So, are .net domains worth buying? As a name to use, often yes. As an asset to resell, rarely. The numbers below come from the registry’s own reports, registrar price pages and published sales charts, all checked on 29 October 2026. Prices change often, so treat every retail figure as dated.
.net vs .com by the numbers
Both extensions are run by the same company. Verisign operates the registry for .com and .net, and says it provides “the routing support for over 179 million domain names ending with .com and .net”. The split between the two is lopsided.
According to the DNIB Quarterly Report Q3 2026, “the .com domain name base totaled 169.8 million domain name registrations and the .net domain name base totaled 12.6 million” as of 30 September 2026. A year earlier the figures were 159.4 million and 12.5 million. That makes .com about 13.5 times the size of .net, and over the year .com added about 10.4 million names while .net added roughly 0.1 million. That is our arithmetic on rounded figures, but the direction is clear: .net is not shrinking, it is standing still. It is still the fourth-largest extension in the world and the second-largest generic one.
The wholesale price is also moving. Verisign told ICANN on 27 August 2026 that from 1 March 2027 its fee for each .net registration, renewal and transfer “will be US $12.00”, up from $10.91. That is a rise of about 10%. The .com fee goes up from $10.26 to $10.97 on 1 November 2026, according to Domain Name Wire. From March, a .net will cost registrars more at wholesale than a .com.
| .com | .net | |
|---|---|---|
| Registrations, 30 Sep 2026 (DNIB) | 169.8 million | 12.6 million |
| Registrations, 30 Sep 2025 (DNIB) | 159.4 million | 12.5 million |
| Change over the year (our arithmetic) | +10.4 million | about +0.1 million |
| Rank among all extensions | 1st | 4th |
| Wholesale fee to 31 Oct 2026 | $10.26 | $10.91 |
| Wholesale fee from 1 Nov 2026 | $10.97 | $10.91 |
| Wholesale fee from 1 Mar 2027 | $10.97 (no change announced) | $12.00 |
The current .NET Registry Agreement lets Verisign raise the fee by up to 10% a year, and it runs to 30 June 2029. Domain Name Wire notes that registrants “can avoid the fee increase for up to a decade by renewing their domains before March 1, 2027”.
What a .net costs to register and renew
Registrar list prices, checked 29 October 2026, in US dollars:
- Porkbun: $12.52 a year for registration, renewal and transfer alike.
- Namecheap: $12.48 for the first year on sale (normally $14.98), then $18.58 a year to renew. Namecheap says an ICANN fee of $0.20 “will be added to the listed price for some domains”.
- GoDaddy: $0.01 for the first year, but only with a 3-year purchase; each additional year is $24.99.
The lesson is to compare renewal prices, not first-year offers. The cheap year is a promotion, and the renewal is what you pay for as long as you keep the name. If you already own a .net you plan to keep, renewing for several years before that date locks in today’s price.
What .net names resell for
Among .net sales reported this year, the largest in the sales lists is wellness.net, which sold for $146,000 at GoDaddy on 18 October 2026, according to NameBio’s daily report as republished by Domain.News. It was the only .net in that week’s top 20, against 14 .com names.
DNJournal’s 2026 charts, through 18 October, show the gap more clearly. Its all-extension Top 100 needs at least $100,000 to qualify, and no .net is on it. On its non-.com Top 100, which needs $9,999, the leading .net sales are:
- Gallery.net, $57,500 (Legal Brand Marketing)
- Adam.net, €45,000, or $52,200 (Sedo)
- Shop.net, $51,050 (Sedo)
- Emergent.net, $49,438 (Legal Brand Marketing)
- Gizmo.net, $39,998 (Legal Brand Marketing)
- Ben.net, $35,750 (Sedo)
In 2025 the top .net on DNJournal’s chart was OnChain.net at $29,888. For scale, DNJournal’s top sale of the year so far, of any extension, is AI.com at $70 million, and the median public sale of a three-letter .com in Q3 2026 was $31,750, according to GGRG. Most of the best .net sales of the year sit around what an ordinary three-letter .com fetches. Short-name prices are covered in short domain names for sale.
Why does the .com matter more for resale? The buyer pool. With 169.8 million .com registrations against 12.6 million .net, far more businesses want the .com version of a name, and a .net owner is often competing with a .com holder who already has the stronger asset. Whether the extension affects rankings is a separate question, answered in domain extensions and SEO.
When a .net is a good choice, and when it is not
A .net makes sense when:
- the .com is taken and the owner wants more than the name is worth to you;
- the project is technical, such as an API, a network service or a developer tool, where the extension fits the original meaning of “network”;
- people reach you through links, bookmarks and apps rather than by hearing the address said aloud.
It is a weaker choice when:
- the brand will be spoken on radio, podcasts or in person, where people tend to assume .com;
- someone else is actively using the matching .com, especially a business in your field;
- you are buying mainly to resell, given the sales figures above.
The risk with a shared name is leakage: visitors and email meant for you ending up at the .com. No reliable study measures how much this happens. Domain Name Wire’s Andrew Allemann argued in 2017 that “some visitors will inevitably end up going to the same second level domain in .com”, that this is “usually not the end of the world”, but that misdirected email “is where business can be lost”. That is one writer’s view, not a measurement, so treat it as a risk to check rather than a number. Before you commit, look at what the .com is used for. Founders weighing this choice will find more in domain names for startups.
Before you buy an aftermarket .net
Good .net names are rarely free to register. Findadomain.name reports that 92.8% of pronounceable four-letter .net names are taken, and that .net is one of seven extensions where at least 990 of 1,000 common words are registered. So the name you want is likely to be owned already.
Get a value range before you open a conversation. The Domain Worth Calculator scores a name factor by factor and maps it to a value band. It gives you a starting range, not a market appraisal and not a price. Set that against the sales above: if the seller wants .com money for a .net, you have your answer.
Then work out your ceiling. What it costs to buy a domain from its owner covers the typical costs and fees, and domain name negotiation covers how to open and when to walk away. Remember to add renewal at the new wholesale price to your sums.
Frequently asked questions
Is a .net domain good for a business?
It can be, if the .com is unavailable or overpriced and customers mostly reach you through links. If the matching .com belongs to an active business, the risk of misdirected visitors and email is higher.
How much does a .net cost to renew?
On registrar pages checked 29 October 2026: $12.52 at Porkbun, $18.58 at Namecheap and $24.99 per extra year at GoDaddy. Verisign’s wholesale fee rises from $10.91 to $12.00 on 1 March 2027.
Do .net domains hold their value?
Far less than .com. No .net reached DNJournal’s 2026 all-extension Top 100, which needs $100,000. The best charted .net sale this year was Gallery.net at $57,500.
Is .net getting less popular?
It is flat rather than falling. DNIB counted 12.5 million .net names in September 2025 and 12.6 million in September 2026, while .com grew by about 10.4 million.
The takeaway Buy a .net to use, not to flip, and only when the .com is out of reach. Check a name’s range with the Domain Worth Calculator before you make an offer, or browse aged domains on the SERPHeroes marketplace, where each listing shows its registry age, an archive spam scan and whether ownership was verified.
