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The Ethereum Name Service (ENS) is an Ethereum-based naming system that turns a readable name such as alice.eth into machine-readable data, most often a wallet address. Instead of copying a long string of hexadecimal characters, a person or app can use the name, and ENS returns the record the owner has attached to it. ENS describes itself as a distributed, open and extensible naming system, and it is built on Ethereum smart contracts rather than on the DNS infrastructure that runs ordinary website domains.
What ENS maps a name to
An ENS name is a label ending in a top-level domain controlled by ENS, most commonly .eth. The name points to a set of records. Those records can include an Ethereum address, addresses for other cryptocurrencies, profile details such as an avatar or social handles, and decentralized website content. The owner decides which records to set. Whether a given record is displayed or used depends on the app reading it, so a record that exists is not automatically visible everywhere.
How a lookup works
ENS is easiest to understand as three parts with separate jobs. The ENS documentation describes the protocol in these terms, and the ENS protocol overview is the primary reference for the design.
The registry
The registry is the central contract that records each name’s owner, its resolver and its TTL (time-to-live, the period for which a response may be cached). The registry does not hold the name’s contact or wallet data itself. Its job is to say which resolver is responsible for a name. The ENS registry documentation covers these fields.
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The resolver
The resolver is a separate contract that holds the records attached to a name and returns the one an app asks for. Each name can point to a resolver the owner chooses, and ENS support explains how to find the resolver on a given name in its resolver guide.
The registrar
The registrar governs how names in a top-level domain are allocated. The ETH Registrar handles .eth registration. It is the part that decides who may claim a name and on what terms, not the part that answers record queries.
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The sequence in practice
- A wallet or app takes the name it wants to resolve, such as
alice.eth. - It asks the ENS registry which resolver is responsible for that name.
- It asks that resolver for the specific record it needs, for example an Ethereum address.
- The resolver returns the stored value, and the app uses it, subject to its own support for that record type.
Forward and reverse resolution
Forward resolution goes from name to record: you type alice.eth and get an address. Reverse resolution goes the other way: given an Ethereum address, an app can check whether that address has set a primary name and display that name in place of the raw address. A primary name is what lets a transaction history or account screen show a readable label instead of a 42-character address. Support for reverse display varies by app, so an address may still appear unlabelled in some interfaces.
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What a name’s records can hold
- Ethereum address: the most common record, used to send assets to the name.
- Other cryptocurrency addresses: records for other chains, where the owner has set them.
- Profile information: items such as an avatar or social handles, shown only where an app reads them.
- Decentralized website content: content references that compatible apps can load.
Treat these as possibilities rather than guarantees. A wallet that reads ENS for addresses may not read profile data, and a browser that does not support ENS will not open a .eth site without extra tooling.
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Registering and keeping a .eth name
ENS support states that users register a .eth name through the ENS app. The documented payment model is a yearly fee paid in ETH on Ethereum Mainnet, plus the Ethereum network fee (gas) for each transaction. The sources reviewed for this article do not establish a current dollar price, because the ETH amount changes and fees depend on network conditions. Check the price shown in the registration flow itself before paying.
- Edit records: the owner can change the records attached to the name.
- Transfer: the name can be moved to another address by its owner.
- Renew: the name must be renewed before it expires, or it can be lost to others once it lapses.
ENS and DNS: a shared goal, different architecture
Both ENS and the Domain Name System solve the same basic problem: they let people use names instead of numbers. The Ethereum Improvement Proposal for the Ethereum Domain Name Service, described in the ERC-137 specification, sets out the design. The differences lie in who operates the records and how they are changed.
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| Axis | ENS | DNS |
|---|---|---|
| Who operates the records | Ethereum smart contracts (registry and resolvers), with the ETH Registrar allocating .eth names |
DNS infrastructure and the registries and providers that run each zone |
| Record types | Addresses for several chains, profile data and content references, as set by the owner and supported by the app | Record types defined by DNS standards, such as address and mail records |
| How records are updated | Owner-initiated changes made on Ethereum, which carry a network fee | Changes made through the domain’s DNS provider |
| What can resolve the names | ENS-aware wallets, apps and tools; not every browser or app | Standard DNS resolvers used by browsers and operating systems |
ENS is therefore not a drop-in replacement for ordinary DNS. A .eth name will not work in every browser, and owning one does not put a website on the regular internet by default.
Which ENS version runs where
ENS has more than one protocol version, and deployment details change. ENS support pages checked in October 2026 describe the following arrangement, which should be confirmed before you rely on it.
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| Version | Where ENS support places it | Status note |
|---|---|---|
| ENSv1 | Ethereum Mainnet, as described in How do ENSv1 names work? | The version most readers will encounter for live names |
| ENSv2 test apps | Sepolia testnet | Testnet only; not for real-value names |
| ENSv2 on Mainnet | Not yet available on Ethereum Mainnet, per one support page | Described as optional; check the current ENS announcements before assuming availability |
Limits to keep in mind
- ENS support depends on the app. A name may resolve in one wallet and not another.
- Registration costs are paid in ETH and fluctuate with its price and with network gas.
- Records are only as current as the owner keeps them, and an expired name must be renewed to stay under its owner’s control.
- Version and network status can change, so the ENS app and the official support pages are the reference for current availability.
The ENS documentation summarises the protocol this way: “The Ethereum Name Service (ENS) is a distributed, open, and extensible naming system based on the Ethereum blockchain.” The statement is from ENS documentation itself rather than from a named individual, and it is the simplest accurate definition of the system.
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