An accredited registrar can have direct access to a registry and still face a costly operational problem: every registry relationship brings another portal, another set of credentials and another workflow to maintain. So, what is domain passthrough service? It is a way to keep your existing accreditations, credentials and wholesale pricing while managing those domains through one modern platform. On Gateway SRS, powered by rEngin, the core registry system from DNS Business, that service is called Passthrough.
Passthrough is not the same as becoming a reseller. You remain the accredited registrar with each registry. Gateway SRS becomes your unified management layer, handling technical execution so your team can work faster and more consistently across the portfolio.
What Is Domain Passthrough Service?
A domain passthrough service lets a registrar that already holds direct accreditation with a registry manage those domains through another provider’s platform, without giving up the accreditation or changing the commercial relationship. With Gateway SRS Passthrough, you link your existing registry credentials once. Your domains sync into Gateway SRS, and from then on you manage them from one place through the web portal, WHMCS, the JSON API or EPP.
The word passthrough matters because your identity as the registrar stays central. Your accreditation status, wholesale pricing and payment relationship with each registry stay exactly as they are today. You keep your customer data and branding, and you remain fully compliant with registry policies.
Which registries are supported
Gateway SRS Passthrough is available for any remote registry that Gateway SRS is already integrated with. That includes major providers such as:
- Verisign (.com, .net and related namespaces)
- Tucows / OpenSRS
- GoDaddy Registry
- Identity Digital
- Team Internet
- ZARC (.co.za, .web.za, .net.za, .org.za)
- Registry Africa (.africa)
Additional registries can be added on request. This makes Passthrough especially relevant for South African and African-focused registrars, and for any registrar holding several accreditations.
Why Accredited Registrars Use Passthrough
Registry connectivity is not a one-time project. Registries update policies, change command requirements and introduce new rules, and each direct connection brings its own credentials, monitoring, test environments and support path. Many accredited registrars value that direct relationship for control over pricing, policy and customer data, but operating multiple portals and technical workflows creates administrative overhead and slows automation.
Passthrough keeps what works and changes what does not. You keep the direct relationship. You gain:
- a single modern platform for your entire portfolio, covering ZARC, Registry Africa, Verisign and others alongside 450+ other extensions
- significantly less development and administrative work
- consistent workflows across all the TLDs you manage
- automation through the WHMCS module or the JSON API
- local technical support from a team that knows these registries well
- faster onboarding of new staff and resellers
How Gateway SRS Passthrough Works
- Share your existing credentials. Provide your current registry username and password. No new accreditation or migration is required.
- We securely link your profile. The Gateway team connects your account to Gateway SRS, and your domains sync automatically. Setup is typically completed within one business day.
- Manage everything in one place. Use the web portal, WHMCS module, JSON API or EPP for registrations, renewals, transfers and bulk transfers, DNS management, contact management and lifecycle actions such as redemption and restoration.
- Operate with full visibility and control. Your pricing, billing relationship and registrar status with each registry stay as they are.
Gateway SRS registrars work in rEngin Portal version 3, the latest release, which is available at ZACR, RyCE, Gateway SRS and Registry Africa. The next deployment is ZARC, one of the registries Passthrough already supports.
It works alongside your direct connection
Passthrough does not force you to rebuild or replace an existing direct EPP integration. Many registrars run both, particularly during a transition period. Passthrough simply reduces the number of systems your team needs to log into and maintain every day. If you later decide to stop using it, your domains and your direct accreditation remain fully intact.
Control, Data and Customer Ownership
The most important questions in any passthrough arrangement are usually about control, not the API. Before you start, confirm which party holds the registry credentials, where registrant and contact data lives, who can authorize sensitive actions such as transfers and contact changes, and how portfolio data can be exported if you change providers.
Customer ownership should be equally clear. A well-structured passthrough service supports your brand and customer relationships rather than obscuring them. The platform runs the technical execution, but you need full visibility into domain status, lifecycle events, transaction history and the exceptions that affect your customers.
Financial and support responsibilities
With Gateway SRS Passthrough you continue to pay standard registry fees directly to each registry at your existing rates. Gateway SRS charges a transparent $1 per transaction for each year of registration or renewal, billed separately from registry fees. A 1-year renewal is one $1 fee plus your normal registry fee, and a 5-year registration is five. There are no setup fees or hidden costs, and special rates are available for larger-volume customers.
Support should follow a defined escalation path. You remain the first point of contact for your own customers, while the Gateway team provides technical support for setup, integration questions and ongoing operations.
Passthrough vs. Direct Only vs. a Reseller Account
A direct-only setup gives you maximum technical independence, but every registry means another portal, another integration and another workflow. Passthrough keeps the same accreditation, credentials and pricing, and adds one interface, one consolidated workflow and a centralized view across your whole portfolio.
A standard reseller account is different again. There, you sell domains under another registrar’s accreditation, and the upstream registrar typically holds the registry relationship. That is often the efficient choice for businesses that want broad TLD access without accreditation obligations, and on Gateway SRS it gives you 451 extensions through one integration. Passthrough is built for registrars that already have accreditation and want to keep it. The two can coexist, and our articles on registry direct vs aggregator and single integration vs registry direct cover that trade-off in more depth.
Passthrough does not require ICANN accreditation. Any registrar or reseller holding valid accreditation with a supported registry, whether ICANN-accredited or locally accredited, can use it.
What to Evaluate Before You Start
Start with the registries and operations that matter to your business. Confirm that the full lifecycle you rely on is covered, including transfers, renewals, contact updates, DNS and restore processing, not just new registrations.
Then look at how your team will work day to day. A registrar with an established provisioning stack may use EPP or the JSON API. A hosting business may prefer the WHMCS module, and our guide on how to connect a WHMCS registrar to your store covers that setup. A commercial team may rely on the portal for routine administration and exceptions.
Finally, think about transition. Passthrough itself does not require a migration, but many registrars use the move to also tidy up domains spread across other providers. Our best practices for domain migrations and the Gateway team’s bulk transfer support help with that part.
Where Passthrough Fits in a Growth Plan
Passthrough is already in production with ICANN-accredited and locally accredited registrars who together manage more than 10,000 domains through the service. They chose it to modernize their technical operations without disrupting established relationships with their registries.
For a broader introduction to the model, see registry reseller passthrough service explained. If you are already accredited and run an active portfolio across several registries, Passthrough lets you keep your direct status and pricing while running every domain from one dependable platform. Questions about the details are covered in the Passthrough FAQs.
Get started with Gateway SRS Passthrough
Ready to consolidate your operations without changing what already works? Speak with our team and link your existing credentials, usually within one business day. Start your Passthrough setup.
