Does a domain name cost per year?

When buying a domain name, you may be in dilemma of whether you are buying the domain for a period of one month, 1 year, 3 years, 10 years, or ven permanently.

Well,

On most occasions, a domain cost is usually calculated per year with domain extensions such as .com pricing around $8 to $20 and a .org starting at $12. This price is subject to fluctuation based on the domain name registrar, premium domains, and multiyear discounts.

If a domain is on a premium offer, you will usually get it at a higher price. The reason is that these domain names have historical value, investment potential, branding opportunities, and limited availability.

Depending on the domain name registrar that you are using, you have the option for paying for a domain name for a period of 1 year, 3 years, to even 10 years.

The advantages of registering a domain name with a registrar for a period longer than one year is

1. It saves money. Most registrars will offer the option of multi-year domain name registration at very discounted rates. Thus, locking on a domain name for a period longer than one year saves you money on lowered rates.
2. Mitigate any price increase in the following years. Domain registration fees can increase over time where the same domain name extension will cost 10$ this year but come next year, it may be $12. With a multiyear registration, you don’t incur those additional costs.
3. If you have a brand, multiyear domain name registration is a better option than paying for a domain name renewal per year.

With that in mind, why do you have to be charged for a domain name.

Why do you have to pay for a domain name?

Choosing to pay for a domain name instead of getting a free offered one has the benefits of:

1. Having a professional image for your business or brand. When you have your own domain name, customers and readers are more likely to trust the services that you provide compared to having a free domain name.
2. Brand recognition. Having a branded domain name can help your visitors and customers know that they are accessing a legit and trustworthy website.
3. Get custom email addresses that reflect your business name. With a custom domain name for your business or Django web application, you can be able to create email addresses under that domain. With a free domain name, you cannot create a custom domain name.
4. Having control and ownership. With a registered domain, you have the choice of preferring a web or mail host to use for your business.
5. Protect your brand name from being used by others. If you are going to have a noteworthy brand name, you should probably get yourself a domain name to avoid the high cost of acquiring premium domains using your brand name.
6. Ad-free experience or placing ads you are in control of. With your own domain name, you have the control of adding ads to your website or not. That’s not the case with free domain names as they may often be placed with inappropriate ads that you have no control over.

Where to buy a domain name

One of the best places to by domain names without added costs are:

1. Namecheap
2. Cloudflare

I prefer registering domain names from these registrars as they provide the best service and protection. Besides the domain name management interfaces are perfect if you ever want to change your DNS records and WHOIS information.

How much does a domain name cost per year

A domain name price depends on the domain extension and the registrar that you are using.

.com domain names range from $8 to $20 per year, .org domain names starting at $12, and .blog at $30.

Here is a table showing the prices of the most common domain extension that you are more likely to use for your business or web application.

Domain name extension	Cost per year
.com	$8 to $20
.org	$12
.net	$10 to $12
.io	$30
.co	$10 to $30
.me	$20
.info	$12 to $14
.ai	79.98
.biz	$5 to $15
.tv	$30
.app	$14
.tech	$20 to $40
.online	$30
.store	$50
.blog	$30
.world	$40

Can you permanently own a domain name

You cannot own a domain name permanently. You can register and own a domain name for a maximum of 10 years for a single renewal or registration. However, if you keep on renewing your name for a year or multiyear tiers, you can own a domain name for any number of years that you may wish.

So, you buy a domain name on a single purchase for a maximum of 10 years.

Once the 10 year period is over, you can then renew again for 1, 3, or 10 year period.

Then you can iterate to however long you want to own the domain name.

Some potential drawbacks that may arise from multiyear domain name registrations may be:

• The lock-in period will keep you committed to a particular domain name or registrar.
• Registration for a multiyear tier requires a high cost upfront compared to a yearly commitment.

Tips on registering and owning a domain name

1. When buying a new domain name, consider registrars such as Namecheap that offer registrations and renewals at discounted prices.
2. Consider alternative top-level domains (TLDs) that reflect your service.
3. Consider your brand or website’s purpose and curate a simple and memorable domain name that revolves around that.
4. If possible, protect your brand by registering variations of your domain name that may arise from alternative TLDs or misspellings. For example, tredders.com and treders.com.
5. Choose an industry-specific TLD that is aligned with the content or service you will be providing.
6. Consider registrars that protect your personal information from WHOIS databases.
7. Take note of the initial cost and renewal cost. Registrars will often give discounts or promotions to the initial cost. However, the renewal cost will be different from the initial cost that you made. So, you may pay an initial cost of $5 and usually renew your domain name for $12.

See ya!