Digital Presence in Costa Rica: domain, email & hosting $89

A small business usually needs three foundations to operate under its own name: a domain customers recognize, email addresses on that domain, and somewhere to publish its website.

A yearly bundle can bring those services together. The decision is whether its resources and responsibilities match your business—not simply whether it combines three items on an invoice.

Start by listing what you already have, what you need to move, and who will build or maintain the website.

Check the pack’s scope and exclusions

The current CR Servers offer costs $89 per year + VAT with a standard .com domain. The published renewal charge follows the same annual price.

Component	Included scope
Domain	Standard .com registration or transfer, with annual renewal included
Hosting	One site, 20 GB of disk space, 600 GB of transfer, and free SSL
Email	50 mailboxes, aliases, and webmail
Setup assistance	DNS help and a standard migration of one site and its mailboxes within an agreed scope

Hosting does not include website design. You or your developer supplies the website and its content. Confirm separately who will handle ongoing changes, application updates, and maintenance.

Larger, custom, or multi-site migrations may require a separate quote. Review the migration scope before work begins rather than assuming every existing system can be moved as part of the standard setup.

The resource allowances also deserve a practical check. Compare them with your existing files, mailbox usage, and application requirements. The number of available mailboxes does not by itself describe how much storage each person will need.

Decide whether the yearly bundle fits

The pack is worth considering when you need the included services together and their scope matches the site you intend to operate.

It may fit a professional establishing a first business address, or a small company bringing its website and email into one service relationship.

Before choosing it, answer three questions:

• Will you use the included services? Identify what the bundle replaces and what you will continue paying for elsewhere.
• Does the site fit the hosting environment? Have your developer confirm compatibility and resource needs.
• Who will manage the work? Assign responsibility for content, account access, renewals, and maintenance.

If your main requirement is comparing hosting resources rather than combining services, review web hosting options separately. Owning a domain already does not automatically rule out the yearly bundle.

Keep existing domains and NIC registration clear

If you already own a domain

You can transfer an eligible domain or retain its current registrar and update DNS. For other international extensions, the published rule adds the catalog price difference relative to .com.

If the domain stays elsewhere, the pack remains $89 per year + VAT for hosting and email, and you continue paying the registrar separately for renewal.

A registrar transfer and a DNS change are different actions. Confirm which one you intend to perform, preserve access to the existing account, and check the records used by your current website and mail service.

If you use a .cr domain

Register the domain through NIC Costa Rica at dominios.cr, where you remain the registered holder, or titular. NIC registration and renewal fees are separate from the pack. The bundle supplies hosting, email, and DNS setup.

Keep the NIC account and renewal responsibility under your control. Purchasing hosting does not replace domain registration.

For more background, read the guide to domain registration in Costa Rica.

Prepare setup and ownership before changing services

Combining services can reduce the number of accounts you manage, but your business still needs clear ownership and recovery access.

Use this sequence:

1. Confirm the domain arrangement. Decide whether to register, transfer, or retain the current registrar. Verify the registrant and renewal contact.
2. Inventory existing services. List website files, databases, mailboxes, aliases, DNS records, and external tools that depend on the domain.
3. Agree on the migration scope. Establish what will move, who will do the work, and which items require separate handling.
4. Prepare the website and mailboxes. Confirm that the site is ready to publish and that the required email accounts exist.
5. Make the agreed DNS changes. Preserve records needed by services that remain elsewhere.
6. Test before retiring the old service. Check pages, forms, secure connections, incoming mail, outgoing mail, and access to historical messages.

Changing DNS does not copy website content or old email. Keep the previous service accessible until the agreed migration and checks are complete.

Store account credentials securely and maintain recovery contacts controlled by the business. If a developer manages setup, document how your organization can regain administrative access when that relationship ends.

Frequently asked questions

Does the pack include a finished website?

No. It provides hosting for a website. Design, content creation, and development are separate responsibilities that you should arrange before publishing.

Can I use a domain I already own?

Yes. The setup depends on whether you transfer it or keep it with its current registrar. Confirm the applicable domain charge and renewal responsibilities before ordering.

Will all my old email appear after the DNS change?

No. DNS directs delivery; moving historical messages is a separate task. Confirm what the migration includes and test access before cancelling the previous mailbox service.

What should I verify before renewing?

Check that your contact and billing details remain correct, the resources still fit your usage, and responsibility for any separately registered domain is clear.

Choose the bundle with the setup plan in hand

If the scope fits, review Digital Presence with your domain choice, website requirements, and mailbox inventory ready. Confirm the order total and agreed migration scope before proceeding.

For the email setup and testing steps, read professional email on your own domain.