Abstract:
COM domain name registry Verisign of the United States has announced that it will increase the wholesale price of COM domain name registry from US$10.26 to US$10.97 starting from November 1, 2026. The new rate applies to newly registered domain names or renewals of existing domain names. The annual increase of $0.71, or 6.9%, is paid by registrars to VeriSign but will ultimately be passed on to end users.
VeriSign has announced this adjustment on April 23. The price change is for each registration year unit, such as registration or renewal for multiple years. Registrars need to calculate the corresponding years according to the new wholesale price. Whether domain name holders will see a simultaneous increase in retail prices on November 1st depends on the registrar, which may vary somewhat from domain to domain registrar.
ICANN also charges an annual transaction fee of US$0.2 per domain name, so the final wholesale price of the COM domain name after adjustment on November 1 is US$11.17. This is the pure cost price of the downstream registrar. The registrar also needs to calculate its own service costs and profits, so the price seen by the end user may be US$12~13 or higher.
As previously mentioned, VeriSign finally obtained the authority to increase prices year by year after negotiations with ICANN. Current rules allow VeriSign to increase the wholesale price of domain names by up to 7% per year in the last 4 years of each 6-year cycle. The current 6-year cycle starts on October 26, 2024, and the third year starts on October 26, 2026, so VeriSign chose to increase the price on November 1.
If VeriSign also uses up the 7% price adjustment quota in the next three years, the wholesale price is expected to increase to $13.42 per year (excluding ICANN transaction fees) after the end of this cycle. However, it remains to be seen whether VeriSign will increase the price every year or increase the price by 7%. After all, if the price increases too much, it will make more money but it will easily be criticized.
For users who have held COM domain names for a long time, early renewal is a good choice. There are very few domain names now, so early renewal is the only option. However, refunds are usually not available after domain name renewal, so unless it is a necessary domain name, do not renew for too long, otherwise you will lose money if you want to release it in the future.
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