---
title: Direct EPP (own accreditation)
slug: direct-epp
url: "https://toolweight.com/options/direct-epp"
homepage: "https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/accreditation-2012-02-25-en"
categories: domain-api-providers
last_verified: 2026-07-23
license: CC-BY-4.0
---

# Direct EPP (own accreditation)

> Become the registrar: ICANN accreditation plus an EPP client per registry

The baseline against which every provider above is a convenience purchase. You apply for ICANN accreditation, sign a registry-registrar agreement with each registry you want to sell, post whatever deposit or letter of credit they demand, and speak EPP to each of them directly. You get registry cost with no margin and total control of the lifecycle. You also get compliance obligations, data escrow, abuse handling and an on-call rotation.

## Identity

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Name | Direct EPP (own accreditation) |
| Company | Direct EPP (own accreditation) |
| One-liner | Become the registrar: ICANN accreditation plus an EPP client per registry |
| Site | https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/accreditation-2012-02-25-en |
| Compared in | 1 |

## Where it is compared

### [Domain APIs](https://toolweight.com/compare/domain-api-providers)
Ranked **#12 of 15** on default weights.
| Field | Value | Confidence | Verified | Source | Note |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Spend to first call | $7,500  up front | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-23 | https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/accreditation-2012-02-25-en | US$3,500 non-refundable application plus US$4,000 a year in accreditation fees, before registry deposits, letters of credit, insurance and the cost of building an EPP client. Registry security deposits are the larger number and vary per registry. |
| Sandbox / OTE | ● | Inferred | - | - | Every registry runs an OT&E, and passing its certification test is mandatory before production credentials are issued. |
| Reseller contract | ○ | Inferred | - | - | No reseller agreement, you sign a registry-registrar agreement with each registry instead, which is considerably more onerous. |
| Min prepaid balance | - | Unknown | - | - | Set per registry; commonly a deposit or letter of credit sized to your projected volume. |
| ICANN accredited | ● | Inferred | - | - | - |
| API auth | epp-xml | Inferred | - | - | EPP over TLS with client certificates and IP allowlisting, one persistent session per registry. |
| TLDs offered | - | Unknown | - | - | Unbounded in principle, one contract at a time in practice. |
| .au support | ● | Inferred | - | - | Requires separate auDA accreditation on top of ICANN, with its own fees and Australian presence requirements. |
| Register endpoint | ● | Inferred | - | - | - |
| Bulk availability | ◐ | Inferred | - | - | The EPP check command accepts several names, but registries cap it and watch check-to-create ratios. |
| Suggestion API | ○ | Inferred | - | - | - |
| Transfer in/out | ● | Inferred | - | - | - |
| DNS record API | ○ | Inferred | - | - | EPP sets nameservers; running DNS is a separate system you build or buy. |
| EPP code via API | ● | Inferred | - | - | - |
| Auto-renew control | ● | Inferred | - | - | Renewal is an explicit command; auto-renew is a policy you implement yourself. |
| Webhooks / events | ◐ | Inferred | - | - | The EPP message queue is poll-based and must be drained or the registry complains. |
| Contact model | reusable-handles | Inferred | - | - | - |
| Privacy via API | not-in-api | Inferred | - | - | Privacy is a service you operate, not a flag you set. |
| Rate limit | 600  req/min | Inferred | - | - | Registry-imposed per-session command limits. Check commands are watched closely and abusive ratios attract warnings. |
| Pricing basis | wholesale | Inferred | - | - | - |
| Renewal price in API | ○ | Inferred | - | - | Registries publish price lists contractually, not through EPP. |
| .com renewal | $10.98 /yr | Inferred | - | - | Verisign wholesale plus the US$0.18 ICANN transaction fee. Approximate, and it steps up again each September. |
| MCP server | ○ | Inferred | - | - | - |
| Machine-readable spec | ○ | Inferred | - | - | EPP is specified by RFC rather than by a schema you can generate a client from, though the RFCs are precise, which is arguably better. |
| API since | 2004 | Inferred | - | - | - |
| Positioning | The reference point: registry cost with no margin, in exchange for becoming a regulated party. | Inferred | - | - | - |

**Verdict.** Included so the convenience premium above is visible, not as a recommendation. Below roughly a hundred thousand names under management, the accreditation fees, escrow, abuse handling and compliance load cost more than every reseller margin on this page combined.

## Alternatives

- [Dynadot](https://toolweight.com/options/dynadot), Domainer-oriented registrar with strong bulk tools and a built-in marketplace.
- [Gandi](https://toolweight.com/options/gandi), European registrar with huge TLD breadth and post-2023 premium pricing.
- [GoDaddy](https://toolweight.com/options/godaddy), The default registrar for people who have never compared registrars.
- [Hexonet](https://toolweight.com/options/hexonet), Wholesale platform with 1,000+ TLDs, bulk checks and a free OT&E on signup
- [Internet.bs](https://toolweight.com/options/internetbs), Old-school reseller API with published test credentials and no onboarding gate
- [Name.com](https://toolweight.com/options/name-com), Clean REST API with streaming search, a dev environment and auth-code retrieval
- [Namecheap](https://toolweight.com/options/namecheap), The mainstream cheap registrar: heavy first-year discounts, higher renewals.
- [NameSilo](https://toolweight.com/options/namesilo), Flat renewals, free privacy and portfolio tooling for people holding hundreds.
- [Netim](https://toolweight.com/options/netim), French registrar with unusually deep ccTLD coverage and corporate controls.
- [OpenSRS](https://toolweight.com/options/opensrs), Tucows' wholesale platform, deep API, real OT&E, signed contract required
- [Porkbun](https://toolweight.com/options/porkbun), Near-cost pricing with free privacy, SSL and forwarding, and a clean exit.
- [AWS Route 53 Domains](https://toolweight.com/options/route53-domains), SigV4 domain registration inside AWS, with no sandbox and hard throttling

## Licence and attribution

Data from toolweight (https://toolweight.com), licensed CC-BY-4.0.

- Licence: [CC-BY-4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
- Canonical HTML: https://toolweight.com/options/direct-epp
- Machine-readable: https://toolweight.com/options/direct-epp.md · https://toolweight.com/api/v1 · https://toolweight.com/mcp
- toolweight takes no affiliate revenue and sells no placements. Corrections: https://toolweight.com/suggest