How to Buy a .ai Domain (and What It Really Costs)

By Manob Editorial · October 14, 2026

A .ai domain is the country code of Anguilla, a British territory in the Caribbean, and anyone in the world can register one. It's popular with AI companies because it reads as "AI." The catch is cost: you must pay for at least two years upfront, and renewals cost several times what a .com does.

Facts below were checked against IANA, the .ai registry and the IMF on 14 October 2026.

What is a .ai domain?

.ai is a country-code top-level domain (ccTLD), like .uk or .ca. IANA's root zone database lists it as the "Country-code top-level domain designated for Anguilla," sponsored by the Government of Anguilla (IANA). Since January 2025 the registry has been operated by Identity Digital (Domain Name Wire), which also runs the official registry site, nic.ai.

Three things set it apart from .com:

• Anguilla's rules apply, not ICANN's gTLD policies. A country code sets its own terms for registration, renewal and transfers. Disputes over names still go through the UDRP, which the .ai registry FAQ says it follows.
• It's unrestricted. You don't need to live in Anguilla or have a business there. OpenSRS's .ai policy summary says "anyone can register an .AI domain."
• It matters to Anguilla. The IMF reports that .ai registrations rose from 144,000 in 2022 to 354,000 in 2023, and that the surge brought in EC$87 million (about US$32 million) that year, "just over 20 percent of the government's total revenue" (IMF). The registry's FAQ puts the total at 598,007 domains on 2 January 2025.

Who uses .ai domains?

Mostly AI products, from large model makers to one-person tools. On 14 October 2026, perplexity.ai, mistral.ai and stability.ai all loaded their companies' sites. The extension also suits anything built around AI, such as an agency, a course or a newsletter.

Not every big company moved. facebook.ai, for example, redirected to ai.facebook.com when we checked on the same day. A .ai name works best when it is your brand, not a second address you keep alongside a .com.

What does a .ai domain cost?

Two registry rules drive the price. OpenSRS's policy summary lists registration as "2 - 10 years," explicit renewal as "2-10 years," and a transfer as a "2 years renewal." So:

• You pay for two years at once, whether you register, renew or transfer the name in.
• The renewal price sets your yearly cost. After the first term, each renewal covers at least two more years.

Here are manob.ai's live prices for .ai next to common alternatives:

Live manob.ai prices in US dollars, read from the domain checkout. Search a name to see the exact total for your domain.

For .ai, the Register column shows the yearly price and the two-year total you pay at checkout. To budget, multiply the Renews at figure by two for each later renewal. Compare .ai with the others on that renewal figure, because the first-year price is the one most likely to be discounted.

If the short or dictionary-word .ai name you want is already registered, the only way to get it is to buy it from the owner, with escrow. Our guide to transferring domain ownership covers how to pay safely. For the wider picture, see how much a domain name costs.

Is a .ai domain worth it?

It's worth it when:

• You're building an AI product and the .ai fits your brand name.
• The .com you want is taken or priced out of reach on the aftermarket.
• Your users are in tech, where .ai, .io and .dev already look normal.

Pick something else when:

• Your customers are local or not technical. A plumber or a dental clinic is usually better served by a .com or a local country code that people type without thinking.
• Your budget is tight. Over five years, a .ai costs much more than a .com. Check the renewal column above.
• You may drop "AI" from your pitch. The extension says AI for as long as you keep it.

What about search rankings? Google says it treats some ccTLDs "as gTLDs," and its list includes .ai, .io and .co (Google Search Central). So a .ai site isn't treated as targeting Anguilla.

What are the alternatives to .ai?

HTTPS-only isn't a problem on manob.ai's AI workspace, which issues certificates for its deploys automatically. On another host, make sure you have a certificate before you point a .app or .dev domain at it.

One option if money is tight: register the .ai for the product, plus a cheaper .com variant (such as getyourbrand.com) that redirects to it. Prices for every extension above are in the live table.

How do you buy a .ai domain on manob.ai?

1. Search for the name, for example yourbrand.ai. Replace "yourbrand" with your own name.
2. If it's available, add it to the cart. The term starts at two years, because that's the registry minimum.
3. Enter the registrant details: your name or your company's, and an email you'll keep. That email gets renewal reminders and transfer approvals.
4. Pay by card or with Manob Wallet.
5. Leave auto-renew on. It's on by default, and with a two-year term it's easy to forget the renewal date.
6. Point the domain at your site. The default nameservers are ns1.manob.ai and ns2.manob.ai. For a site built in the manob.ai AI workspace, keep those, or point the domain at gateway.manob.ai with a CNAME record (on the bare domain, only where your DNS host allows a CNAME there). For a Linux VPS, add an A record with the server's IP.

WHOIS privacy is free on manob.ai and switched on at registration for extensions that allow it. The full walkthrough, from choosing a name to keeping it renewed, is in how to buy a domain name, and our guide to connecting a domain to hosting covers each DNS record.

Can you transfer an existing .ai domain?

Yes. Unlock it at your current registrar, get the authorization code, and start the transfer on manob.ai. A .ai transfer adds two years to the expiry date, so the transfer price in the table covers two years. The steps are the same as in our guide to transferring a domain from GoDaddy.

Frequently asked questions

Who can register a .ai domain?

Anyone. The .ai extension has no residency or business requirement, even though it's Anguilla's country code.

Why can't I register a .ai domain for one year?

The .ai registry sets a two-year minimum. Registrations and renewals run from two to ten years, and a transfer adds two years.

Is a .ai domain good for SEO?

Google treats .ai as a generic domain, like .com, so a .ai site isn't treated as targeting Anguilla. Your content and links matter far more than the ending.

How much does a .ai domain cost per year?

Several times a .com's yearly price, and you pay for two years at a time. The live table above shows manob.ai's current prices. Check the renewal column, because that's what you'll keep paying.

What's the difference between .ai and .io?

Both are country codes that tech companies use as generic endings: .ai belongs to Anguilla and .io to the British Indian Ocean Territory. .ai signals artificial intelligence, while .io has long been used by developer tools.

Can I move my .ai domain to another registrar later?

Yes. Unlock it, get the authorization code, and start the transfer at the new registrar. The transfer adds two years to the expiry date.