.com vs .ai: Price, Renewal and Availability
Pick .com unless your product is AI-first and the .ai is the exact name you want. .ai costs $82.70 a year, first year and renewal alike, against .com's $10.88, and every registration and renewal is a 2-year minimum, so the first bill is $165.40. Five years: $413.50 vs $54.40. 75% of .com names checked on domhaul were already registered, against 48% of .ai.
Standard (non-premium) names, USD per year, quoted October 24, 2026.
| Measure | .com | .ai |
|---|---|---|
| First year (lowest) | $10.88 | $82.70 |
| Renewal (lowest) | $10.88 | $82.70 |
| Renewal vs first year | same | same |
| 5 years, cheapest registrar | $54.40 (Dynadot) | $413.50 (Porkbun) |
| Minimum term | 1 year | 2 years ($165.40 upfront) |
| Porkbun first year | $11.08 | $82.70 |
| Porkbun renewal | $11.08 | $82.70 |
| Porkbun transfer | $11.08 | $165.09 |
| Dynadot first year | $10.88 | $85.60 |
| Dynadot renewal | $10.88 | $85.60 |
| Taken when checked on domhaul | 75% of 4,260 | 48% of 271 |
| Type | Generic | Country code (Anguilla) |
| Registry | VeriSign Global Registry Services | Government of Anguilla |
| Rules | Open to anyone | Open to anyone; 2-year minimum term |
| DNSSEC | Signed | Signed |
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Pick .com if
- AI is a feature of the product, not the whole product.
- You want the lowest yearly cost and one-year terms.
- The name works without the word "AI" in it.
Pick .ai if
- AI is the product and the name reads as name + .ai.
- The .com is taken and the .ai is free.
- You can pay about $165.40 every two years for the life of the brand.
.com vs .ai questions
Why does a .ai domain cost so much more than .com?
.com costs $10.88 for the first year and $10.88 to renew; .ai costs $82.70 and $82.70. Over five years (first year plus four renewals at the cheaper registrar) that is $54.40 for .com and $413.50 for .ai, so .com is the cheaper one to keep by 7.6x. .ai is sold in 2-year minimum terms, so the first bill is $165.40. Standard names at Dynadot and Porkbun, quoted October 24, 2026. Most of that is the registry's wholesale fee, which is why the price barely differs between registrars.
Is .ai a country domain?
.ai is the country code of Anguilla, a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, run by the Government of Anguilla. It is open to anyone anywhere with no local presence rule, and it is popular with AI companies worldwide.
Can I register a .ai domain for one year?
No. .ai registrations and renewals have a 2-year minimum, so the first bill is $165.40 at the cheapest registrar here and each renewal is two years at once. A transfer also adds 2 years, which is why Porkbun's transfer price is $165.09.
Is .ai better than .com for an AI startup?
It is a branding choice, not a ranking one. Google ranks pages, not extensions: neither one gives a ranking boost or penalty, and links, content and how people respond to the result decide where a site ranks. .ai tells people what you do before they click; .com is cheaper and easier to say. Many AI companies own both and redirect one to the other.
More comparisons
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- .ai vs .co 5 yrs $413.50 vs $140.30
- .com vs .net 5 yrs $54.40 vs $62.60
- .com vs .org 5 yrs $54.40 vs $54.55
- .com vs .co 5 yrs $54.40 vs $140.30
- .com vs .io 5 yrs $54.40 vs $235.32
Full price pages: .com and .ai. All domain extension comparisons, the price list for every TLD, and the long read on .com vs .io vs .app vs .dev for startups. Have a name? The domain value calculator prices it and finds available alternatives.