Every domain name has three parties attached to it, and mixing them up is the most common source of confusion about who controls what. The registry runs the TLD (like .com or .dev) at the database level. The registrar is the company you bought the domain through and that talks to the registry on your behalf. The registrant is you, the owner on record. You only ever deal with your registrar directly; the registry stays out of view unless something breaks at the top level.
Registry: the database behind the TLD
A domain registry is the organization that operates a specific top-level domain. Verisign runs .com and .net, Public Interest Registry runs .org, and so on, one registry per TLD (sometimes a few related ones). The registry keeps the authoritative record of which domains exist under its TLD and which registrar each one is sold through. It doesn't sell domains to the public and it doesn't run your DNS. If a registry has an outage, every domain under that TLD can be affected at once, but this is rare and outside anything a hosting provider or registrar can fix.
Registrar: who you actually deal with
The registrar is accredited by the registry to sell and manage domains under that TLD. This is the company whose portal you log into, whose invoice you pay, and whose support you contact for anything domain-related. Registrar responsibilities include registering and renewing the domain, updating nameservers, applying a registrar lock to prevent unauthorized transfers, and handling the transfer process if you move the domain elsewhere.
In the Flashcloud portal, domain-level controls live on the domain's own page: Renew now, an Auto-renew toggle, Registrar lock, ID Protection, and Transfer out with a Reveal transfer code option if you're leaving. These are registrar functions, separate from hosting. If you're moving a domain to Flashcloud instead, that's a registrar-side transfer-in, done from Marketplace → Domains → "Transfer one in": type the full domain name, check eligibility, then follow the transfer steps. A successful transfer adds a free year to the remaining registration and includes WHOIS privacy.
It's worth being clear about what a registrar does not control: DNS record content (the actual A, MX, TXT records) and web hosting are separate services, even when the same company happens to provide both. On your Flashcloud domain page, the DNS section only edits nameservers, up to five of them. Actual DNS records for a domain pointed at Flashcloud hosting are edited under Services → your hosting → DNS Zone Editor, not on the domain page. This split causes real confusion: if you're trying to add a TXT record or change an A record, the Domains tab is the wrong place to look.
Registrant: the owner on record
The registrant is the individual or organization the domain is registered to, per WHOIS. This is you (or your business) after purchase, and it's a distinct role from the registrar (who you bought it through) and the registry (who runs the TLD). Registrant details, name, organization, email, phone, address, are what most WHOIS privacy services mask from public lookups.
In the Flashcloud portal, registrant information is managed from the domain card's Registrant → Edit contact details option. This covers the single registrant contact. Other registry-defined contact roles (admin, technical, billing contacts, which some TLDs track separately) go through a support ticket rather than a self-service field.
Keeping registrant details accurate matters beyond formality. Registries and ICANN policy (for gTLDs) require valid contact information, and a bounced verification email or stale address can put a domain at risk of suspension. It's also the identity that matters legally if a domain dispute or transfer-authorization request ever comes up.
Why the distinction matters day to day
Most support confusion boils down to which layer a problem lives in. A domain not resolving is usually a DNS or nameserver issue, registrar/hosting territory. A domain showing the wrong owner in WHOIS is a registrant-detail issue. A domain being unregisterable or already reserved by someone at a completely different company is registry-level and not something any single registrar can override.
If you're unsure which layer an issue sits in, or you need a registry-level detail that isn't exposed as a portal control (for example, a contact role beyond the primary registrant), open a ticket through Support → New ticket in the portal. It's a real person who can tell you whether it's a quick portal fix or something that needs to go back to the registry.