Answers to questions we hear all the time.
Browse by topic, or skip ahead and email a human at support@gigaglobe.com.
Domains
How long does a domain registration last?
Minimum one year for almost every TLD. You can register for up to 10 years on most extensions — useful for locking in today's price before a registry hike.
Who owns the domain — me or you?
You. We are the registrar of record; you are the registrant. We don't license the domain to you — you own it, and you can transfer it out at any time. We unlock and provide the EPP code on request, no questions asked.
What's the difference between register, transfer, and renew?
Register means buy a brand-new domain. Transfer means move an existing domain from another registrar — which adds one year of registration on top of your current expiry. Renew means extend a domain you already own at the same registrar.
Do you charge for WHOIS privacy?
No. WHOIS privacy is included free on every TLD that supports it. If your TLD requires public WHOIS (.us, .ca, .de, and a handful of others), we'll flag it at checkout so you can decide before you buy.
What happens if I let a domain expire?
For most TLDs: a 30-day auto-renew grace period (we'll try to charge your card again), then a 30-day redemption period (recoverable for a fee), then 5-day pending-delete, then it returns to the open market. We email you eight times across that 65-day window.
Can I hide my contact info?
WHOIS privacy is free and on by default for every TLD that allows it. A handful of TLDs (.us, .ca, .de, .nl) require the registrant's real details to be public — we'll warn you at checkout if your TLD is one of those.
Hosting
Is "unlimited bandwidth" actually unlimited?
Bandwidth is unmetered, yes. CPU and I/O are not — every plan has fair-use limits proportional to its price. If your site outgrows shared hosting, we'll proactively tell you and offer an upgrade path. We won't shut you down without warning.
Can I run WordPress / Laravel / Django / Node on this?
WordPress and any PHP framework: yes, that's the home turf. Laravel: yes, Composer is preinstalled and per-site PHP versions are one click. Django and Node: yes via Passenger/PM2 on Pro and above.
How does migration from another host work?
For WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and most PHP apps: free, done by our team. You hand us SSH or cPanel credentials, we move everything in a few hours, and you approve the cutover. For larger or custom apps we'll quote based on complexity — usually no charge for anything under 50 GB.
What's your uptime guarantee?
99.99% measured monthly. If we miss it, you get account credit equal to the percentage of the month we were down, applied automatically to your next invoice. No tickets, no haggling.
Do you offer a money-back guarantee?
Yes — 30 days, no questions asked, on every shared hosting plan. VPS and dedicated are pro-rated. Domains and SSL are non-refundable because we pay the registry and the CA upfront.
Where are your datacenters?
Currently Toronto, Montréal, London, and Frankfurt. We're adding Singapore in Q3 and São Paulo in Q4. You can pick your primary region at checkout — backups always replicate to a different region.
SSL & security
Isn't LetsEncrypt free? Why pay for SSL?
For most sites, LetsEncrypt is the right answer — and we install it free on every hosting plan we sell. Paid SSL makes sense when you need Organization Validation in the cert, Extended Validation for regulated industries, a longer-lived certificate, a warranty in case the CA misissues, or a certificate on a platform where ACME isn't supported.
What's the difference between SAN and wildcard?
A wildcard certificate (*.example.com) covers every direct subdomain — useful for multi-tenant SaaS. A SAN (Subject Alternative Name) certificate covers a specific list of hostnames — useful when you have a handful of unrelated domains and don't want a separate cert for each.
How long does OV validation actually take?
Median: 18 hours. We've seen certs issued in 4 hours and one stretch to 4 days when the business registry was down. The biggest delays come from out-of-date contact info on your company filing.
Can I install on multiple servers?
Yes — a single certificate can be installed on as many servers as you control. We don't license by server, by core, or by user.
Billing
What payment methods do you accept?
All major credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay via Stripe. PayPal coming Q3. SEPA debit for EU customers. Wire transfer for orders above $1,000.
Can I get an invoice in my company name?
Yes — add your company name and VAT/tax number in the customer portal under Billing → Company info. All invoices issued after that point will reflect the new info.
How do refunds work?
Hosting: 30-day money-back, no questions. VPS / dedicated: pro-rated by day. Domains and SSL: non-refundable (we pay the registry / CA upfront and can't get the money back ourselves).
Can I switch from monthly to annual billing?
Yes — from the customer portal. We'll credit any unused monthly time toward the annual invoice. Annual is 15% cheaper than monthly across the board.
Email a human.
Average first response: 12 minutes during business hours. We answer everything.