The .com Price Increase Is Live: What Each Registrar Charges Now

What changed on November 1

Verisign runs the .com registry. It sells each .com year to registrars at a fixed wholesale price, and registrars resell it to you. In its first-quarter 2026 results release, Verisign said it would raise the annual registry-level fee for new and renewal .com registrations from $10.26 to $10.97, effective November 1, 2026.

On the April 23 earnings call, CEO Jim Bidzos described it as notice of "a $0.71 increase to the annual wholesale price." That works out to roughly 6.9%. We covered the announcement when it landed in our report on the November 2026 .com price hike.

This is the first .com increase since September 2024. Domain Name Wire reports that Verisign raised prices 7% on September 1 of each year from 2021 through 2024, then hit the end of that contract window.

The ICANN fee sits on top

The $10.97 is not the whole cost. ICANN charges accredited registrars a transaction fee on every registration, renewal and transfer. ICANN's fiscal-year 2026 notice sets it at $0.20, assessed on each annual increment. Its FY27 notice keeps it at $0.20 per transaction-year.

Some registrars fold that $0.20 into their listed price. Others add it at checkout. Porkbun's pricing page says its prices include ICANN fees. Spaceship's .com page notes a mandatory ICANN fee at purchase without saying whether its listed price includes it.

What each registrar lists for .com renewal

The table below shows the one-year .com renewal price, not the first-year price, as each registrar's own page displayed it on October 30, 2026. That is two days before the wholesale increase took effect. Registrars set their own timing for passing it through.

Where a page would not load, or loaded without a renewal figure, we say so. We did not fill gaps from third-party price trackers.

Checked Oct 30, 2026 — may change once the increase passes through. Prices as displayed in dollars, before taxes; Dynadot's page notes prices can vary with exchange rates. Always confirm the renewal line at checkout.

At-cost, below-cost and markup pricing

Every .com renewal price falls into one of three buckets. Knowing which one your registrar uses tells you how it will react to this increase and the next one.

At-cost

An at-cost registrar passes the registry fee and ICANN fee straight through. Cloudflare's documentation says it sells domains at cost, with no markup on the registry and ICANN list price. Its renewal docs add that a domain will only renew at the registry's list price.

The upside is predictability. When Verisign's price goes up $0.71, so does yours, and not a cent more. The downside is that there is never a discount.

Below-cost

A registrar listing a .com renewal under $11.17 loses money on that renewal at the new wholesale price. It may make the difference back on volume, add-ons, hosting or other products. It may also simply raise the price later.

Before November 1, the floor was $10.46. NameSilo's $8.99 and Spaceship's $9.98 were below even that older floor. Neither price is wrong. But a below-cost price is a business decision, not a promise.

Markup

A markup registrar charges well above cost, often after a cheap first year. GoDaddy's .com page showed a $0.01 first year that requires a 3-year purchase, with additional years at $22.99. That is roughly double the new cost floor.

Markup registrars may pass the wholesale increase through, absorb it, or round it up. Their renewal price is the one to check most often. Our breakdown of the domain renewal trap walks through how that gap builds over time.

General patterns, not a prediction for any specific registrar.

Multi-year renewal as a hedge

Prepaying is the only way to lock a .com price. When you renew for several years, the registrar charges you that day's rate for every year you buy. Later increases do not apply to years you have already paid for.

The 10-year ceiling

You cannot prepay forever. Cloudflare's FAQ states that ICANN-governed TLDs cap the registration term at 10 years. ICANN's Transfer Policy uses the same limit: after a transfer adds a year, total unexpired term may not exceed ten years.

The cap counts total remaining time, not the length of one purchase. A .com with four years left can take at most six more. Our guide to renewing domains for 10 years covers the mechanics at each registrar.

When the hedge makes sense

• Your core business domain. If losing the name would hurt, prepaying removes both price risk and expiry risk.
• Your registrar is at-cost or near it. You are locking a fair price, not a padded one.
• You are confident you will keep the registrar. Prepaid years move with the domain on transfer, but you lose any price difference.

When it does not

• Investor names you may drop. Prepaid years are usually not refundable. Cloudflare's FAQ says all renewals are final.
• Your registrar marks up heavily. Locking a $22.99 price for nine years is not a hedge. Move the domain first, then prepay.

More increases are allowed

The November 1 price is not a ceiling. A 2020 amendment to the .com registry agreement, filed by Verisign with the SEC, lets it raise the maximum price up to 7% a year. That right applies only in the final four years of each six-year period.

The first period started October 26, 2018. Domain Name Wire defines the pricing year as October 26 to October 25 and reported that the third year of the current period begins this October. That puts the window for increases from late October 2026 through October 2030.

Domain Name Wire calculated that if Verisign takes the full 7% every year, the wholesale price would reach $13.42 by the end of this cycle. That is a ceiling scenario, not a forecast. Our .com price forecast through 2030 runs the year-by-year numbers.

You will get warning

Domain Name Wire reports that the agreement requires Verisign to give at least six months' notice before an increase. Verisign announced this one in April for a November start. Any next increase should be public well in advance.

What to do now

1. List your .com names and their expiry dates. Export them from each registrar so you can see what renews in the next 12 months.
2. Find each one's real renewal price. Ignore first-year prices. Open the renewal line in your account, not the marketing page.
3. Compare it to $11.17. Anything near that is fair. Anything near double is a reason to move.
4. Move overpriced names first. A transfer usually adds one year at the gaining registrar's transfer price. Allow time for the authorization code and confirmation.
5. Prepay the names you will keep. At a registrar charging close to cost, extend your most important domains toward the 10-year cap.
6. Turn on auto-renew with a valid card. A higher price is a nuisance. A lapsed business domain is a crisis.
7. Watch for the next notice. Verisign must announce increases at least six months out. Check its investor news each spring.