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.com vs .io: which domain should you choose?

The universal default against the startup favourite. .com is cheaper in the first year, and over three years (SAR 156.84 against SAR 611.51).

.com and .io prices

From our current price list, in SAR. +VAT 5% where applicable. The order form always shows the price before you pay.

.com and .io prices in SAR; the lower price in each row is marked.
Price.com.io
First year SAR 52.28LowerSAR 130.01
Renews at (per year) SAR 52.28LowerSAR 240.75
Transfer inUsually adds a year to the registration. SAR 52.28LowerSAR 240.75
3 years in totalFirst year plus two renewals. SAR 156.84LowerSAR 611.51
Price rise after year one None+85%

Who each one suits

.comGeneric

The original commercial extension (1985) and the one people type by default.

Run by
Verisign
Who can register
Anyone, anywhere, for any purpose.
Best for
startup or SaaS product, local business, tech or developer project, online shop, personal brand or portfolio
Costs
SAR 52.28 first year, then SAR 52.28 a year

.com details and search

.ioCountry code

A country code adopted worldwide by tech startups, developer tools and SaaS.

Run by
The registry of the British Indian Ocean Territory
Who can register
Anyone, with no local presence needed.
Best for
startup or SaaS product, tech or developer project
Costs
SAR 130.01 first year, then SAR 240.75 a year

.io details and search

Registry rules and restrictions

What applies before and after you register. We confirm anything special before you pay.

.com

  • Anyone, anywhere, for any purpose.
  • No HTTPS requirement from the registry, but every site should still use SSL.

.io

  • Anyone, with no local presence needed.
  • The territory’s status is changing after the 2024 UK–Mauritius agreement on the Chagos Islands; .io registrations continue to work normally today, but some owners keep a second extension as a fallback.
  • No HTTPS requirement from the registry, but every site should still use SSL.

SEO: does the extension matter?

Short answer: not for rankings. Content, links and site speed decide where you rank; the extension mostly affects trust, memorability and which country search engines assume you serve.

.com

A generic extension: no ranking advantage or penalty on its own. Search engines rank the content and the links, and let you target any country.

.io

A country code that Google treats as generic, like .com: it is not tied to one country in search results and gives no ranking boost on its own.

Myth check: no extension gets a hidden ranking bonus, and keyword extensions (like .shop or .tech) do not rank better for that keyword. Switching an established site to a new extension costs time while search engines re-learn it, so choose well up front.

Our verdict, by kind of site

Based on what each extension signals to visitors and its three-year cost at today’s prices.

  • Startup or SaaS product.comBoth fit equally well; .com costs less over three years at today’s prices.
  • Local business.com.com is what local customers expect; .io reads as less local.
  • Tech or developer project.comBoth fit equally well; .com costs less over three years at today’s prices.
  • Online shop.com.com tells shoppers they can buy here or is the address they trust most; .io fits a shop less naturally.
  • Non-profit or community.com.com is the better fit for an organisation or community; .io reads as more commercial or technical.
  • Personal brand or portfolio.com.com reads naturally as a personal name or portfolio; .io is less personal.

.com vs .io: questions and answers

.com is cheaper in the first year (.com SAR 52.28, .io SAR 130.01). Renewals are SAR 52.28 and SAR 240.75 a year, so three years cost SAR 156.84 for .com and SAR 611.51 for .io, in SAR before VAT where it applies.

Got the name? Register it in .com or .io

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