You found the perfect name. Now there's a dropdown asking .com or .net or .org or .io. Suddenly a five-second decision feels permanent.
It kind of is. Changing your extension later means rebuilding links, redirects and brand recognition. So it's worth getting right the first time.
Here's the short version: .com unless you have a real reason not to. The longer version, with prices and the cases where another extension genuinely wins, is below.
The quick answer
If the .com is available and affordable, buy it. It's what people type, trust and remember. Every other extension is fighting that habit.
You reach for .net, .org or .io only when .com is taken, too expensive, or the wrong signal for what you're building. Those cases are real, just less common than the internet makes them feel.
What each one costs in 2026
Price matters, because the gap is bigger than people expect. Here's the cheapest new-registration price we track for each.
A .com starts at $2.90. A .net or .org runs about $5. A .io is $14.98, roughly five times a .com and it usually renews higher too. That price gap should factor into your choice, especially if you're registering several names.
Want the live number for any extension across 148+ registrars? Run it through the price comparison tool.
| Extension | From (new) | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| .com | $2.90 | Almost everything: business, brand, default choice | Good names often taken |
| .net | $5.00 | Tech, networks, apps when .com is gone | People still type .com by habit |
| .org | $5.00 | Nonprofits, communities, open-source, trust | Reads odd for a for-profit store |
| .io | $14.98 | Startups, SaaS, dev tools, short names | 5x the price, higher renewals |
"From" shows the cheapest new-registration price across the registrars we track (May 2026). Renewals differ by registrar and are usually higher than the first year. Check the live price before you buy.
.com: the default that's almost always right
The .com is the most recognized extension on earth. When someone hears your brand, their fingers type .com without thinking. That muscle memory is worth more than any clever alternative.
At $2.90 to start, it's also the cheapest of the four. The only real downside is availability. The best short .com names went years ago, so you may need to get creative with the name itself rather than settle for a different extension.
For a business, a brand, a personal site, or anything you want taken seriously, .com is the safe call. Don't overthink it.
.net: the tech-flavored backup
The .net started life for network providers and still carries a technical feel. It's the most natural fallback when your .com is taken, especially for apps, tools and infrastructure projects.
The catch is habit. Even with a .net, a chunk of your visitors will type .com out of reflex and land on whoever owns it. If that .com is parked or owned by a competitor, you're sending them traffic. Worth checking who holds the matching .com before you commit.
.org: trust and community
The .org signals mission over money. Nonprofits, open-source projects, foundations and member communities use it to say they're not just another store. That trust is real and it's earned by decades of association.
Which is also the catch. On a for-profit ecommerce site, .org can read slightly off, like you picked it to seem more credible than you are. Match the extension to what you actually do. At $5 to start, it's priced the same as .net.
.io: the startup status symbol
The .io became the unofficial extension of startups and SaaS. It's short, it looks technical and “input/output” reads as a nod to developers. For a dev tool or a young tech company, it fits the audience.
But you pay for the look. At $14.98 it's about five times a .com and renewals run higher year after year. There's also a quieter point: .io is a country-code domain (British Indian Ocean Territory), so its long-term governance isn't as settled as .com. For a quick startup play it's fine. For a 20-year brand, think harder.
How to actually decide
Run through these in order and you'll land on the right one.
- Is the .com free and affordable? Buy it. Stop here.
- Is it a nonprofit or community? .org, even if the .com is open.
- Is it a tech or network product and the .com is taken? .net is the clean fallback.
- Are you a startup that wants the developer look and the budget's fine? .io, with eyes open on price.
- Still stuck? Change the name before you change the extension. A great name on a worse extension loses to a good name on .com.
Check what's actually available on Search Domain, then compare extension prices side by side with the price comparison tool. If you've settled on .com, our guide to the cheapest .com registrars in 2026 shows where to buy it. The Namecheap vs GoDaddy vs Spaceship vs Porkbun breakdown compares the big registrars head to head.
The short version
Buy the .com if you can. It's the cheapest at $2.90 and the one everyone trusts. Use .org for nonprofits and communities, .net as a tech fallback when the .com is gone, plus .io only if you're a startup happy to pay 5x for the look.
The extension matters less than the name and far less than what you build on it. Pick a sensible one, then go make something worth visiting.