.com Price Increase and .net in March 2027: We Checked 136 Egyptian Business Sites, Plus a 7-Step Cost Plan
Short answer: The .com registry fee rose from $10.26 to $10.97 per year from 1 November 2026, and the .net fee rises from $10.91 to $12.00 on 1 March 2027. At the Central Bank of Egypt rate, that is roughly EGP 40 and EGP 61 extra per domain per year. The increase itself is small, but our check of 136 Egyptian commercial websites under .eg revealed a bigger problem: 58.1% of the matching .com domains expire within 12 months, and the names are spread across 45 different registrars. The practical fix is to audit and consolidate your portfolio and renew .net before March 2027, following a 7-step plan.
The .com price increase this season is the first change since September 2024, .net follows four months later, and the launch of the .web extension starts in December 2026. For any company, clinic or online store in Egypt that holds its brand under .com.eg or .eg and protects the same name under .com and .net, this is not just registrar news. It is a yearly cost line tied to the US dollar, and an opportunity to review who actually owns your domains and when they expire.
What changed with the .com price increase and .net fees?
According to the .com fee schedule published by ICANN, Verisign's fee for each year of a new registration, renewal or transfer of a .com domain became $10.97 instead of $10.26, effective 1 November 2026 at 04:00 UTC (06:00 Cairo time, UTC+2). This is the first increase since September 2024, and the contractual framework allows increases of up to 7% in four out of every six years.
On 27 August 2026 Verisign notified ICANN of a .net increase. The .net fee schedule sets $12.00 per year from 1 March 2027 at 05:00 UTC, plus an ICANN fee of $0.75, for a registry-level total of $12.75.
| Extension | Previous fee | New fee | Effective date | Increase per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| .com | $10.26 | $10.97 | 1 November 2026 | $0.71 (about 6.9%) |
| .net | $10.91 | $12.00 | 1 March 2027 | $1.09 (about 10%) |
The registry fee is the amount an accredited registrar pays the registry for each year; it is not the price on your invoice. On top of it come ICANN's registrar fee of $0.20 per transaction-year, the registrar's or reseller's margin, and then taxes and currency conversion costs.
How much is the increase in Egyptian pounds?
We used the US dollar selling rate published by the Central Bank of Egypt on 29 October 2026, EGP 56.1234, to convert registry fees only:
- .com fee: from about EGP 575.83 to about EGP 615.67 per year, an increase of EGP 39.85.
- .net fee: from about EGP 612.31 to about EGP 673.48 per year, an increase of EGP 61.17.
- A portfolio of 10 .com and 10 .net domains: an increase of $18 per year, about EGP 1,010 at registry-fee level.
- A 10-year .com renewal: the difference between old and new fees reaches $7.10, about EGP 398.
These figures are an illustrative floor, not retail prices. Your company's real cost depends on registrar pricing, whether you pay by card or transfer, and the exchange rate on the payment day. The conclusion is still clear: the increase per domain is small, and the real loss comes from a domain that expires without renewal or is registered with a party management does not know.
What did we find when checking 136 Egyptian commercial websites?
On 31 October 2026 we checked every .eg domain in the Tranco list of popular websites: 332 domains representing 325 unique names. We then queried Verisign's official RDAP service for the same name under .com and .net. We focused on 136 commercial names (90 under .com.eg and 46 directly under .eg). The results:
- The matching .com is registered in 136 of 136 cases (100%), and the matching .net in 121 cases (89.0%). The matching name is always taken, whether by the company itself or by someone else.
- 79 of 136 .com domains (58.1%) expire within 12 months, so they will renew at the new fee, while only 33 (24.3%) are paid up for more than two years.
- The matching .com domains are spread across 45 different registrars; the largest is GoDaddy with 30 domains (22.1%), and another 30 sit with registrars specialised in brand protection.
- The .com and .net for the same name are at the same registrar in only 34 of 121 cases (28.1%).
- 10 of 136 .com domains (7.4%) have no clientTransferProhibited lock, and only 7 (5.1%) are signed with DNSSEC.
- Name servers are identical between the .eg domain and the matching .com in 15 of 133 checkable cases (11.3%).
| Indicator | Result | What it means for your company |
|---|---|---|
| Matching .com registered | 136 of 136 | The matching name is always taken, so make sure it is in your company's name |
| Expires within 12 months | 79 (58.1%) | Yearly renewal is the norm, and cost follows the dollar every year |
| Number of registrars | 45 registrars | Fragmented portfolios with hard-to-track dates and invoices |
| .com and .net at the same registrar | 34 of 121 (28.1%) | Two or more accounts per brand, with different passwords and alert emails |
| No transfer lock | 10 (7.4%) | Risk of an unauthorised transfer |
RDAP does not reveal the owner's identity, so we cannot say that every matching .com is owned by the same Egyptian company. But identical name servers in only 11.3% of cases means most companies, if they own both names, manage them in two separate places.
.web is coming: what does it mean for .com holders?
On 22 October 2026 Verisign said, according to Domain Name Wire, that it will start a Sunrise period for registered trademark holders in mid-December 2026, followed by a limited registration period from mid-January 2027 that could run until April, during which most .com registrants will be able to get the matching .web name, and then general availability. The company has not yet set pricing for the limited phase.
In practice, a .com you hold in your company's name, in an account you control, may become your priority key for .web. If the domain is registered to a former employee or an agency, you may miss that chance.
A 7-step plan to control your domain portfolio cost
- Inventory every domain: .com.eg, .eg, .com, .net and any other extension, with expiry date, registrar and account holder.
- Verify ownership: the registrant must be the company, and the contact email a corporate address not tied to one person.
- Consolidate registrars: move scattered domains into one corporate account, or two at most, after comparing renewal prices rather than first-year prices.
- Renew .net before 1 March 2027: a multi-year renewal before the date locks the current fee for the years paid; 96 of 121 .net domains in our sample (79.3%) expire after that date.
- Enable transfer lock and DNSSEC on core domains, and two-factor authentication on the registrar account.
- Decide on .web before mid-January 2027: does the name matter to your brand, and who will follow the limited registration period?
- Budget in EGP: calculate yearly cost at the current exchange rate with a safety margin, and set a reminder 60 days before each expiry.
A domain portfolio is a digital asset of the company, and a company that does not know where its domains are and when they expire pays far more than the increase itself the first time a domain is lost.
How Smart One Group can help
At Smart One Group we manage Egyptian companies' domains through our domains service: portfolio audits, moving domains into the company's ownership, and consolidating renewals into one EGP invoice. We connect this with hosting and support contracts so no domain or certificate expires unnoticed. For the rules on proving domain ownership, see our guide to company domain ownership and ICANN transfer rules, and for the security of the Egyptian extension see our DNSSEC guide for .eg domains. If you want your portfolio reviewed before March 2027, contact us.
Frequently asked questions
Has the .com price really gone up?
Yes. The .com registry fee has been $10.97 per year of registration, renewal or transfer since 1 November 2026, up from $10.26. The final price varies by registrar.
When do .net prices go up?
On 1 March 2027 at 05:00 UTC, from $10.91 to $12.00 per year, plus an ICANN fee of $0.75 according to the published fee schedule.
Does renewing for several years now save money?
For .net, usually yes, because years paid before 1 March 2027 are charged at the current registry fee. The maximum registration term is ten years, and you should always compare your registrar's renewal price.
Does the price of .com.eg or .eg change?
No. Verisign's increases apply only to .com and .net; .eg domains have a separate registry and pricing. A company holding both extensions will still feel the increase in its total portfolio cost.
What is .web and when can I register it?
.web is a new generic extension operated by Verisign. A Sunrise period for trademark holders starts in mid-December 2026, then a limited registration period from mid-January 2027 for most .com holders, then general availability.
How do I know who owns my company's domain?
Ask your registrar for the registrant details and contact email, or check the domain via RDAP to see the registrar and expiry date. If the registrant is a person or an agency, start transferring it into the company's name.
Methodology: queries to Verisign's RDAP service on 31 October 2026 for the matching .com and .net name of every .eg domain in Tranco list 262N9, with name server comparison via DNS-over-HTTPS. RDAP does not reveal owner identity, the sample does not represent all Egyptian companies, and we name no individual websites.
