Key Takeaways: .com Domain Price Increase 2026
- Verisign's wholesale .com fee increases from $10.26 to $10.97 on 1 November 2026.
- For South African customers, the rand conversion equates to roughly R168 increasing to around R180 per domain-year at current exchange rates.
- The increase applies to new and renewal .com domain registrations.
- The change is at registry level, so it isn't necessarily the price you'll pay your registrar.
- Your domain is only one part of your online presence, hosting and professional email are natural next steps.
If you own a .com domain or you're thinking about registering one, there's a price increase coming later this year.
Verisign, the registry operator for .com, has announced that its annual registry-level wholesale pricing will increase from $10.26 to $10.97 per domain-year from 1 November 2026.
It's not a massive jump for a single domain, but with .com remaining one of the world's most widely used domain extensions, it's a change worth knowing about.
What's Changing With .com Domain Prices?
From 1 November 2026, Verisign will charge registrars $10.97 per year for new and renewal .com domain registrations, up from the current $10.26.
That's an increase of $0.71, or approximately 6.9%.
For South African customers, that works out to roughly R168 increasing to around R180 per domain-year at current exchange rates. So, an increase of approximately R12 at registry level. Keep in mind that this is only a rough rand conversion of Verisign's wholesale fee.
It's not the price you pay to register or renew a .com domain; exchange rates, ICANN fees and registrar pricing all affect the final retail price.
Importantly, this is a change to Verisign's wholesale price, not a universal retail domain price. Registrars set the prices customers ultimately pay, which can also account for other costs and services.
For context, Verisign reported 176.1 million .com and .net registrations at the end of the first quarter of 2026, with 11.5 million new registrations processed during that quarter alone. .com certainly isn't going anywhere.
What Does the Price Increase Mean for You?
If you already have a .com, the main thing is simply to be aware of the change when your future renewal comes around.
And if you're choosing a domain for a new business or project, price is only one part of that decision. Your domain is your address online, so finding a short, memorable name that represents your business should still come first.
Once you've secured it, you can build everything else around the same identity.
With HostAfrica domain registration, you can register and manage your domain before connecting it to shared web hosting to get your website online. You can also add email hosting to create professional addresses using your own domain, such as hello@yourbusiness.com.
One domain can become the foundation for your website, email and wider online presence, even if the wholesale price behind it changes from time to time.
FAQs: .com Wholesale Pricing
When will the .com domain price increase take effect?
Verisign's new wholesale price takes effect on 1 November 2026. The registry-level fee for new and renewal .com domain registrations will increase from $10.26 to $10.97 per domain-year.
How much is the .com price increase in South African rands?
At current exchange rates, the wholesale fee works out to roughly R168 increasing to around R180 per domain-year, or about R12 more. This is only an approximate conversion of Verisign's wholesale fee, it isn't the retail price you'll pay for a .com domain in South Africa.
Will HostAfrica's .com domain prices increase?
Verisign's change affects the underlying wholesale cost of .com domains, but wholesale and retail domain prices aren't the same thing. Registrar pricing can include other costs and fees, so customers should always check HostAfrica's current domain pricing for the latest registration and renewal rates.
