apply to product configurators, like the 3D structures demo I built: the price lists, models and options inside are your business's know-how.

A checklist for before you start

Bring it to your first conversation with whoever will build the project:

• Will the domain be registered in my name, with my email?
• Is the hosting in my name or the developer's? If it's theirs, what happens if we stop working together?
• What do I receive of the code at the end, and what can I do with it?
• Can I export my data whenever I want?
• Will the Google, social, payment and app store accounts be in my name?
• Do the photos and copy we use have clear rights?
• Where is all of this written down?

What to ask for when the project wraps up

At handoff, ask for a list of every login (which account, whose name, which email), confirmation that the domain and accounts are in your name, and whatever was agreed about the code. Keep it somewhere safe, away from the inbox you use every day.

This holds whether you hire one person or a team; I compared the two in freelance developer or agency. For my projects, we go over these points while putting the proposal together, so they're settled before work starts.

Frequently asked questions