How Much Does a Domain Name Cost? First Year, Renewal and the Fees People Miss

By Manob Editorial · October 14, 2026

A domain name costs a yearly fee set mostly by its extension. For a .com, the registry charges $10.26 a year ($10.97 from 1 November 2026) and ICANN adds $0.20, so no registrar sells one for much less without a promotion. Extensions like .co, .io and .ai often cost several times as much. Compare renewal prices, not just year one.

What do domains cost on manob.ai right now?

The table below pulls the same live prices manob.ai's domain checkout uses, so it shows what the cart charges now rather than a figure typed in when this was written.

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

How to read the table

• Register is the price per year for a new registration's shortest term. For .ai, which has a registry minimum of two years, the cell also shows the two-year total you pay at checkout.
• Renews at is the yearly price after the first term. If it's higher than Register, the first year is discounted. Budget with this number.
• Transfer in is the total to move a domain you already own to manob.ai. It includes a year added to the expiry date (two years for .ai).
• Minimum term is the shortest registration the registry allows.

Prices are in US dollars. WHOIS privacy is free and switched on at registration for extensions that allow it, so there's no privacy line to add. Search a name to see the exact total for the one you want.

Why does renewal cost more than the first year?

Because the first year is where registrars compete for new customers. A discounted first year wins the sale, and renewals are billed at the regular rate. Porkbun's public price list shows how wide the gap can get, as of October 2026 (porkbun.com):

The five-year column is the first year plus four renewals. On .store, the first year is under 2% of the five-year total. With promotions like these, the headline price says little about what you'll actually spend.

ICANN requires registrars and their resellers to display renewal, post-expiry renewal and restore fees on their websites (Expired Registration Recovery Policy, section 4.1). If you can't find them before you buy, ask.

What goes into a domain's price?

For .com, that puts the cost to a registrar at about $10.46 a year today and $11.17 from November 2026, before margin. A .com sold for much less than that is a promotion paid for elsewhere, usually at renewal. Cloudflare Registrar, for one, says its prices are "at or below what registries and ICANN charge us" (Cloudflare).

Do country domains cost more than .com?

Often, and they come with their own rules. Generic extensions (gTLDs) such as .com, .org, .app, .xyz and .store sit under ICANN contracts. Country-code extensions (ccTLDs) are run under each country's policies, and some well-known tech extensions are ccTLDs: .io is the British Indian Ocean Territory's, .co is Colombia's and .ai is Anguilla's (IANA records). They usually cost more than .com, as the live table shows.

Before you buy a ccTLD, check three things:

• Minimum term. .ai can only be registered for two years or more, which doubles the upfront cost. Our .ai domain guide covers it in full.
• Eligibility. Some ccTLDs need a local link. A .us domain is for US citizens, residents and organizations, or foreign entities with a "bona fide" US presence (about.us).
• Privacy. Not every ccTLD allows WHOIS privacy. The .us registry states that "proxy, or privatized registrations, are not permitted" (about.us), and .in doesn't offer it either.

What are premium domain names?

There are two kinds, and they're priced differently:

• Registry premiums. The name is unregistered, but the registry has tagged it as premium, usually because it's short or a common word. It costs more than the standard price for that extension, and on some extensions the renewal stays at the premium rate too. Check the renewal line before you pay.
• Aftermarket names. Someone already owns the name and will sell it. You agree a price with the owner, pay through an escrow service, and the domain then changes hands. After that, renewals cost the normal price for the extension, unless the name is also a registry premium. Our guide to transferring domain ownership explains how to do it safely.

If a premium name costs more than you'd like, try a different extension, add a short word such as get or try, or use a plural. Many good brand names are available at the standard price.

What does it cost if a domain expires?

Letting a domain lapse is the most expensive way to keep it. For generic extensions, ICANN's rules set this sequence:

1. Reminders. Registrars must send renewal reminders about one month and one week before expiry (ICANN renewal FAQ).
2. Auto-renew grace period. Registrars may offer 1 to 45 days in which you can still renew, sometimes for a fee (ICANN). Somewhere in this window your site and email stop working, because the registrar must interrupt the domain's DNS for at least eight days before deleting it.
3. Redemption Grace Period. Once deleted, the name enters a 30-day period in which only you can restore it, through your registrar. This is where a restore (or redemption) fee usually applies on top of the renewal.
4. Pending delete. Five days in which the name can no longer be restored.
5. Release. The name goes back on sale to anyone, first come, first served.

Country-code extensions set their own timelines, so check the registry's rules for yours. Domains bought on manob.ai are set to auto-renew by default, which helps keep a name from ever reaching this sequence. Keep your account email current so the reminders reach you.

Should you register a domain for several years?

Registrations are typically one to ten years (ICANN). Paying ahead locks in today's renewal price for those years, which matters when registry fees are rising, as .com's does in November 2026. It also removes several chances to miss a renewal.

The trade-offs: more cash upfront, and if your plans change, you've prepaid for a name you no longer need. A reasonable middle ground is two or three years for a new project and longer for the name your business runs on.

What else might you pay for?

• Hosting. A domain is only the address. Where the site lives is a separate bill, unless you build and deploy in the manob.ai AI workspace, where hosting is part of the deploy. See domain vs hosting.
• SSL certificates. Workspace deploys get HTTPS certificates automatically. For a site hosted elsewhere, your host may include one, or you can buy a certificate separately on manob.ai.
• Email. A domain doesn't come with mailboxes. You'd add a mail service and point your MX records at it.

Ready to price a specific name? Our step-by-step guide to buying a domain name walks through choosing and registering one.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a domain name cost per year?

A .com can't cost much less than about $10.50 a year, because the registry and ICANN fees alone come to $10.46 ($11.17 from 1 November 2026). Most registrars charge more than that, and other extensions range from similar to many times more.

Why is my domain renewal more expensive than the first year?

The first year was a promotional price. Renewals are billed at the registrar's regular rate, which is what you'll pay from then on.

Is it cheaper to register a domain for multiple years?

The yearly price is usually the same, but paying ahead locks it in against later increases. It also avoids an accidental lapse.

Why are .ai and .io domains so expensive?

Both are country-code extensions, and the registries that run them set much higher base prices than .com's. .ai also requires a two-year minimum registration, which doubles the upfront cost.

What is a domain restore fee?

It's the charge to recover a name during the 30-day Redemption Grace Period after it has been deleted. It's billed on top of the renewal, varies by registrar, and must be published on the registrar's website.