Most businesses discover what they do not own at the worst possible moment: when they want to change supplier. It is nearly always avoidable, and the check takes an afternoon.
The five things, and how to check each
- The domainLook it up on your registrar and confirm the registrant is your company, not your developer or their agency. This is the one that hurts most, because everything else can be rebuilt and your domain cannot.
- Hosting and DNSYou should have the login. If hosting is inside a reseller account you cannot see into, you cannot move without cooperation you may not get.
- The source codeAsk for repository access in your own organisation, not a zip file emailed at handover. A zip is a snapshot; a repository is the history, which is what the next developer actually needs.
- Design filesThe editable Figma or Adobe files, not exported images. Without them, every future change is a redraw.
- Analytics, search and store accountsGoogle Analytics, Search Console, Google Business Profile, Play Console and App Store Connect, all under your own email. Rebuilding an analytics history is impossible; you simply lose it.
What a handover should actually contain
"We will hand everything over" is not a deliverable. This is, and it is reasonable to ask for it in writing before you sign rather than to negotiate it while you are leaving.
- Repository access, with historyYou added as an owner on the organisation, not a zip file emailed once. The history is what tells the next developer why something is the way it is.
- A README that gets a new developer runningInstall steps, environment variables and how to deploy. If a competent developer cannot start the project in an afternoon, the handover is not finished.
- Credentials, moved not sharedHosting, database, domain registrar, email, payment gateway and any third-party API keys — transferred into your accounts, then rotated so the old ones stop working.
- The deployment pathHow a change actually reaches the live site. Surprisingly often this lives only in one person's terminal history.
- Design sources and brand assetsEditable Figma or Adobe files, logo in vector, and the fonts with their licences. Exported PNGs are not a brand kit.
The three ways people actually lose control
- Convenience at the startThe developer registers the domain and hosting "to save you the hassle" during a week when you are busy. Nothing malicious happens; it just never gets corrected, and three years later it is a negotiation.
- A freelancer who moves onAccounts sit under a personal email nobody can reach. This is the most common version and the hardest to unwind, because there is no company to escalate to.
- Platform accounts opened by the agencyPlay Console, App Store Connect, Google Business Profile and Search Console created under agency identities. Transferring an app listing is genuinely difficult; opening it in your own name on day one costs nothing.
What a good contract says
That IP transfers to you on final payment, that accounts are registered in your name from the start, and that handover includes credentials and documentation. If a proposal is silent on ownership, ask — and be wary of an answer that is warm but not written down.
There is a legitimate version of a supplier holding things: some agencies bundle hosting and genuinely manage it. That is fine, provided the domain is yours and you can leave with the code. The line is control, not convenience.
Frequently asked questions
My developer registered my domain in their name. What now?
Ask for a registrant transfer in writing, politely and early — most will do it. If they will not, you can raise a dispute with the registrar, and for a .in domain with INDRP, but both are slow. The practical lesson is to register domains yourself; it costs a few hundred rupees and removes the problem permanently.
Is it normal to pay extra for the source code?
No. Some contracts genuinely licence rather than transfer — that is a legitimate model, but it must be stated up front, not sprung at handover. Our projects transfer ownership on final payment as standard, and the repository is in your name from the first commit.
What if my site was built on WordPress with paid plugins?
Check whose licence each plugin sits under. If the agency bought them on an agency licence, your updates stop the day you leave — and an unpatched plugin is the single most common way a WordPress site gets compromised. Buy the licences in your own name, or budget to replace them.
I am mid-project and I do not know what I own. What should I do now?
Do not wait for handover. Ask for domain registrant details, hosting login, repository access and a list of every account opened for the project, today, in one email. The response tells you a great deal — and everything is far easier to correct while there is still an invoice outstanding.
Want this applied to your project?
Send us what you have — even a rough note. You'll get a written scope, a fixed quote and a delivery date within one business day, with no obligation.
