.shop vs .store — Which Domain Extension Should You Buy?
.shop vs .store 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.
| .shop | .store | |
|---|---|---|
| Ready to buy now | 0 | 0 |
| Yearly renewal (per year after the included first year, at one registrar's list prices) | $31.41 | $43.77 |
What the numbers say
Neither .shop nor .store has a name that has passed an availability check in the last seven days, so there is nothing in either extension to buy here today.
The difference that lasts is renewal. At one registrar's list prices, .store renews at $43.77 a year against $31.41 for .shop — $49 more over the first five years.
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
About .store
The .store extension is a generic top-level domain (gTLD). The IANA root zone database lists Radix Technologies Inc., with an address in the Cayman Islands, as its sponsoring organization and records February 11, 2016 as its registration date.
Radix's launch policy, which applies to every top-level domain Radix operates, states that after the launch phases any interested party may register an available name on a first-come, first-served basis. Under its reserved names policy, Radix may reserve names from registration at any time. The launch policy also places some names in price categories called pricing tiers. Each tier may carry its own price for registration, transfer, redemption and renewal, and Radix may move names that are still available from one tier to another.
Sources: IANA root zone database, radix.website