Below: who runs .si, why it took off, what names have sold for, and the rules and prices. Every price and registration count was checked 29 October 2026, and these figures change quickly.
Who runs .si and what you actually get
The registry is Register.si, which describes itself as “operating within the Academic and Research Network of Slovenia (ARNES)” and serving “as the national registry for the .si country-code top-level domain.” It does not sell to the public: applications “can be requested solely via a Registrar”, so you buy through a registrar like any other extension. Other country codes set their own rules: compare .de, .mx and .nz.
Read the wording of what you are buying. The registry’s general terms and conditions for registration under .si say Arnes grants “the limited, transferable, renewable and exclusive right to use the Domain name for the entire Period”: a right to use the name for a paid term, under Slovenian law, with disputes going to the registry’s own procedure rather than the UDRP. Background is in domain name dispute resolution.
Why investors rushed into .si in 2026
The idea predates the rush. In June 2026 Andrew Allemann of Domain Name Wire wrote that “.si country code domain has suddenly become popular with domain investors” and that “Some think the ccTLD could be used as short for “superintelligence””. He looked at the 35 .si sales NameBio showed from January to 9 June and found “Only two domain names stand out as end user purchases”: Recursive.si at $20,000 and Military.si at $1,795.
The trigger came in September. Domain Name Wire reported that in a United Nations speech on 22 September, Donald Trump “said the U.S. government would refer to artificial intelligence as super intelligence going forward”, and that investors “piled into .si since that speech”. A further surge followed an executive order to that effect, the same publication said.
The registry’s own figures show the scale. Its “Follow the Growth of .si Domains” chart, checked 29 October 2026, gives these month-by-month domain counts:
| Month (2026) | .si domains (registry figure) |
|---|---|
| January | 173,471 |
| May | 182,512 |
| August | 190,719 |
| September | 247,789 |
| October (to 29 October) | 463,484 |
On simple arithmetic, the October figure is about 2.4 times August’s. Domain Name Wire, citing the registry, put September’s new registrations at 46,066, against 3,515 in all of August. The registry’s daily chart peaks at 21,756 registrations on 5 October, then falls to between 2,000 and 2,700 a day from 20 to 27 October, roughly one-eighth of the peak.
What .si domains are selling for
The top end looks strong. DNJournal’s two-week report for 5 to 18 October said .si “actually has more entries than .ai – 11 compared to it’s older brother’s 8” on its country-code Top 20, and that “The top .si sales were OpenRouter.si and Staffing.si at $50,000 each.” Other reported sales in that period included Gifts.si at €28,000 ($31,360), Hollywood.si at $30,000 and Fractal.si, Game.si and Stocks.si at $25,000 each. NameBio data relayed by Domain.News added Rebellion.si at $28,700 (15 October) and Speech.si at $25,000 (23 October). The latest weekly round-up is in domain sales this week.
Keep those numbers in proportion. DNJournal itself added “Don’t get too excited just yet, because the .ai domains are going for much more money”. Its year-to-date country-code Top 100 to 18 October contains no .si at all; the lowest entry is $51,300, so even the $50,000 sales fall short. Most .si sales are small, and the five-figure names above are the reported exceptions, not the norm. For comparison with the extension .si is borrowing its story from, see recent .ai domain sales.
Who is buying: investors and defensive buyers
Domain Name Wire’s view on 1 October was blunt: “What I don’t see evidence of (yet) is adoption by actual companies. Most aftermarket transactions can be tracked back to domain investors, not businesses.” A check of one day’s ProductHunt launches found “Fifty of today’s launches used a .ai domain. None chose .si.”
The end-user purchases it has found are mostly defensive. On 15 October it wrote that buyers “are companies that already use .ai and forward the .si domain to the .ai”, citing Plasma.si at $20,000, which forwards to plasma.ai. Surplus.si at $7,495 was “a defensive purchase for Surplus.com”. As the same writer put it in June, “Domain investors can’t will companies into using .si domains, or any TLD for that matter.”
.si domain registration: rules, prices and transfers
Registration is open. The general terms define the holder simply as “a natural or legal person”, with no residency requirement, and Dynadot states that “Anyone can register a .SI domain”. Names run from 2 to 63 characters, cannot start or end with a hyphen, and may use accented letters such as č, š and ž. A few are reserved, including 112.si, 113.si, si.si and rs.si. Registration is “first-come, first-served”, and terms run for “one, two, three, four or five years”.
The registry’s €10 annual wholesale charge comes from Domain Name Wire, as the registry’s tariff page could not be found. Retail prices on registrars’ own pages, checked 29 October 2026:
| Registrar | First year | Renewal | Transfer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dynadot | $11.49 | $11.49 | $0.00 |
| Namecheap | $12.88 (sale; normally $15.48) | $15.48 | $0.00 |
| Porkbun | $20.26 (sale; regular $23.70) | $17.38 (sale; regular $23.70) | $0.00 |
Watch the renewal column, because a portfolio pays it every year; the wider picture is in domain renewal price. Namecheap’s page also lists domain privacy as not supported for .si.
If a name is not renewed, it enters quarantine, which “may not last longer than 30 days”, and is then deleted and open to anyone. You can return a new name within 16 days, but not once it has been activated. Holders may change registrar using an authinfo code, or pass the name to a new holder; neither changes the registration period. One buyer’s check: a name in an ADR or court case “cannot be transferred to other Domain name holders or deleted”.
The rules can change. The registry must publish changes at least 30 days ahead, though “Urgent changes … may exceptionally enter into force in a shorter interval.” A Domain Name Wire podcast on 19 October said the registry is considering changes “to accommodate its newfound popularity”; nothing had been announced on register.si when checked 29 October.
Should you buy a .si domain name?
There are three honest reasons. You run a business called something that ends up in .si and want to keep it from someone else. You use a .ai name and want the .si version as a defensive forward, as the end users above did. Or you are speculating, knowingly, on a story that may or may not stick.
For speculation, Domain Name Wire’s caution applies: “Continued growth will depend a lot on whether anyone other than the U.S. government starts referring to AI as SI.” Nobody can say whether .si prices will hold, and most domains never sell at all. Before registering a brand-like name, run a domain trademark check. A rough sense of what drives value is in our Domain Worth Calculator, which maps a name to a value band, not a market appraisal.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to live in Slovenia to register a .si domain?
No. The registry’s terms define a holder as “a natural or legal person” with no residency rule, and registrars such as Dynadot and Porkbun say it is open worldwide.
How much does a .si domain cost?
Checked 29 October 2026: first year from $11.49 at Dynadot to $20.26 on sale at Porkbun, with renewals from $11.49 to $23.70 a year.
Are companies actually using .si for AI?
Little so far. Domain Name Wire found most buyers are investors, and the end-user buys it reported were mostly defensive, forwarding to an existing .ai.
How long can I register a .si for?
One to five years at a time, under the registry’s general terms, renewable.
The takeaway Treat .si as a speculative story with a few strong sales, not proven demand. Register for a real use or a defensive reason, budget for renewals, and if you would rather buy a name with registry age and an archive spam scan shown up front, browse aged domains on the SERPHeroes marketplace.
