Hide auto-renew toggle for externally registered domains

Problem statement

The auto-renew toggle in the Branding page is visible for domains registered through external providers (e.g., Hover, GoDaddy), even though Hospitable has no ability to renew those domains. This creates confusion for users who may not understand that the toggle is non-functional for external domains.

Current workaround

Users must:

• Manually verify auto-renewal settings on their external registrar (e.g., Hover)
• Ignore the Hospitable auto-renew toggle entirely
• Understand that the toggle's state is meaningless for externally registered domains

However, many users may not realize the toggle should be ignored.

Impact

• Domain expiration risk: Users may rely on the "enabled" status in Hospitable and assume their domain is being auto-renewed, when in fact it is not. This could lead to domain expiration and loss of ownership.
• Double-billing concerns: Users may worry that both Hospitable and their external registrar will attempt to renew the domain, leading to duplicate charges or conflicts.
• Ownership transfer confusion: Users may fear that Hospitable will "take over" their domain from the external registrar, or that having two systems managing renewal will cause technical issues.
• Error messages: The visibility of the toggle tempts users to try disabling it, which results in the error "An error occured processing this action - please try again. If this keeps occuring, please contact support." This adds to the confusion and creates unnecessary support contacts.

Proposed solution

Hide or disable the auto-renew toggle in the Branding page for domains that are registered externally (not through Hospitable). Alternatively, display a clear indicator that the toggle does not apply to externally registered domains.

Unlock

Users would have clarity about where their domain renewal is actually managed, eliminating the risk of accidental domain expiration and reducing confusion about billing and domain ownership. This would also prevent unnecessary error messages and support contacts.