In short
A standard .com domain costs $10–$20 a year to register and renew at a reputable registrar; country extensions such as .co.uk or .de are similar; newer extensions such as .io, .ai and .app run $30–$100 a year, with .ai among the most expensive. First-year promotional prices of $1–$5 are common and renew at the full rate. Premium domains, sold by registries or on the aftermarket, range from a few hundred to millions. The only add-on most people need is privacy protection, which good registrars include free.
Standard prices by extension
| Extension | Typical annual price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| .com | $10–$20 | The default; renewal prices have risen slowly each year |
| .net, .org | $10–$20 | Similar to .com |
| .co.uk, .de, .fr, .nl and most country codes | $8–$20 | Some require local presence |
| .io | $30–$60 | Popular with tech startups; pricier |
| .ai | $70–$100+ | Two-year minimums at many registrars |
| .app, .dev | $15–$25 | HTTPS enforced by the browser |
| .co, .me, .xyz, .tech and other newer extensions | $5–$40 | Wide variation; check renewal |
Prices are 2026 figures from mainstream registrars and vary by a few dollars between them. Wholesale prices for the major extensions are set by the registries and rise by small amounts most years, so expect a slow upward drift.
The first-year trap
Registrars advertise $0.99 or $4.99 first-year prices, and they are real. So is the renewal at $18–$25 in year two, often with auto-renew enabled and the card on file. The promotional price is a customer acquisition cost, and it is worth taking, provided you note the renewal rate before buying. Some registrars charge well above the market rate on renewal; the cure is to compare renewal prices, not registration prices, when choosing where to buy.
The same applies to bundles: a domain "free" with a hosting or website-builder plan is free for one year and then billed, and it is sometimes registered in the platform's name rather than yours, which becomes a problem when you want to leave. Check whose name is on the registration.
Premium and aftermarket domains
Some domains cost more because someone already owns them, or because the registry priced them as premium.
Registry premiums. Short, dictionary-word, or otherwise desirable names in newer extensions are often priced by the registry at $100 to several thousand dollars a year, every year. The registrar will show this at search time.
Aftermarket. A domain owned by someone else is bought through a marketplace or a broker, at whatever the owner will accept. Typical ranges: a decent two-word .com, $500–$5,000; a strong single word or short brandable name, $5,000–$100,000; famous generic words, into the millions. The renewal after purchase is the ordinary annual fee.
Whether a premium name is worth it is a brand decision, and for most businesses the answer is no: a slightly longer available .com costs $15 and nobody will think less of you.
Add-ons: what to pay for and what to skip
WHOIS privacy. Hides your name, address and email from the public registration record, which otherwise attracts spam and phishing. Reputable registrars include it free. If a registrar charges $10 a year for it, that tells you about the registrar.
Auto-renew. Free and essential. An expired domain takes the website and every email address with it, and recovering one after the grace period costs $80–$200 in redemption fees if it is recoverable at all.
Registrar lock. Free; prevents unauthorised transfers. Leave it on.
Email hosting. Not part of the domain; typically $5–$10 per mailbox per month from Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, or included with some hosting. Budget for it separately.
SSL certificates. Free from Let's Encrypt via any decent host. Do not pay a registrar for one.
"Website builder", "SEO tools", "domain protection plus". Upsells at checkout. Decline them all.
Defensive registrations
Buying the .net, .org and common misspellings of your name is a habit from a time when typo-squatting was a bigger threat. For most small businesses one domain is enough. Buy the obvious alternative extension if it is available and cheap, point it at the main site, and stop there. A company with a valuable brand can register more, but that is a legal-department decision, not a startup expense.
Transfers and moving registrars
A domain can be moved between registrars at any time after its first sixty days. The transfer costs roughly one year's registration, which is added to the expiry date rather than lost, so moving is close to free in practice. If a registrar's renewal price has crept up, or its control panel has become an upsell funnel, move; the process takes a few days and the website and email keep working throughout, provided the DNS records are copied first.
What happens if you let it lapse
A domain that is not renewed enters a grace period of roughly thirty days during which the site and email stop working but the name can still be renewed at the normal price. After that comes a redemption period, when recovery costs a penalty fee, and then the name is dropped and can be registered by anyone. Expired business domains are bought by speculators the same day they drop, and buying one back is an aftermarket purchase at whatever they ask. Auto-renew, a card that does not expire, and a registrar account with a second person's contact details on it prevent the entire sequence.
Where to buy
A registrar that is not also trying to sell you hosting: Cloudflare (at wholesale cost, no markup), Porkbun, Namecheap, or the former Google Domains business now run by Squarespace. Avoid buying the domain from the same company that hosts or builds the site, so that changing one never involves the other, and so the domain is unambiguously yours.
If you are naming a business and want to check the domain, the trademark, and the social handles together before committing, book a call and we will do it with you.
Common questions
Why do domain prices go up after the first year?
Because the first-year price is a promotion designed to win the customer, and the renewal is the real rate. A $0.99 .com typically renews at $15–$25. Always check the renewal price before registering, and compare registrars on renewal cost rather than sign-up cost; the difference over five years is far larger than the first-year saving.
Is a .com domain worth more than other extensions?
For most businesses, yes: it is what people type by default, it carries no unfamiliarity, and it is often the cheapest option at $10–$20 a year. Country extensions are equally good for businesses serving one country. Newer extensions such as .io or .ai cost more and suit specific audiences; none of them ranks better or worse in Google.
Why is a .ai domain so expensive?
Because .ai is the country code for Anguilla, whose registry prices it as a premium extension in high demand from AI companies, and most registrars require a two-year minimum registration. Expect $70–$100 or more per year. It is a branding choice, not a technical one; Google treats it like any other extension.
How much does a premium domain cost?
Registry-priced premium names run from about $100 to several thousand dollars a year, every year. Aftermarket domains owned by someone else sell for anything from a few hundred dollars for a decent two-word .com to five or six figures for a strong single word. Most businesses do not need one; a longer available name costs $15.
Do I need to buy domain privacy protection?
You need the protection, but you should not need to pay for it. WHOIS privacy hides your personal details from the public record and prevents a stream of spam and phishing. Reputable registrars such as Cloudflare, Porkbun and Namecheap include it free. A registrar charging extra for it is a reason to choose a different registrar.
