.io Domain Names
.io domain names, registered properly
Officially the country code of the British Indian Ocean Territory; in practice the ending an entire generation of startups, dev tools and APIs chose as their own. Register from $39.99/yr, with the renewal figure shown before you pay.
.io
Extension
Shown
Renewal before checkout
Live
Availability results
Free
DNS management
The Extension
Why .io?
Few endings have been so completely repurposed. .io began as an obscure ccTLD and became tech's house style — short, pronounceable, reading as input/output to anyone who has written a line of code. Search engines treat it as effectively generic rather than geographic, and among developer audiences it needs no explanation at all. Its popularity has one practical consequence: good short names are contested, so a free one is worth taking while it is free.
Because .io is a country code rather than an ICANN gTLD, its registry sets its own policies, and the small print differs from .com in places — worth knowing, not worth fearing, and exactly the kind of thing a registrar should explain before you commit a brand. We register .io names in your details, show the renewal beside the registration before checkout, and treat the delegation as yours to point anywhere.
Good Fit
.io works best for
- Startups, SaaS products and developer tools
- APIs, documentation and engineering blogs
- Tech brands whose audience lives in editors and terminals
- A distinctive short name when the .com is long gone
With Every Name
Included with every domain
Fluent in ccTLD small print
Country codes play by their own registry's rules. Ask us how .io handles transfers, disputes and contacts before you build on it — and get a straight answer.
The renewal, before the romance
Popular endings tempt buyers into registering first and budgeting later. The ongoing rate sits beside the registration on every search result here.
Delegation without strings
Point the name at our nameservers, your cloud provider's, or anyone else's — the registration stays yours either way.
Common Questions
Questions about .io
Does a .io hurt my search rankings outside tech circles?
No — search engines have long treated .io as effectively generic, so it will not pin your site to a territory or handicap its rankings. The consideration is human: mainstream audiences recognise it less than .com, so brands selling far beyond tech often hold the .com as well and redirect it.
How do .io transfers differ from .com transfers?
The flow feels familiar — unlock, obtain the transfer code, approve at the receiving registrar — but the timing and confirmation steps follow the .io registry's own policy rather than ICANN's gTLD rulebook. Start moves well before expiry, as with any ending, and keep the registrant mailbox working: confirmations go there.
Is it safe to build a long-term brand on a country code?
Tens of thousands of funded companies have. The sober answer: ccTLD policy belongs to its registry and can evolve, which is true of every ending to some degree. Register in your own details, keep renewals automated, and for a mission-critical brand hold a classic sibling such as the .com as a hedge — advice we give about every fashionable ending, including this one.
Keep Browsing
Other endings worth a look
Registration and renewal figures for every ending we carry are on the price list.
See the full domain price list or move a domain you already own.
Put the .io on the register before someone else does.
Search runs live against the registry, WHOIS privacy costs nothing where the registry allows it, and the renewal figure is shown before you pay.
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