price cap: definition

A price cap is a contract clause that limits a registry’s wholesale price, the price it charges registrar A company that registers domain names for customers with the registry. Full definition of registrar, and how fast that price may rise. As of October 2026, .com and .net have one. Registries on ICANN’s standard contract must give notice before raising prices, but the contract does not limit how high they go.

What a price cap is

A cap applies to the price per domain year A unit of sales: one domain registered or renewed for one year. Full definition of domain year that registrars pay, not to retail price What a customer pays a registrar or reseller for a domain name. Full definition of retail price: ICANN tells registrant The person or organization that holds a domain name registration. Full definition of registrant that each registrar sets its own prices.

ICANN’s Registry Agreement The contract between ICANN and a gTLD registry operator. Full definition of Registry Agreement has no cap. Every new gTLD uses it, and so do .org, .info and .biz since their renewal Paying to extend a domain registration for more time. Full definition of renewal of 30 June 2019.

How .com pricing is limited

Two documents limit the .com price: Verisign The company that operates the .com and .net registries. Full definition of Verisign’s Registry Agreement with ICANN, and the Cooperative Agreement The agreement between Verisign and the United States government that limits .com price rises. Full definition of Cooperative Agreement between Verisign and the United States Department of Commerce. ICANN is not a party to the Cooperative Agreement. It says it “is not a price regulator” and defers on .com pricing The contract rules that cap how fast Verisign can raise the .com wholesale price. Full definition of .com pricing to the Department of Commerce and the Department of Justice.

In 2012, Amendment 32 of the Cooperative Agreement froze the price at US$7.85.
Amendment 35, signed on 26 October 2018, allowed rises of up to 7 % a year in the last four years of each six-year period, the first starting that day. It ran the Cooperative Agreement through 30 November 2024, then in automatic six-year terms unless the Department of Commerce gives notice of non-renewal at least 120 days before a term ends.
ICANN’s .com contract was amended to match on 27 March 2020.
The .com Registry Agreement effective 1 December 2024 kept the rule. As of October 2026, it runs to 30 November 2030, with renewal.

As of October 2026, Pricing Years run from 26 October to 25 October. In each of the last four of every six-year period, the maximum may rise to 1.07 times the lower of last year’s maximum and last year’s highest actual price. ICANN’s per-name fee sits outside the cap. Verisign must charge every registrar the same price and give at least six months’ notice of an increase.

A worked example

On 23 April 2026, Verisign notified ICANN that the .com fee would rise from US$10.26 to US$10.97 per domain year on 1 November 2026: within the limit (10.26 × 1.07 = 10.978), and with more than six months’ notice. As of October 2026, the rise is scheduled, not yet in force. A registrar renewing example.com for one year after that date pays Verisign US$10.97, plus ICANN’s per-name fees.

As of October 2026, the .net cap works differently: the registry’s service fee may rise by up to 10 % a year, plus an ICANN fee of US$0.75, with six months’ notice. The schedule effective 1 February 2024 set US$10.91 plus US$0.75; the one effective 1 March 2027 sets US$12.00 plus US$0.75 (US$12.75).

The .org cap removal and its aftermath

The 2013 .org contract capped the price at US$8.25 through 2013, then allowed rises of at most 10 % a year.

In 2019, ICANN proposed renewing .org on the base agreement without a cap, citing the “maturation of the domain name A readable internet name made of labels separated by dots. Full definition of domain name market” and equal treatment with other registries. .info and .biz lost their caps too, as six legacy TLDs had in earlier renewals. public comment An open period when anyone can comment on ICANN drafts. Full definition of public comment, from 18 March to 29 April 2019, drew over 3,200 submissions on .org, where the cap removal was a primary concern, and over 500 on .info.

On 13 November 2019, PIR Public Interest Registry The nonprofit registry operator of .org. Full definition of PIR (PIR), the .org operator, announced that the ISOC Internet Society A global nonprofit that supports the open internet and is the parent of the .org registry. Full definition of ISOC (ISOC) had agreed to sell it to Ethos Capital. Pricing was one of three main concerns raised, and PIR offered a commitment to restrict price increases until June 2027. On 30 April 2020, the ICANN Board ICANN's board of directors, which adopts policies and approves key decisions. Full definition of ICANN Board directed ICANN to withhold consent, rejecting the change of control. As of October 2026, ICANN lists PIR as the .org operator.

Uniform renewal pricing and notice of increases

Under the 2026 base Registry Agreement, as of October 2026, registrars get at least 30 days’ notice of a higher price for new registrations Domains newly created in a period, also called adds or creates. Full definition of new registrations and 180 days for a higher renewal price The yearly price to keep a domain, often higher than the first-year price. Full definition of renewal price, or 30 days if it does not exceed a price noticed in the previous 12 months. Ending a discount counts as an increase, unless a discount on new registrations was clearly disclosed as temporary. Before an increase, registrars may renew names for one to ten years at the current price.

uniform renewal pricing The rule that a gTLD registry must charge one renewal price for all names, with some exceptions. Full definition of uniform renewal pricing means every renewal in a TLD top-level domain The last part of a domain name, after the final dot. Full definition of TLD costs the same. The exceptions are a higher renewal price the registrant expressly accepted at registration Obtaining the right to use a domain name for a set period. Full definition of registration, after clear disclosure, and a marketing program of at most 180 days open to all registrars. The rule stops a registry singling out one name; it does not stop it raising the price of all names.

The .com and .net contracts require “no less than six months” of notice instead. The .com contract also lets registrars register or renew for up to ten years at the price in effect; the .net contract only requires registrations of up to ten years.

What registrants can do about price rises

The contracts give registrants time and information, not a fixed price:

Notice periods usually leave time to renew for up to ten years at the current price.
Each registrar sets its renewal price and must show it on its own and its reseller A business that sells domains using another registrar's accreditation. Full definition of reseller’ websites.
ICANN publishes registry fee notices on each TLD’s agreement page.
Proposed contract changes go to public comment, as .org’s did in 2019.

Moving to another TLD has its own costs for an established site: commenters in 2019 listed notifying clients, reprinting materials, updating databases and reconfiguring services. This page describes the contracts; it is not legal advice.

price cap