.com vs .shop — Which Domain Extension Should You Buy?
.com vs .shop compared on what actually costs you money: how many names are ready to buy in each extension on NameSale, what the typical one lists for, and what each renews at every year.
Live numbers from the NameSale catalogue, plus what each extension costs to keep. Figures as of 2026-10-26. Renewal figures are one registrar's public list prices (Porkbun, October 7, 2026); other registrars charge different amounts.
| .com | .shop | |
|---|---|---|
| Ready to buy now | 335 | 0 |
| Median price | $49 | — |
| Cheapest listing | $29 | — |
| Yearly renewal (per year after the included first year, at one registrar's list prices) | $11.08 | $31.41 |
| Five years of ownership (median price plus four years of renewal) | $93 | — |
What the numbers say
Only one of these is actually stocked right now: 335 .com names are ready to buy, while nothing in .shop has passed an availability check in the last seven days.
The difference that lasts is renewal. At one registrar's list prices, .shop renews at $31.41 a year against $11.08 for .com — $81 more over the first five years.
About .com
.com is a generic top-level domain. IANA lists VeriSign Global Registry Services as its sponsoring organization and records its registration date as January 1, 1985. Verisign operates the registry under an agreement with ICANN that bars it from acting as a registrar for .com, so names are registered through ICANN-accredited registrars.
Anyone may register a .com name, on a first-come, first-served basis. Under the registry agreement, a name can be registered or renewed for no more than ten years ahead at any one time, and registrars must apply the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) and ICANN's policy on transfers between registrars.
Sources: IANA root zone database, itp.cdn.icann.org, godaddy.com, icann.org
About .shop
The .shop extension is a generic top-level domain (gTLD). The IANA root zone database lists GMO Registry, Inc., with an address in Tokyo, as its sponsoring organization and records May 5, 2016 as its registration date. The registry's policy calls .shop a domain name for commerce, intended for online shops and offline retailers building an online presence.
That purpose is not an eligibility rule: the policy makes any natural person or entity eligible to register a .shop name, and after the launch phases names are allocated first-come, first-served. A name may be registered for one to ten years. The registry may reserve names, and it keeps a list of names that may be offered at a fee above the standard one or held back for later auction or sale.
Sources: IANA root zone database, gmoregistry.com
Some .com names ready to buy
- gleefest.com — $39
- ambleandbark.com — $49
- axleandroad.com — $49
- axlecrest.com — $49
- bakemeadow.com — $49
- barkandtrot.com — $49
- basilandember.com — $49
- beamandanvil.com — $49