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Domains · .net

.net — the technical fallback that never sounds like one

Originally intended for network infrastructure, .net has been open to everyone for decades. It reads as competent rather than corporate, and it is one of the few extensions where the first year costs more than the renewal.

Rendering of three name tiles reading .com, .io and .dev.com.com.io.io.dev.devRenewal printed firstWHOIS privacy free

Who it suits

When .net is the right answer.

Not a list of everyone. The cases where this extension is genuinely doing work for you.

Infrastructure and technical services
Hosting, networking, monitoring, ISPs and anything else where the audience is people who know what a nameserver is.
A strong brand whose .com is gone
Unlike a novelty extension, .net does not look like a compromise. It is old enough that people read it as a choice rather than a consolation.
Communities and forums
Long-standing user communities have used .net since the beginning, and the association still holds.
A second address beside the .com
Plenty of businesses hold both and point one at the other. It is cheap insurance against a typo becoming somebody else's traffic.

.net pricing

$16.99first year

Then $14.99 a year — lower than the first year, which is unusual.

Registration term
1 year
Register
$16.99/yr
Renew
$14.99/yr
Transfer in
$14.99
WHOIS privacy
Free

A transfer costs the same as a renewal and adds a full year to whatever time is already on the domain, so nothing is lost by moving in.

Registrar prices last checked 2026-09-02. Search re-confirms before you pay.

Search a .net name

Before you register

Three things about .net worth knowing first.

The parts that are easy to find out afterwards and irritating to find out afterwards.

The renewal is cheaper than the first year

That is unusual and it is exactly what our price table says — registration is the higher number here, and it goes down at renewal rather than up.

No restrictions

The original intent was network operators. It has not been enforced for a very long time; anyone can register one.

It is not a .com substitute for consumers

For a non-technical audience you will still spend some breath spelling it out. Weigh that against how much the name matters to you.

Questions

About .net specifically.

Is .net only for networking companies?
No. The registry stopped treating that as a requirement long ago and it is open to anyone. The association survives as a flavour rather than a rule, which is why technical products still choose it deliberately.
Should I take .net if the .com is parked?
Often yes, and register your .net first rather than opening negotiations first — a visible enquiry about a parked .com is sometimes what turns a cheap name into an expensive one. If you later buy the .com, redirect one to the other and lose nothing.
Do I get the same DNS and privacy as on .com?
Yes. The same editable records, the same free WHOIS privacy, the same auto-renew controls and the same self-service auth code if you ever leave. Nothing about our service differs by extension.

Other extensions

The rest of the shortlist.

Keep reading

Domains, in more detail.