Verisign has confirmed that .com wholesale pricing will increase again on November 1, 2026.
For registrars, resellers and hosting providers, this is another reminder that .com pricing continues to be shaped at registry level, requiring the wider channel to adapt and plan ahead together.
The increase itself is not unexpected. Instead, it continues a pricing cycle the market has become familiar with over the past few years: periodic wholesale adjustments that providers need to manage through pricing strategy, renewals and customer communication.
Verisign increased .com wholesale pricing by 7% in:
2025 was a flat year without a standard increase. With the next adjustment scheduled for November 1, 2026, the current pattern now continues.
The pricing structure behind this follows Verisign’s existing agreement, which allows .com prices to increase by up to 7% in each of the final four years of every six-year cycle. In practice, this generally creates two quieter years followed by four years in which increases are permitted.
For registrars and resellers, .com remains one of the market’s most established and widely recognised domain extensions. At the same time, wholesale pricing is determined at registry level, meaning every increase encourages providers to review how they approach margins, renewals, bundled services and customer retention strategies.
While pricing adjustments can create pressure across the channel, they also provide an opportunity to review commercial positioning, strengthen customer relationships and take a more proactive approach to portfolio management.
The industry should now expect continued upward pressure on .com wholesale pricing over the coming years. Following the November 1, 2026 increase, Verisign is expected to have room for additional increases during 2027, 2028 and 2029, potentially up to 7% per year if its contractual rights are fully exercised.
For registrants, multi-year renewals remain one of the more practical ways to reduce exposure to future price increases. Securing renewals ahead of announced pricing changes has increasingly become a straightforward cost-management approach, particularly for businesses managing larger .com portfolios.
It is also important to remember that .com domains typically move through multiple layers before reaching the end customer. The supply chain may include the registry, registrar, reseller and sometimes even sub-resellers, with each layer managing its own operational costs, margins and pricing structures.
Because of this, a 7% registry-level increase does not always result in a direct 7% increase for the registrant. Depending on the provider structure, the final impact may vary as pricing, margins and support costs are recalculated throughout the channel.
For domain sellers, this makes proactive repricing and transparent customer communication increasingly important. For registrants, it reinforces the value of securing important .com domains for multiple years ahead of expected pricing increases.
As always, preparing early and communicating clearly with customers can help partners navigate these recurring pricing cycles with greater confidence and predictability.