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Is a .ai domain worth it? What it costs over five years

A .ai domain costs $82.70 to $114.99 a year at the registrars we could check, about $413 to $575 over five years, against $54 to $95 for a .com.

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A standard .ai domain costs $82.70 a year at Porkbun, $85.60 at Dynadot and $114.99 at Hover as of October 2026, and the registrars that state a term say you must buy at least two years at a time. Five years of a .ai name comes to $413.50 to $574.95 at those three, against $54.40 to $94.95 for a .com at the same registrars. Whether that is worth it depends on whether the name you want is free in .com, and on whether you are happy paying roughly $70 to $100 more every year for as long as you keep it.

How this guide was put together: the .ai and .io prices come from each registrar’s own price pages, and the registry rules from the .ai registry site (nic.ai) and the IANA root zone database, all read on October 25, 2026. The .com prices are the figures on our domains page, last checked October 18, 2026. We haven’t registered these domains ourselves; these are list prices before tax.

What is a .ai domain, and who runs it?

.ai is a country-code top-level domain (ccTLD), not a generic one like .com. The IANA root zone database lists its manager as the Government of Anguilla, with the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Utilities as the administrative contact. The registry’s website, nic.ai, describes .ai as “established as the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Anguilla” and carries an Identity Digital copyright notice; registrar questions go to an Identity Digital support address.

What the registry’s FAQ (last updated April 24, 2025) says you should know as a buyer:

  • The government can step in. “The Government of Anguilla may, at any time and without limitation, deny, suspend, cancel, redirect, or transfer any registration,” or put a name on lock or hold, to fight abuse, to comply with laws or law enforcement requests, to correct registrar mistakes or during a dispute.
  • UDRP applies. Trademark disputes go through the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute Resolution Policy, the same process used for .com.
  • Abuse rules. The FAQ lists banned uses, including malware, phishing, spam, botnets and trademark infringement. Holders of two-character .ai names must avoid implying they are affiliated with the matching government or country-code manager.
  • Privacy is allowed. Registrants may hide their registration data through a privacy or proxy service, “often provided by the registrar.”
  • It has grown fast. Figures from the registry’s previous technical provider show 48,272 .ai domains on July 2, 2018, 248,609 on June 14, 2023 and 598,007 on January 2, 2025.

The registry’s own pages don’t publish a retail price or the term rules. Those come from registrars, below.

How much does a .ai domain cost per year?

Prices for a standard (non-premium) .ai name, in US dollars, as of October 25, 2026:

Registrar Register (per year) Renew (per year) Minimum term stated Smallest first bill Transfer in
Porkbun $82.70 $82.70 2 years $165.40 $165.09, includes a 2-year renewal
Dynadot $85.60 $85.60 2 years $171.20 $171.20
Hover $114.99 $114.99 Not stated on its price list $229.98 if the 2-year rule applies Not clearly labeled

How to read it:

  • No first-year discount. Unlike .com and .io, none of the three shows a cheaper first year for .ai. Porkbun labels its price an “everyday low price,” and its price list says registration and renewal prices are per year for non-premium names.
  • Two years is the floor. Porkbun says “.AI Domains require a minimum term of 2 years for registration and renewals.” Dynadot’s FAQ says the same, and Squarespace’s domains blog (July 22, 2026) says “the minimum duration for registration and renewals is two years.” Hover’s price list gives one per-year price (“All pricing is per year and in USD”) and doesn’t mention a term or label a transfer price; expect the same two-year rule at checkout, but its list doesn’t confirm it.
  • Dynadot’s price may move. Its .ai page notes that “pricing may vary based on fluctuations in currency exchange rates.”

Registrars we couldn’t price

  • Spaceship, Namecheap, NameSilo and GoDaddy blocked automated reading of their .ai pages on October 25, 2026, so we leave their .ai prices out. Their .com prices are on our tool pages, for example Spaceship.
  • Cloudflare Registrar says it supports .ai, but it shows a price only inside a live domain search, which we couldn’t read. Cloudflare sells domains at cost, so it is worth checking before you buy; see our Cloudflare Registrar page.
  • Squarespace Domains confirms the two-year minimum but publishes no .ai price outside its search, and says “it is not currently possible to transfer existing .ai domains to Squarespace.”

What does a .ai domain cost over five years, next to .com and .io?

Five years of one standard name, at each registrar’s listed register and renew prices. The .com figures are from our domains page (checked October 18, 2026); the .ai and .io figures were read October 25, 2026.

Registrar .ai, 5 years .io, 5 years .com, 5 years
Porkbun $413.50 $235.32 $55.40
Dynadot $428.00 $242.89 $54.40
Hover $574.95 $374.95 $94.95

The arithmetic:

  • .ai: Porkbun 5 × $82.70 = $413.50. Dynadot lists the 5-year total itself: $428.00 (5 × $85.60). Hover 5 × $114.99 = $574.95.
  • .io: Porkbun has a first-year sale at $28.12, then $51.80 a year: $28.12 + 4 × $51.80 = $235.32. Dynadot is $28.89 on sale, then $53.50: $28.89 + 4 × $53.50 = $242.89. Hover charges $74.99 every year: 5 × $74.99 = $374.95.
  • .com: Porkbun 5 × $11.08 = $55.40. Dynadot 5 × $10.88 = $54.40. Hover 5 × $18.99 = $94.95.

With a two-year minimum, the cleanest way to cover exactly five years is to register for two years and then renew for three. Dynadot’s multi-year table lists a 3-year renewal at $256.80, so $171.20 + $256.80 = $428.00. If you renew two years at a time instead, your fourth-year renewal takes you to year six, and the bill for six years at Porkbun is 6 × $82.70 = $496.20.

Worked example: a startup choosing between .ai and .com at Porkbun

Say both yourname.ai and yourname.com are free and you buy at Porkbun.

  • First bill for .ai: 2 years × $82.70 = $165.40. For .com: 1 year × $11.08 = $11.08.
  • Five years of .ai: 5 × $82.70 = $413.50. Five years of .com: 5 × $11.08 = $55.40.
  • The difference: $413.50 − $55.40 = $358.10 over five years, or $358.10 ÷ 5 = $71.62 a year.

Buying both, so nobody else takes the .com, costs $413.50 + $55.40 = $468.90 for five years at Porkbun. At Hover the same pair is $574.95 + $94.95 = $669.90.

What do premium .ai names cost?

Premium names are short or popular names the registry or a reseller prices above the standard rate. None of the official pages we read publishes a premium .ai price list:

  • Dynadot’s .ai page says “This TLD supports premium domains” and that “premium domains have different pricing.” Its .ai page also lists .ai auctions and resale listings.
  • Porkbun’s price list says its per-year prices apply to “non-premium domain names,” which tells you premium names are priced separately.
  • The registry’s FAQ points people asking about “.AI auctions” to a Namecheap marketplace page. That page blocked automated reading, so we can’t quote its terms.

In practice, a premium .ai price is shown only when you search for the exact name. Before you pay, ask the registrar two questions: is the premium price charged only once, or every year on renewal, and does the two-year minimum apply to it? The pages we read don’t answer either for premium .ai names.

Is a .ai domain worth it?

What you get for the extra money:

  • Availability. If the short .com is taken or for sale at a high price, a standard .ai name at about $83 to $115 a year can be far cheaper than buying the .com from its owner.
  • Meaning. For an AI product the extension reads as part of the brand. Porkbun’s page pitches it at AI startups, and the registry’s count of .ai domains went from 248,609 in June 2023 to 598,007 by January 2025.
  • The same dispute rules as .com. UDRP applies, so the trademark process is familiar.

What you give up:

  • A higher fixed cost every year. The gap with .com doesn’t shrink after year one. At Porkbun it is $71.62 a year for as long as you keep the name.
  • A two-year commitment each time you buy or renew at the registrars that state the rule.
  • A government registry. The Government of Anguilla reserves the right to suspend, cancel or transfer names on the grounds listed in its FAQ. That is broader wording than many buyers expect, though the listed reasons center on abuse, legal compliance and disputes.

A .ai name makes the most sense for an AI-focused company that can’t get its .com, or that wants the .ai as its main brand and can treat roughly $165 to $230 every two years as a fixed cost. It makes the least sense for a side project or a business with no AI angle, where a .com at $11 to $19 a year does the same job.

What to watch for

  • Renewal is the real price. For .ai there is no intro discount at these three registrars, so the first-year price is the renewal price. For .io, the first-year sales ($28.12 at Porkbun, $28.89 at Dynadot) nearly double at renewal ($51.80 and $53.50).
  • Missed renewals are expensive. Dynadot lists a 30-day renewal grace period, then a 30-day restore period with a restore price of $460.00 for .ai, more than five years of a .com there. Its .io restore price is $170.00. Set auto-renew and keep a working card on file.
  • Transfers cost two years. Porkbun charges $165.09 to transfer a .ai in, which includes a two-year renewal; Dynadot charges $171.20. Squarespace doesn’t accept .ai transfers in at all right now.
  • Prices can change. Every price here is what the registrar listed on October 25, 2026, and any of them can change before your renewal. Dynadot warns that currency movements may change its prices.
  • Check the extras. Porkbun lists free WHOIS privacy with every domain, and Hover lists it on supported domains. The registry allows privacy services on .ai, so you shouldn’t have to pay extra for it at these registrars.
  • .io has its own registry. IANA lists .io’s manager as Internet Computer Bureau Limited, for the British Indian Ocean Territory, and Dynadot lists the registry as Donuts Inc. It is also a ccTLD, so it is not a cheaper version of .ai under the same rules.

Which should you choose?

  • AI startup that can’t get the .com: buy the .ai at the lowest renewal price you can find. Of the registrars we could read, Porkbun is lowest at $82.70 a year, with Dynadot close at $85.60. Compare the two on Dynadot vs Porkbun.
  • AI startup that can get both: register both and point the one you don’t use at the other. At Porkbun that is $468.90 for five years.
  • Anyone who wants a single price and no surprises: Hover charges the same every year, but $114.99 for .ai is the highest of the three; see Hover vs Porkbun.
  • Developer tools on a budget: .io costs less than .ai over five years ($235.32 at Porkbun), but plan for the renewal price, not the first-year sale.
  • Small business with no AI angle: a .com is the cheaper and more familiar choice. Current .com prices at all nine registrars we track are on our domains page.

Sources