The First Year Is Marketing. The Renewal Is the Price.
Domain pricing has a structural quirk: the number on the banner is the first-year price, and the number you actually live with is the renewal. In this snapshot of 894 extensions, 334 renew at 2x or more of their first-year price, and among TLDs with a sub-$3 teaser year the average renewal multiple is 11.0x. A $2 domain that renews at $14 costs more over five years than a $12 domain that renews flat.
That is why this index leads with the renewal column and the renewal multiple. Sort by Renewal traps to see the extensions built on teaser pricing, or by Cheapest renewal to find the extensions that stay cheap after the promo year.
Before committing a brand to a TLD, multiply: first year + (renewal x 4). A $2.04 .xyz costs about $59 over five years; a $11.08 .com costs about $55. The “cheap” option is rarely the cheap option.
Three Pricing Personalities
- Flat and stable (469 TLDs). Renewal within 5% of year one. The legacy extensions (.com, .net) and many country codes live here. What you see is what you pay, forever.
- Moderate markup. Renewal at 1.5-2x the first year - common for popular newer extensions like .dev, .app, and .co. Not a trap, but budget for the renewal number.
- Teaser-trap. A first year under $3 with a renewal at 3x or more - 74 of the 84 sub-$3 extensions in this snapshot. These are fine for throwaway projects and terrible for brands.
How This Index Works
Prices are a retail USD snapshot from a single large registrar’s public pricing API, fetched on 2026-08-27 and refreshed periodically. We use one consistent source on purpose: registrar-to-registrar prices differ by a few dollars, but the ratio between first year and renewal is set by registry economics and holds everywhere. Always confirm the exact price at your registrar before buying - and check the renewal price on the cart page, not just the headline.
Picking an extension is only half the naming decision - the other half is whether the matching handles are free. Run your name through the availability checker to see domains and social platforms in one pass.