.com Price Increase 2026: Should You Renew Your Domain Early?

The .com price increase in 2026 takes effect on 1 November: Verisign raises the wholesale fee for every new, renewed and transferred .com from US$10.26 to US$10.97 a year, and registrars generally pass that cost on to you. If you plan to keep a .com for years, paying for extra years now gets them at today's price; for domains you may drop, early renewal is rarely worth the cash.

The .com price increase 2026: what changes on 1 November (and for .net on 1 March 2027)

Verisign runs the registry for .com and .net. Every registrar in the world, whether it sells to you in rupees or dollars, pays Verisign the same wholesale fee for each year of each domain. Verisign announced the .com price increase on 23 April 2026 and the .net one in a filing on 27 August 2026. Both are confirmed in its own US securities filings, which we checked in October 2026 (quarterly report for the period to 30 June 2026 and Form 8-K of 27 August 2026).

Three points matter for domain owners:

• It applies to existing domains, not just new ones. The fee is charged on every renewal year, so the .com you have owned since 2015 is affected the next time it renews.
• Years you have already paid for are safe. If your .com is paid up to 2029, nothing changes until then.
• The wholesale fee is not what you pay. Your registrar adds its own costs and margin, and sets its own date for changing its prices. More on that below.

Why .com prices keep rising: Verisign, ICANN and the 7% clause

If you have wondered why domain renewal keeps getting more expensive, this contract is a large part of the answer. Verisign operates .com under a registry agreement with ICANN, the body that co-ordinates domain names. The agreement was renewed in 2024 and runs to 30 November 2030.

The fee was frozen at US$7.85 from 2012 until 2021. A 2020 amendment then allowed Verisign to raise it by up to 7% over the previous year in each of the final four years of every six-year period. Pricing years run from 26 October to 25 October, and the current six-year period began on 26 October 2024.

Here is how the wholesale .com fee has moved, from Verisign's annual and quarterly reports:

That puts the new fee about 40% above the US$7.85 it was until August 2021. Between 2021 and 2024, Verisign raised the price in each of the four years the contract allowed. The November 2026 rise is the first step of the current period. The contract leaves room for up to three more 7% steps before October 2030. None of them has been announced. On its April 2026 results call, Verisign described US$10.97 as the maximum price it can charge registrars from 1 November.

You will get warning of any further rise. Section 7.3(f) of the .com registry agreement requires at least six months' notice before any increase for new registrations, renewals and transfers. For .net, the rules are looser: Verisign may raise the price by up to 10% each year under its .net agreement with ICANN, through 30 June 2029.

Wholesale vs retail: what the increase means in rupees

The wholesale change is 71 US cents a year per .com, which is well under ₹100 at 2026 exchange rates. What you actually pay is the registrar's retail price, built from:

• the registry's wholesale fee (the part that is changing)
• ICANN's own per-domain fee, which is charged separately
• currency conversion, since Verisign bills registrars in US dollars
• payment gateway charges, support and the registrar's margin
• tax, at registrars that charge it

Because several of these are worked out as a percentage, a retail increase can be a little larger than the wholesale one. And because the fee is in dollars, a weaker rupee raises Indian .com prices too, even in years when Verisign changes nothing.

At HostEthical, our domain prices are set from the wholesale cost plus a margin and reviewed by our team. They do not change automatically on a fixed date, so we cannot tell you the exact day our .com price will move. But the cost is going up, so expect our price to follow at some point. What we can promise: any years you renew now are charged at today's price. Here are our current prices:

To be straight with you, we are not the cheapest .com in India. Some registrars advertise a low first year and make it back at renewal, so compare renewal prices, not first-year offers. Our guide to cheap and free domains explains the common traps, and every extension is listed on our domain pricing page.

Should you renew early? When it pays off and when it doesn't

Renewing early means paying now for years that would otherwise be charged later. Each year you buy now avoids the November increase, and any further increase that falls within those years.

When it pays off

• Your main business domain, especially if your email runs on it. You know you will keep it, so paying ahead costs you nothing in flexibility.
• Domains with a live business on them: an online store, an SMM panel with paying users, a client site you manage under contract.
• Domains you tend to forget. A longer registration removes a yearly chance of an accidental lapse, which costs far more than any price rise. See what happens when a domain expires.

When it doesn't

• Side projects, parked names and ideas you may drop. Paying nine years ahead for a domain you will not want in 2028 wastes far more than you save.
• When cash is tight. The wholesale step is under ₹100 a year per domain. Avoiding it on five prepaid years is worth a few hundred rupees per domain, more if further increases follow. Useful, but not worth stretching your budget for.
• When your registrar renews .com well above the market. Locking in years at a high renewal price can cost more than the increase you are avoiding. Compare first, then decide where to renew.

The honest summary: the saving is small per domain and adds up mainly if you hold many .coms or plan to keep them for a decade. The bigger benefit is certainty. You know the domain is paid up and safe.

How early renewal works: multi-year terms, the 10-year limit and what is locked in

Years are added to your current expiry date

Renewing early never wastes time you have already paid for. The extra years are added on top of your current expiry date, not counted from today. If your .com expires in March 2027 and you renew for three years now, the new expiry is March 2030.

The 10-year limit

Under the .com registry agreement, a registration can never run more than ten years into the future. So the most you can add depends on how much time is left. A .com expiring in March 2027 can take up to nine more years now, not ten, because ten would push it past the limit. A domain that already has more than nine years left cannot be extended at all for the moment.

What is locked in, and what isn't

The same agreement requires Verisign to keep offering new and renewal registrations of up to ten years, at the price in effect when the order is accepted. So every year you pay for now is charged at today's price and stays paid, whatever happens to prices later. What is not locked in is the year after your prepaid years run out. That renewal is charged at whatever the price is then.

At HostEthical you choose how many years to pay for, from 1 to 10, when you renew in your dashboard. The registry's 10-year total still applies. While you are there, switch on auto-renew. Also make sure your account email is not on the same domain, so reminders still reach you if something goes wrong.

Prepaid years travel with the domain

If you move registrar later, the years you have paid for are not lost. A transfer adds one year on top, up to the 10-year limit. So renewing early does not tie you to your current registrar.

Transferring a .com before 1 November: the extra year that comes with a transfer

When you move a .com to a new registrar, the transfer comes with one year's renewal, added to your existing expiry date. In effect, a transfer is a renewal at a different company. That makes it a reasonable moment to consolidate, but a few rules apply:

• The 60-day rule. A domain registered or transferred in the last 60 days usually cannot be moved yet.
• Not when expired. A domain that has expired, or is in its redemption period, should be renewed with the current registrar first. Domains in redemption cannot be transferred at all.
• Allow time. You need to unlock the domain, get the auth (EPP) code and approve the transfer. It can take up to a week to finish, so a transfer started on 30 October may not complete before the date.
• Near the 10-year limit. If the domain already has close to ten years left, the transfer cannot add a full year.

Transfer to bring scattered domains into one account, or out of a former designer's account and into your own name. Don't transfer just to dodge the price rise. If your current registrar renews .com for less than we do and you are happy there, renewing where you are is the simpler choice. Our step-by-step guide on how to transfer a domain covers unlocking, the auth code and approval.

Does this affect .in, .co.in or other extensions?

No, the .com increase does not apply to .in or .co.in. India's country-code domains, including .in, .co.in, .net.in and .org.in, are run by NIXI (the National Internet Exchange of India), which sets its own prices. Verisign's November increase covers .com only, and the .net change is separate.

• .net rises separately, on 1 March 2027. If you hold .net domains, you have a little longer, but the same logic applies.
• .in and .co.in follow NIXI's pricing and rules. Every .in registrant must now complete identity verification (eKYC), which we explain in our guide to .in domain eKYC.
• Other extensions each have their own registry and price. Always check the renewal price per year, not just the first-year price, on the pricing page.

If your brand is on .com and you sell mainly in India, owning the matching .in stops someone else from taking it. Our comparisons of .com vs .in and .co.in vs .in help you decide which to hold.

Watch out for fake "price increase" renewal emails

Price-rise news is perfect bait for scammers. Expect emails warning that your .com "must be renewed before prices go up", with a link to pay. ICANN has described fake renewal notices as misleading messages from someone posing as your registrar. They aim to make you pay a fee you don't owe, to switch your domain to another registrar without realising it (known as "slamming"), or to hand over login details or the auth code so the domain can be stolen.

This is not new. In 2003 the US Federal Trade Commission settled charges against Network Solutions over mailings that looked like expiry notices but actually transferred the domain. In 2014 ICANN warned about emails using its logo to offer cheap renewals, and pointed out that it does not collect fees from domain owners directly. You pay for a domain through your registrar, never ICANN.

Checklist: what to do before 1 November

1. List every .com and .net you own, including any registered by a designer or agency on your behalf. A WHOIS lookup shows the registrar and expiry date of each one.
2. Sort them into keep and maybe. Only the keepers are worth renewing early.
3. Renew the keepers for several years, within the 10-year limit. Do it a few days before the deadline, not on 31 October.
4. Turn on auto-renew and check that your account email is not on a domain you might lose.
5. Start any transfers now, and only for domains that are active, unlocked and not registered or transferred in the last 60 days.
6. Put 1 March 2027 in your calendar if you hold .net domains.
7. Ignore renewal emails with payment links. Renew only from your registrar's own dashboard.

If your .com is with us, you can renew it for several years and switch on auto-renew from your HostEthical dashboard. If you are not sure where a domain is registered or how long it has left, contact us and we will help you check.

Frequently asked questions

Will my .com renewal cost more after 1 November 2026?

Very likely. On 1 November 2026 the wholesale fee every registrar pays Verisign rises from US$10.26 to US$10.97 a year, and registrars generally pass it on, each on its own timetable. Years you have already paid for are not affected.

Can I renew my .com for several years now to lock in today's price?

Yes. You can add years as long as the registration ends no more than 10 years from today, and every year you pay for now is charged at today's price. The renewal after those prepaid years run out will be charged at whatever the price is then.

Does the .com price increase affect .in or .co.in domains?

No. The .in family, including .co.in, is run by NIXI, which sets its own prices. Verisign's November increase covers .com only, and .net has a separate rise from US$10.91 to US$12.00 on 1 March 2027.

How much will a .com domain cost in India after the increase?

The wholesale increase is 71 US cents a year, well under ₹100, but each registrar sets its own rupee price on top of that cost. Compare renewal prices rather than first-year offers. HostEthical's current .com prices are on its domain pricing page and follow the wholesale cost, so expect them to rise at some point.