.us Domains: Renewal Cost, Nexus Rules & Lifecycle
.us is the United States' country-code TLD — cheap to hold, run under contract with the US Department of Commerce, and carrying two policy rules that surprise investors: you must have a US nexus to register, and WHOIS privacy is prohibited.
Both rules shape who uses the extension and how you should hold it.
- Registry operator
- Registry Services, LLC (GoDaddy Registry), under contract with the US Dept. of Commerce (NTIA)
- Type
- ccTLD (United States)
- Typical annual renewal
- Typically $8-$12/yr at most registrars
- Minimum registration
- 1 year
- Redemption / grace
- gTLD-style: registrar grace, ~30-day redemption, then pending delete
- RDAP / WHOIS
- Yes — and registrant data is public; WHOIS privacy is not permitted
What .us is and who uses it
The usTLD is administered under a contract awarded by the NTIA, currently held by GoDaddy Registry (Registry Services, LLC), which took over from Neustar's registry business. Registrants must satisfy the US nexus requirement: US citizens or residents, US-incorporated entities, or foreign organizations with a bona fide US presence. Enforcement is complaint-driven but real — non-compliant names can be taken down.
Usage skews toward small local businesses, government-adjacent projects, and short campaign or utility domains. It never achieved .com-level cultural adoption, which keeps both prices and aftermarket expectations modest.
Renewal costs
.us is one of the cheapest TLDs to hold: typically $8-$12 per year at most registrars, with frequent promotions below that. There are no meaningful premium renewal tiers on standard names.
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The no-privacy rule
usTLD policy prohibits WHOIS privacy and proxy services on .us names. Your registrant name and contact details are published in the public registration data. For businesses this is usually acceptable; for individual investors it means your .us holdings are trivially attributable to you. Registering .us behind a privacy service violates policy and risks the name.
What happens when a .us domain expires
.us follows a gTLD-style lifecycle in practice: a registrar auto-renew grace window at the normal renewal price, a redemption phase of around 30 days with a restore fee, then a short pending-delete stage before release. Expiry auctions and drop-catching exist but competition is light — expired .us names with value are among the easier catches in the major extensions.
Transfer rules and gotchas
- •Standard EPP transfers; nexus attestation carries to the new registrar.
- •No privacy means transfer-related WHOIS changes are publicly visible.
- •If your nexus basis changes (e.g., a foreign entity closes its US operations), the registration becomes challengeable.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a .us domain cost to renew?
Typically $8-$12 per year at most registrars, making .us one of the cheapest major extensions to hold. Promotional first-year pricing is often lower still.
Can anyone register a .us domain?
No. The US nexus requirement restricts .us to US citizens and residents, US entities, and foreign organizations with a bona fide US presence. Registrations that fail the requirement can be challenged and cancelled.
Can I use WHOIS privacy on a .us domain?
No. usTLD policy prohibits privacy and proxy registration, so registrant contact data on .us names is public. Using a privacy service anyway violates policy and puts the registration at risk.
What happens when a .us domain expires?
A registrar grace window at normal renewal pricing, then a roughly 30-day redemption period with a restore fee, then pending delete and the drop. Drop-catch competition on .us is light compared with .com.