SIDN is the registry for .nl. That involves registering .nl domain names and making sure that they work. But we do other things as well. We share our knowledge and develop new services, for example. And we support initiatives aimed at making the internet better.
The price of a .nl domain name
As the registry for .nl, we set the basic price of a .nl domain name. That's currently €4.25 a year. The basic price is what your .nl registrar pays us for the services we provide to you: issuing the domain name, administration and assuring the domain name's technical functionality.
You register a domain name through a registrar
You can't register a domain name directly with us. It has to be done through a registrar or reseller. (You'll find a full list of .nl-registrars here.) Each registrar is free to decide what to charge their customers. Your registrar plays an important role in keeping your domain name working. And, in many cases, domain registration is part of a broader package of services, such as e-mail and website development and hosting.
SIDN invests in internet security and stability
Valuable and value-based domain
Some of the income we generate by selling .nl domain names goes on running the .nl domain and on researching and developing new technologies and systems that increase the stability and security of .nl, the Domain Name System (DNS) and the internet infrastructure. In addition, some of the money is spent on extra services for registrars, such as the Legal Help Desk and the SIDN Academy. Another part of the money is used to fund our incentive programme, through which registrars get discounts on domain name registrations if they support modern internet standards.
Investing in the internet community
Our research team SIDN Labs works to help the Dutch, European and global communities by contributing to improvement of the internet infrastructure's current and future reliability. Through SIDN Fund, we also invest in community initiatives that promote internet use and increase internet security. We additionally sponsor organisations and projects that promote digital skills, mitigate the internet's negative side-effects or contribute to internet-related innovation.
Development of community services
Finally, a portion of our income is used for the development of community services that increase resilience and awareness amongst internet users and businesses, thus promoting problem-free use of the internet. We're active in that field because we see the resilience and awareness of internet users and businesses as a social issue that isn't adequately addressed by others.
The diagram below shows how we divide our .nl income across the focus themes 'Valuable and value-based .nl domain' and 'Investment in the internet community'.
Of the €4.25 for each domain name, we spend €3.61 on the technical and administrative management of .nl and Registrar Scorecard incentives, €0.64 on activities of SIDN Labs and SIDN fund.
.nl is one of the most secure domains around
The .nl domain is one of the most secure domains in the world. One reason for that is the work that we and our registrars do to tackle botnets, malware, phishing, fake webshops and other threats. Another is our commitment to promoting the adoption of technologies that make the domain safer. Because of our collective efforts, internet abuse is clearly less common in .nl than in the vast majority of other top-level domains.
.nl is one of the cheapest domains around
The average basic price of other registries' domain names is about € 7 a year.
With a basic annual charge of €4,25, excluding VAT, the cost to a registrar of registering and retaining a .nl domain name on behalf of a registrant is very competitive. Indeed, it's significantly cheaper to register a domain name under .nl, one of the world's most secure domains, than under many other top-level domains, even though they are often less secure.
Because the cost of the goods and services we need rises year on year, and so do our personnel costs, we adjust our prices annually.