What you need
A website needs two things: a domain name, the address people type, and hosting, the server the site runs on. Most businesses also want email on the same domain.
You can get all three from one Rwandan company and manage them from one dashboard, which saves you from juggling several providers and several bills.
- A domain name, such as yourbusiness.rw
- Website hosting or a server
- Optional: business email, such as you@yourbusiness.rw
Step 1: Choose your domain name
A .rw domain tells visitors you are a Rwandan business. The .rw names are run by RICTA, Rwanda's domain registry, and sold through member registrars. SCRIPTYLABS is a RICTA member, so you register your .rw name with us directly.
Search for the name you want on our domain page. If it's free, you can register it straight away and pay with Mobile Money. If you already own a domain somewhere else, you can keep it and point it to your hosting later.
Step 2: Pick the right kind of hosting
Website hosting is for most businesses. Our team sets the site up for you: WordPress, Custom PHP/HTML website and Deploy Web App. Plans start at RWF 3,900 a month.
A VPS server is for developers and businesses that need full control: several applications, custom software or their own setup. An SLNode gives you full root access and starts at RWF 8,760 a month.
Not sure? Start with website hosting. You can move to a server of your own when the site grows.
Step 3: Pay the way you already pay
Every price is in Rwandan francs, and you pay at checkout with MTN Mobile Money, Airtel Money or Visa & Mastercard. Card payments include a 3.5% transaction fee.
There's no need for a foreign card or a dollar account.
Step 4: Send us what we need, and go live
Request your website from the Hosting page of your dashboard. For WordPress you create your admin login. For a custom site or a web app, you upload your code or paste a public GitHub link.
Our team reviews the request and sets it up. You can follow every step on your Hosting page: Pending review, then Being set up, then Live.
Step 5: Point your domain
If your domain is registered with us, it's already in the same dashboard. DNS changes on ScriptyLabs DNS take effect in 1 to 5 minutes.
If your domain is with another registrar, change its nameservers to ns1.scriptylabs.com and ns2.scriptylabs.com. A nameserver change can take longer to reach every network, because it depends on the registry and on how long other servers keep the old answer.