How much does it cost to renew a .com domain?

A .com domain renewal should cost between $8 and $15 per year at a reputable registrar. Anything over $15 is considered expensive for a standard .com renewal. GoDaddy charges around $21 per year while Porkbun charges around $9 per year for the same domain.

Why does GoDaddy charge so much more for domain renewals?

GoDaddy uses low first-year promotional prices to attract customers, then charges premium renewal rates. Their renewal pricing for .com domains is typically $19 to $22 per year, roughly double what cost-based registrars like Cloudflare charge.

Is it cheaper to renew a domain for multiple years?

Sometimes. Some registrars offer a small discount for 2 to 5 year renewals. However, you are paying for future years at today's price, which can be a risk if you want to switch registrars. For most users, annual renewal with the option to transfer is more flexible.

What happens if I cannot afford to renew my domain?

If you cannot renew before expiry, the domain enters a grace period where you can renew at standard price. After that, a costly redemption period applies. If you genuinely cannot afford renewal, consider transferring to a cheaper registrar before the domain expires.

Does the price of domain renewal change every year?

Standard domain registrations have relatively stable renewal prices set by the registry. However, ICANN allows registries to increase prices periodically. Verisign, which manages .com, has raised prices multiple times. Your registrar markup on top of the registry price can also change.

Price comparison showing domain renewal costs across different registrars

Domain Management

Domain Renewal Cost in 2026: How Much Should You Actually Pay?

Domain 360 Team

·June 4, 2026·7 min read

Every year, millions of people overpay for domain renewals. Not because they chose bad registrars intentionally, but because they signed up during a promotional offer and never revisited the renewal price. A domain that cost $1.99 to register might now be costing $22 per year to renew — a markup of over 1,000%.

Understanding domain renewal pricing is one of the simplest ways to save money on your digital infrastructure, especially as you scale a portfolio of domains for your business or clients.

How Domain Renewal Pricing Works

Domain pricing has two components that combine to set your renewal price.

Registry Fee

Every top-level domain (TLD) is managed by a registry organization. For .com, that is Verisign. The registry sets a wholesale price that all accredited registrars must pay to maintain or renew a domain. As of 2026, the ICANN-set maximum registry fee for .com is $9.59 per year. This is the floor — what the registry charges the registrar.

Registrar Markup

On top of the registry fee, your registrar adds their own markup. This is where prices diverge dramatically. Some registrars like Cloudflare Registrar pass through at cost with no markup. Others mark up significantly.

Current Domain Renewal Prices by Registrar in 2026

Cloudflare Registrar charges approximately $9.77 per year for .com with free privacy included. Porkbun charges approximately $9.73 per year with free privacy. Namecheap charges approximately $13.98 per year with free privacy. GoDaddy charges approximately $21.99 per year with privacy costing an additional $9.99. Network Solutions charges approximately $35.99 per year with privacy as an additional charge.

The True Annual Cost of Domain Renewal

When comparing registrars, always calculate the all-in cost including WHOIS privacy. Cloudflare Registrar totals approximately $9.77 per year. Porkbun totals approximately $9.73 per year. GoDaddy with privacy totals approximately $31.98 per year.

That is a difference of over $22 per year between GoDaddy with privacy and Porkbun with privacy — for the exact same domain. Across a portfolio of 20 domains, that is over $440 per year in unnecessary costs.

Price by Domain Extension

Not all domain extensions cost the same. Standard TLDs like .com range from $9 to $22 per year, .net from $10 to $25, and .org from $10 to $22. Country-code TLDs vary significantly by country registry. Premium extensions like .io range from $25 to $60 per year and .co from $25 to $35 per year.

Some domains are registered as premium by the registry and have higher renewal costs that can be hundreds or thousands of dollars per year. Always check if a domain is marked premium before registering — the premium renewal price will apply every year.

How to Stop Overpaying

Step 1: Audit Your Current Renewal Prices

Log in to every registrar account you have and note the renewal price for each domain. This audit alone is often shocking for people who signed up years ago and never checked.

Step 2: Transfer Expensive Domains to Cost-Effective Registrars

If you are paying more than $15 per year for a standard .com renewal, consider transferring to Cloudflare Registrar or Porkbun. The domain transfer process is straightforward and adds one year to the domain's registration, so you effectively get one year at the new registrar's price. For domains with more than 6 months remaining, the transfer timing is flexible.

Step 3: Track All Renewal Costs in One Place

If you manage multiple domains across different registrars, tracking renewal costs manually is error-prone. Domain 360 lets you enter the annual renewal cost and currency for each domain, so you can see your total annual domain spend at a glance. This visibility makes it easy to identify which domains are costing too much and prioritize transfers.

Step 4: Set Renewal Reminders

The biggest driver of overpaying is renewing in a panic. When a domain is about to lapse, you lose negotiating leverage — you cannot transfer during the grace or redemption period. Renewing early, from a position of choice, means you can switch registrars calmly rather than paying whatever your current registrar charges under pressure. Domain 360's automatic reminders at 60, 30, 14, and 7 days give you ample time to make a deliberate decision.

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