Premium vs Standard TLD Pricing: Is It Worth It?

## Premium vs Standard TLD Pricing: Is It Worth It? Domain pricing looks simple on the surface — $10-15/year for a .com — until you discover that some domains cost $500, $5,000, or even $50,000 per year. This guide explains the complete pricing landscape for Domain Registration, including why identical extensions can cost radically different amounts, and how to evaluate whether premium pricing is worth it for your use case. ## The Three Pricing Tiers ### Tier 1: Standard Registration Pricing The base price set by the Domain Registrar and registry for most domains. This is the price you see when searching for "mybrand.com" and it's available: | Extension | Standard Price Range | |-----------|---------------------| | .com | $10-15/year | | .net | $10-13/year | | .org | $10-12/year | | .io | $25-60/year | | .co | $25-35/year | | .app | $14-20/year | | .dev | $12-18/year | | .ai | $60-100/year | | .shop | $25-40/year | Standard pricing is competitive — multiple Domain Registrar providers compete for your business, driving prices toward their cost floor. Use Domain Cost Calculator to compare current pricing across major registrars for your target domain. ### Tier 2: Registry-Level Premium Domains This is where the complexity begins. Every registry operator maintains a list of "premium" domain names that they sell at higher prices — sometimes dramatically higher. These premiums are applied because: 1. **Dictionary words:** common.com, cloud.com, crypto.com 2. **Short domains:** three or four character domains (abc.com, xyz.com) 3. **High-demand keywords:** finance.com, health.com, auto.com 4. **Geographic terms:** nyc.io, london.co, texas.us Registry premium pricing exists across both old and new TLDs, but is particularly prevalent in New gTLD extensions where registries deliberately set tiered pricing to maximize revenue from high-value names. **New gTLD premium tiers (examples):** | Domain | Extension | Premium Price | |--------|-----------|--------------| | car.insurance | .insurance | $3,000-5,000/year | | buy.shop | .shop | $500-2,000/year | | cloud.tech | .tech | $200-800/year | | data.ai | .ai | $300-1,000/year | | app.dev | .dev | $100-500/year | The key characteristic of registry premiums: **the premium persists at renewal**. You pay the elevated price every year, not just at registration. If a registrar advertises $299 for the first year on a premium domain, check the renewal price — it may be $299 every year forever. ### Tier 3: Aftermarket/Secondary Market Domains Premium Domain (Registry Premium) purchases on the secondary market — domains that individuals or companies already own and are selling. This is a separate market from registry premiums. Secondary market pricing for Domain Valuation follows different logic: | Domain Category | Price Range | Examples | |----------------|-------------|---------| | Ultra-premium single-word .com | $500K-$30M+ | insurance.com ($35.6M), voice.com ($30M) | | Premium single-word .com | $50K-$500K | common dictionary words | | Short 3-letter .com | $10K-$200K | abc.com, xyz.com | | Brand-suitable .com | $2K-$50K | Most good brand names | | Long-tail .com | $500-$5K | Descriptive keyword combinations | | Premium .io | $2K-$20K | Fraction of .com equivalent | | Premium .co | $1K-$10K | Fraction of .com equivalent | | Premium .ai | $2K-$25K | Growing with AI sector | Domain Valuation on the secondary market uses auction dynamics: what the highest bidder will pay. Use TLD Comparison Tool to research comparable sales. ## The Registry Premium Trap The most dangerous pricing scenario in domain registration: **promotional first-year pricing on premium names**. Pattern: - Registrar advertises: "Get business.store for $4.99!" - User registers, builds website, builds email on the domain - Year two invoice arrives: $750/year (the actual registry premium rate) - User must either pay $750/year or migrate the entire business This is legal — registrars disclose renewal pricing in fine print — but it catches thousands of businesses annually. The `.store` extension is particularly notorious for this pattern. **Protection:** Before registering any domain: 1. Search "[domain name] renewal price" to find the year-two cost 2. Look for the "renewal price" column in registrar pricing tables 3. Be suspicious of any domain priced more than 5x the extension's standard rate ## Is Secondary Market Pricing Worth It? The buy-vs-build analysis for premium domain purchases: **Arguments for paying the premium:** 1. **The .com advantage is real:** For consumer-facing businesses, acquiring brand.com instead of brand.io provides real value — type-in traffic, Domain Memorability, enterprise trust, lower cart abandonment. If the business generates $500K/year in revenue, a $25,000 one-time domain acquisition is 5% of annual revenue — a reasonable marketing investment. 2. **Brand protection moat:** Owning brand.com prevents competitors from using it, protects your trademark, and closes off a potential confusion vector permanently. 3. **Domain Valuation appreciates:** Premium .com domains have historically appreciated 5-15% annually over long periods. A domain purchased for $25,000 may be worth $50,000 in 10 years — a reasonable alternative asset. 4. **Switching costs are high:** The cost of migrating from brand.io to brand.com after 3 years of brand building — redirects, customer confusion, SEO transition, updated materials — may exceed the premium domain cost. **Arguments against:** 1. **Capital allocation:** For an early-stage startup with $200K in runway, spending $30,000 on a domain instead of product development or customer acquisition is usually wrong. Alternatives exist. 2. **Diminishing returns:** The ROI of premium domain acquisition decreases as your business's primary growth channel moves to word-of-mouth, referrals, and search. A company with strong brand awareness is less dependent on type-in traffic. 3. **Alternative TLDs are increasingly viable:** Brand.io, brand.app, and brand.co are legitimate for many business contexts. The premium for .com is real but not always decisive. ## The Registry Premium ROI Calculation For ongoing registry premiums (not one-time secondary market purchases), the ROI calculation is: ``` Annual premium cost = $X Benefit = incremental revenue from better extension Is incremental revenue > $X/year? → Pay the premium ``` For most businesses, the incremental revenue from having cloud.tech instead of cloudtools.tech is zero — the extension doesn't drive materially different conversion rates for a branded domain. The premium only makes sense when: - The domain is generic and the extension creates clear authority (health.io for a health platform) - The domain will be used for type-in traffic at scale - The domain has SEO value as a keyword match (limited after Google's EMD update) ## Practical Pricing Decision Framework TLD Knowledge Quiz can generate a recommendation for your situation, but the logic: **Spend up to 1% of annual revenue on a domain if:** - It's a one-time secondary market purchase - .com availability significantly improves business outcomes - The domain protects an important brand trademark **Do not pay ongoing registry premiums exceeding $50/year unless:** - The premium name is truly generic and valuable (health.io, finance.tech) - You've verified the specific name commands meaningfully better results than alternatives **Use standard pricing and a non-premium name if:** - You're pre-revenue or early stage - The premium name is marginally better, not dramatically better - Capital is scarce relative to growth priorities For context on which extensions offer the best value, see Best TLDs for Startups in 2026. For the complete TLD decision methodology, see TLD Decision Framework: A Step-by-Step Guide.