What a .com actually costs
A registrar's headline price is the teaser. Every registrar ordered by what three years of holding a .com really costs — renewal first.
A snapshot, not a live feed. These figures were observed on 2026-10-02 against each registrar's published .com pricing; each row carries its source. Prices move, promos expire, and a quote that one session shows is not guaranteed in the next. Treat every number here as a dated sample.
Three years of a .com — total cost of ownership
Cheapest three years observed: $22.85 (Sav). The dearest name to hold is the one that hides its renewal — GoDaddy's $4.99 teaser compounds to $50.97 over three years.
| Registrar | Renewal/yr | 3-yr total | First year | Flags |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sav | $7.95 | $22.85 | $6.95 | Backorder $7.95 · Flagged discrepancy: a third-party feed recorded renewal $10.15 |
| Spaceship | $10.18 | $24.16 | ~$9.08 → $3.80 (COM67) | new-customer only · limit 1 per customer · code required |
| Cloudflare | $10.46 | $31.38 | $10.46 | At-cost policy: register = renew = transfer |
| Dynadot | $10.88 | $32.64 | $10.88 | Flat: register = renew |
| Porkbun | $11.08 | $33.24 | $11.08 | Flat: register = renew = transfer |
| Namecheap | $18.48 | $43.75 | $11.28 → $6.79 | Renewal is 2.7x the teaser · new-customer only |
| GoDaddy | $22.99 | $50.97 | $4.99 | Renewal is 4.6x the teaser · new-customer only · $0.01 first year requires a 3-year lock · cart defaults to a 2-year term |
| NameSilo | $17.29 | $51.87 | $17.29 | Flat: register = renew · Cheaper transfer-in: $10.80 |
| Squarespace | $20.00 | $52.00 | $12.00 | First year $12, then $20 |
| Gandi | $38.38 | $115.14 | $38.38 | Most expensive observed |
| Name.com | — | — | ~$12.99 | Renewal not observed |
The three-year total applies the first-year teaser (when one exists) to year 1 and the renewal to years 2 and 3. A registrant whose renewal was not observed (Name.com) has no total. Transfer-in and backorder prices differ from row to row and are noted in the source flags where they matter.
The renewal spread
The annual price that recurs, cheapest → dearest. A table buries a winner; this is the winner.
- Sav
Backorder $7.95
7.95 - Spaceship10.18
- Cloudflare
At-cost policy: register = renew = transfer
10.46 - Dynadot
Flat: register = renew
10.88 - Porkbun
Flat: register = renew = transfer
11.08 - NameSilo
Flat: register = renew
17.29 - Namecheap
Renewal is 2.7x the teaser
18.48 - Squarespace
First year $12, then $20
20 - GoDaddy
Renewal is 4.6x the teaser
22.99 - Gandi
Most expensive observed
38.38
The promo trap, explained
The teaser, then the step-up
The first year is priced to be forgotten. Namecheap's $6.79 becomes $18.48 (2.7×); GoDaddy's $4.99 becomes $22.99 (4.6×); Squarespace's $12 first year becomes $20.
New-customer gating
The teaser applies once, to a first purchase. Spaceship's $3.80 (code COM67), Namecheap's $6.79 and GoDaddy's $4.99 are all new-customer rates — year two and three pay full renewal.
The mandatory lock
GoDaddy's advertised $0.01 first year only exists if you commit to a three-year term. The discount is the cost of the lock-in.
The cart that over-sells
GoDaddy's cart defaults a single .com to a two-year term, so the first bill is bigger than the advertised annual price before you notice.
Limits that stop a portfolio
Spaceship's COM67 is limited to one per customer. A teaser buys a single trying-out; it cannot stock the shelf of brandables the doctrine holds.
The price that moves
A teaser quoted in one session is not guaranteed in the next, and not guaranteed in the cart. Renewal is the only price quoted today that still holds three years out.
The renewal-first rule
The buyer holds a brandable for years — the aftermarket doctrine already prices a good taken name in the thousands at buy-time, and the register cost is the recurring one. So the renewal is the real price, and the teaser is a discount whose conditions have to be read. See the ranked TLD policy and the toolchain registry-truth notes.