Our method
Most domain prices look cheap for a year, then quietly get expensive. We grade every extension on what it actually costs to keep — and the rule behind that grade is published here, not kept internal.
The verdict
Many registrars advertise a very low first year and charge more after it. The verdict answers one question: if you pick the registrar with the cheapest first year, how much more do you pay over 3 years than at the registrar that is cheapest to keep?
- Cheapest first year: the lowest first-year price. A registrar's own sale price counts; a coupon code does not.
- Cheapest to keep: the lowest total over the period at any one registrar: the first year, the renewals, and WHOIS privacy where it is charged.
- The grade is how much more the first of those costs than the second, as a share of the second.
| Safe | Up to 10% more. The cheapest first year is also, give or take, the cheapest way to keep the domain. |
| Caution | Between 10% and 25% more. Chasing the first-year price costs a noticeable amount. |
| Trap | More than 25% more. A gap big enough that most buyers would have picked differently had they seen it upfront. |
A difference under $0.50 is never graded above Safe, and an extension needs at least two registrars with a price to be graded. The grade follows the period you are viewing: 3 years by default, and the other length when you switch the table. It never says a registrar is bad, only what its cheapest offer costs next to the best alternative. Across the 1,682 extensions published so far, that gives 1234 safe, 126 caution and 153 trap. A further 169 have too little pricing data to grade.
Three and five-year cost
One year at the first-year price, then renewals at the same registrar, plus its privacy fee if it charges one. It answers a simple question: if you register here and stay, what does this domain really cost you?
Every price table can be switched between a three-year and a five-year total, because not everyone keeps a domain for the same length of time. It opens on three years, since many people do not keep a new domain for five; switch to five years if you plan to stay.
Moving a domain you already own works the same way: the transfer fee is paid once and the renewals are paid every year after. The cheapest transfer is not always the cheapest place to keep the domain, so where that is true we say so and show both.
What is in the price
- ICANN fees, added where a registrar advertises without them.
- VAT removed where a registrar quotes it, so a European price is not unfairly compared against an American one.
- Converted to your chosen currency at the rate recorded when the price was collected.
- A registrar's own advertised sale price counts as its price. A coupon code does not: where we know of one, it is shown as a separate "with code" line and never changes the ranking.
Premium names are left out. Registries price those individually — one short, desirable name can cost hundreds — so including them would make every comparison meaningless.
Where the data comes from
We track the prices of every registrar we list, and each price is what that registrar publishes for that extension. Every row shows when it was last checked, so you can judge how current a figure is instead of taking it on trust. Registry details — operator, WHOIS server, delegation date, DNSSEC support — come from the IANA root database.
How we are paid
Some registrar links earn us a commission. It does not change the price you pay, and it plays no part in grading or ordering. Tables are sorted by five-year cost — including on the many extensions where the cheapest option earns us nothing.
When we get it wrong
Registrars change prices without notice, and mistakes get through. Large sudden changes are held back for review rather than published automatically. If a figure looks wrong, email [email protected] and we will fix it or explain where it came from.