On November 1, 2026, the price of every .com domain renewal goes up. Nine days from today, Verisign — the company that runs the .com registry — raises its wholesale price from $10.26 to $10.97 per year, a 7% increase it announced on April 23, 2026 alongside its Q1 earnings. And .com isn't alone: on March 1, 2027, .net jumps from $10.91 to $12.00 per year, an increase of roughly 10% announced via Verisign's Form 8-K filing on August 27, 2026.
This is not a one-off blip. These are the opening moves of a multi-year climb written directly into Verisign's contracts with ICANN. Below: exactly what's changing and when, the contract clauses that let it happen, the little-known 10-year lock rule that lets you dodge the hikes entirely, the break-even math for when locking in pays, and — the part most owners miss — why your registrar's markup will cost you far more than the hikes themselves.
The two hikes at a glance
.com | .net | |
|---|---|---|
Wholesale price now | $10.26/year | $10.91/year |
Wholesale price after hike | $10.97/year | $12.00/year |
Increase | +$0.71 (7%) | +$1.09 (~9.99%) |
Takes effect | November 1, 2026 | March 1, 2027 (05:00 UTC) |
Announced | April 23, 2026 (Q1 results) | August 27, 2026 (Form 8-K) |
Contract clause | §7.3 of the .com Registry Agreement — up to 7%/year in 4 of every 6 years | §5.1(b) notice under the .net Registry-Registrar Agreement — up to ~10%/year |
On top of both numbers sits ICANN's own fee of about $0.20 per domain per year, which doesn't change either side of the hikes. That makes the true cost floor for a .com $10.46 today, rising to $11.17 on November 1. Every registrar pays that floor; everything above it is their markup — more on that below.
Why the prices are rising: the Verisign contract
Verisign doesn't need a reason to raise prices; it needs permission. Under section 7.3 of the .com Registry Agreement, it may raise the wholesale fee by up to 7% in each of the last four years of every six-year cycle. The current cycle began on October 26, 2024, so prices were frozen for the first two years — and hikes are now permitted in every pricing year through October 2030.
The November 2026 rise is the first of up to four. Verisign has taken every increase the contract allowed so far (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024), so planning on the assumption it will take the rest is the rational default. The contract ceiling, if every allowed step is used:
Date | Maximum allowed wholesale | Status |
|---|---|---|
Now (since 2024) | $10.26 | Current |
Nov 1, 2026 | $10.97 | Announced |
2027 | $11.75 | Allowed, not announced |
2028 | $12.57 | Allowed, not announced |
2029 | $13.45 | Allowed, not announced |
Only the 2026 increase has been announced — the 2027–2029 figures are the maximum the contract permits, not a forecast. But note what that ceiling means: wholesale .com could sit around 31% above today's price by the end of the decade.
The .net increase works differently but lands harder per step. The .net agreement lets Verisign raise up to 10% a year, and it took nearly all of it: $10.91 → $12.00 is a 9.99% rise, $0.001 below the contractual maximum. Across the roughly 12.6 million .net names, that extra $1.09 a year is about $13.7 million in annual registry revenue.
The 10-year lock rule (your one real weapon)
Here's the part most domain owners never learn. The same contract that allows the hikes also guarantees an escape hatch. Section 7.3(f) of the .com Registry Agreement requires that Verisign give at least six months' notice before any increase (it notified registrars in April 2026) — and that it continue to offer renewals for up to ten years at the price in effect at the time the renewal is accepted.
In plain English: any .com renewal you buy before November 1 is charged at today's $10.26 wholesale price, for as many years as you buy, up to the ten-year cap. That is written into the registry contract — it's not a registrar promotion, and it doesn't depend on which registrar you use.
- Renewals stack, they don't replace. Renewing early adds years to your existing expiry date. Nothing you've already paid for is lost.
- The cap is ten years total. A domain's expiry can't extend more than ten years out, so a domain expiring in 2030 can take about six more years now.
- New registrations count too. A .com registered before November 1 is sold at the pre-hike wholesale price.
- Transfers add a year. Moving a domain to a new registrar extends the term by one year — bought before the hike date, that year is billed at the old wholesale rate.
The break-even math: when locking in pays
Locking in isn't free money — you're paying today for years you might not have needed. The reseller platform Openprovider published a neat break-even rule using its 2025 renewal data: early renewal pays off only if the domain's chance of being renewed anyway is above 93.44% (current fee divided by the new fee: $10.26 / $10.98).
That gives you a clean sorting rule:
- Lock now, maximum years: the domain your website and email run on, any domain with traffic or revenue, brands you've committed to. You'll renew these no matter what — every pre-hike year is pure saving.
- Lock selectively: domains you like but haven't committed to. A year or two of headroom is cheap insurance.
- Don't lock: speculative portfolio names, "maybe someday" projects, anything you'd drop within two years. Prepaid years on a dropped domain are money burned — nine unused years at today's prices is over $90 of nothing.
Context: Verisign reported on its Q1 2026 call that first-time renewal rates across the base sit in the mid-40% range, while previously renewed names hold in the mid-80% range. Across a mixed portfolio, early renewal loses on average — which is exactly why the sort above matters more than the discount itself.
Your registrar's markup costs more than the hike
Here's the uncomfortable truth: the $0.71 wholesale hike is dwarfed by the $12.53 gap between the cheapest and most expensive major registrars. The research site Etemora read the listed .com renewal prices on each registrar's own pricing page between September 26 and October 4, 2026. Renewal markups ranged from 0% to 120%:
Registrar | .com renewal (Oct 2026) | Above $10.46 cost floor |
|---|---|---|
Cloudflare | $10.46 | $0.00 (at cost) |
Dynadot | $10.88 | $0.42 |
Porkbun | $11.08 | $0.62 |
NameSilo | $17.29 | $6.83 |
Namecheap | $18.48 | $8.02 |
Hover | $18.99 | $8.53 |
IONOS | $20.00 | $9.54 |
Squarespace | $20.00 | $9.54 |
GoDaddy | $22.99 | $12.53 |
Over ten years at today's prices, one .com costs $104.60 at Cloudflare versus $206.92 at GoDaddy — roughly a $100 difference per domain, for the identical name. And the cheapest first year is often the most expensive domain: GoDaddy advertises a $0.01 first year (with a three-year purchase) that renews at $22.99; IONOS charges $1 for year one, then $20 a year.
The practical point: fixing your registrar costs you $12.53 a year; the hike costs you $0.71. Do both before November 1 — lock years at a low-markup registrar, and the combined saving compounds for a decade. See our cheapest domain registrars 2026 breakdown and the step-by-step transfer guide if you're moving names.
Your 5-step plan before November 1
1. List every .com you own, with expiry dates
You can't sort what you can't see. Pull the list from your registrar's panel or a bulk WHOIS check, and mark each name: keeper, maybe, drop.
2. Lock the keepers for every year the 10-year cap allows
At a low-markup registrar, each year bought before November 1 dodges $0.71-plus of future hikes. A domain that can take nine more years saves roughly $6 to $23 over that term depending on how many future hikes Verisign takes — and more if the pattern repeats after 2030.
3. Move names off expensive renewals
Transfers add a free year at the new registrar's price. If you're paying $22.99 to renew and can pay $10.88 elsewhere, the transfer pays for itself in year one — and the transfer year counts against the pre-hike price if done before November 1. Check renewal pricing before you move; some registrars hide it in help docs.
4. Audit your .net names before March 1, 2027
The .net hike is bigger per year ($1.09) and you have more time. The same 10-year stacking rule applies, and renewals made before March 1, 2027 keep the $10.91 rate. Find current .net options on our full TLD price list.
5. Turn on auto-renew and price-change alerts at a low-markup registrar
Future hikes need only six months' notice. An at-cost or near-cost registrar means the next increase lands as $0.71 on your bill, not $5 of rounded-up margin. For a full pricing baseline, see how much a domain name costs in 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Will my registrar raise prices exactly on November 1?
Most registrars pass wholesale increases on at renewal, but timing and size vary. At-cost registrars like Cloudflare typically move by roughly the same $0.71; others may round up or delay. Watch your renewal notice rather than assuming the wholesale number.
Can I renew a .com for 10 years even if it expires in 2028?
Yes — renewals add to your existing expiry date, and the cap is ten years total from today. A domain expiring in 2028 can take about eight more years now, all at the pre-hike price.
Does transferring a domain count as renewing at today's price?
A transfer extends the term by one year at the new registrar. Completed before the hike date, that added year is billed at the pre-hike wholesale rate — on top of whatever low renewal price the new registrar offers.
Do the hikes affect new registrations too?
Yes. The wholesale fee applies to new registrations and renewals identically, so a .com registered before November 1 costs the old rate, and a .net registered before March 1, 2027 keeps the $10.91 rate.
Will there be more hikes after 2026?
The contract allows up to three more 7% steps through 2029 (ceiling about $13.45), and Verisign has taken every increase permitted so far. Only the 2026 hike has been announced — treat the rest as likely, not certain.
Is .net affected by the November 1 hike?
No. .com and .net are separate registries with separate contracts. .net's increase is its own event on March 1, 2027: $10.91 to $12.00, the maximum ~10% the .net agreement allows in one year.
Should I bulk-renew a speculative portfolio before the hike?
Usually not. Openprovider's break-even math says early renewal pays only when a name's keep-probability exceeds 93.44%. Speculative names you might drop are the trap — prepaid years on a lapsed domain buy nothing.
Where are the official sources for these hikes?
The .com increase was announced with Verisign's Q1 2026 results on April 23, 2026 (the $10.26 → $10.97 move effective Nov 1, 2026). The .net increase came via Verisign's August 27, 2026 Form 8-K filing ($10.91 → $12.00, effective March 1, 2027). The contract terms are in ICANN's .com and .net Registry Agreements.
