The renewal price is what a domain costs each year after the first year of registration.
The renewal price is the amount you pay each time you extend a domain registration, usually for another year. Domains are never bought outright. You rent the right to use a name, and to keep it you have to renew before the expiration date.
Many registrars advertise a low first-year price and then charge much more for renewals. A .com might be offered at a heavy discount for year one, then renew at two or three times that. Since you'll pay the renewal price every year you own the domain, it matters far more than the first-year deal.
How domain renewal pricing works
The price you pay is made up of a few parts:
- The registry's wholesale fee, set by the organisation that runs the extension, such as Verisign for .com.
- The ICANN fee, a small per-year charge on generic extensions.
- The registrar's margin, which covers their costs and profit.
When a registry raises its wholesale price, registrars usually pass it on, so renewal prices can rise over time even at the same registrar.
Why the renewal price matters
Over the life of a domain, renewals are where almost all the cost sits. A business that keeps its domain for 10 years pays one registration and nine renewals. A cheap first year with an expensive renewal can easily cost more overall than a fair, flat price.
Renewal prices also vary widely by extension. A .site or .co often costs more to renew than a .com, and premium domains set by the registry can renew at their higher premium price every year.
How to avoid surprise renewal costs
- Check the renewal price before you register, not just the first-year offer.
- Compare registration, renewal and transfer prices together. AblePage, for example, charges the same for all three.
- Watch for paid extras at renewal, such as WHOIS privacy, which should be free.
- Turn on auto-renew and keep your payment details current.
- Consider multi-year renewals on important domains to fix the cost for longer, where your registrar allows it.
What happens if you don't pay the renewal price
If a domain isn't renewed by its expiry date, it usually enters a grace period where you can still renew at the normal price. After that comes the redemption period, when recovery costs the renewal plus a restore fee. If nobody restores it, the domain is deleted and anyone can register it. Your website and email stop working well before that point, so it's worth renewing early.
For generic extensions, ICANN requires registrars to send renewal reminders before a domain expires, so keep the email address on your account up to date.