.io is officially the extension for the British Indian Ocean Territory; in practice, however, it has become one of the best-known extensions in the tech world. With over a million registered names, it is now used as a general-purpose extension.

It owes its popularity to the fact that ‘I/O’ is the abbreviation for ‘input/output’ in computing. Start-ups, software companies, developer tools, SaaS services and open-source projects choose it because it is short, modern and immediately suggests a technological background.

Search engines treat it as a generic domain extension, so it is not at a disadvantage in the rankings compared to .com addresses. It is a good choice if the name you want is already taken under .com and you are targeting a tech-savvy audience.

You can read more about the background to this extension in our knowledge base article entitled ‘What is a .io domain?’.

.io domain prices

Extension	Registration	Transfer	Renewal
.io Sale	€44.10	€53.40	€58.10

Prices are quoted for one year and do not include VAT. The free transfer does not include a renewal; the fee for the paid transfer usually includes a one-year renewal. For extensions marked ‘Special Offer’, the registration fee is at a discounted rate; renewals are charged at the rates shown in the table.

How long will it take to be ready?

New domain registration

Registering .io domains is an automated process, so registration is virtually instantaneous; you can start using your new domain name within a few minutes of placing your order.

Domain transfer

To transfer your existing .io domain name to us, you’ll need to disable the transfer lock with your current registrar and obtain the authorisation (Auth) code for the domain. The transfer process usually takes a few days.

How many characters can it be?

The domain name extension in .io must be at least 2 characters long and no more than 63 characters long.

Special characters

The .io domain extension supports the following special characters:

æ ø å ä ö ü é á ð í ó ú ý þ ē ī ū ō ķ ļ ņ ŗ ģ š č ž ą ę į ų ė ć ł ń ś ż ź à è ï
ò ñ ő ű â ç ê ë î ô ù û ÿ œ ã õ ì

Restrictions

Anyone can register a .io domain name, regardless of nationality or place of business, and without any particular restrictions. Domain names are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

Whois privacy

The Whois privacy service is available to both individuals and companies, and hides some of the owner’s details in the public Whois database.