.com
the default generic extension most users type from habit, useful to hold alongside or instead of .co for the same name
Domains / Country-code top-level domain
.co domain: who runs it and who can register
.co is the country-code domain for Colombia, delegated by IANA in 1991 but reopened for worldwide registration in 2010. Since then it has traded on its resemblance to the words company and corporation, and is used globally by startups and brands as an alternative to .com rather than as a marker of Colombian identity.
Facts reviewed 2026-09-12Prices checked 2026-11-01
.co at a glance
Anyone can register a .co domain with no residency or paperwork requirement, through any accredited registrar. Day-to-day registry operations moved to CentralNic Ltd in October 2025 under Colombia's MinTIC. Check your registrar's own term limits and renewal costs before buying, since published policies on maximum registration length conflict.
- Registry / delegated manager
- IANA lists the Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies (MinTIC) of Colombia as the ccTLD manager. Day-to-day registry operations are run by an appointed operator, currently CentralNic Ltd (a Team Internet Group subsidiary) since 3 October 2025, per the official registry site.
- Type
- Country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) assigned to Colombia, but operated as an open, unrestricted namespace at the second level.
- Delegated (IANA record date, not a commercial launch date)
- 1991-12-24 (IANA registration date). Worldwide open registration under .co began in 2010, well after this IANA record date.
- Who can register
- Anyone worldwide, with no domicile, residency or documentation requirements, for .co, .com.co, .net.co and .nom.co. Certain third-level domains such as .gov.co, .edu.co and .mil.co are restricted to qualifying Colombian entities.
- Maximum term
- Conflicting reports: one registrar guide states the total registered term (including renewals) cannot exceed 5 years, while another registrar's info page lists a 1-year maximum registration period.
- Premium names
- Third-party marketplaces reference premium/aftermarket .co names, but no source we checked confirms an official registry premium-name programme or pricing tier.
verified against the linked source not verified, not inferred from another extension sources disagree
Compare .co prices
| Provider | Registration | Renewal | Transfer |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenproviderNon-member prices | $39.981 year totalChecked 2026-11-01 | $46.981 year totalChecked 2026-11-01 | $39.98Transfer fee · confirm termChecked 2026-11-01 |
| AI VikingsPublic price list | $20.781 year totalChecked 2026-11-01 · source 2026-11-01 | $41.75Listed price · confirm termChecked 2026-11-01 · source 2026-11-01 | $34.95Transfer fee · confirm termChecked 2026-11-01 · source 2026-11-01 |
| PorkbunPublic API prices | $15.761 year totalChecked 2026-11-01 | $31.201 year totalChecked 2026-11-01 | $31.20Transfer fee · confirm termChecked 2026-11-01 |
| Name.comPublic retail prices | $29.991 year totalChecked 2026-11-01 | $44.991 year totalChecked 2026-11-01 | $44.99Transfer fee · confirm termChecked 2026-11-01 |
| DynadotRegular account prices | Check providerNo current public quote | Check providerNo current public quote | Check providerNo current public quote |
| AtomPublic retail prices | $16.201 year totalChecked 2026-11-01 | $32.401 year totalChecked 2026-11-01 | $32.40Transfer fee · confirm termChecked 2026-11-01 |
| CloudflareAt-cost registry prices | $30.001 year totalChecked 2026-11-01 | $30.001 year totalChecked 2026-11-01 | Check providerNo current public quote |
| GoDaddyPublic retail prices | Check providerNo current public quote | Check providerNo current public quote | Check providerNo current public quote |
Advertised prices for standard names, not an availability check. USD as published; taxes and final fees are confirmed at the provider. How we compare All 61 extensions
Who runs .co?
- Policy authorityMinistry of Information and Communications Technologies (MinTIC)Sets the rules the registry and registrars follow
- Registry for .coCentralNic LtdDelegated manager: Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies (MinTIC) · Owned by Team Internet Group · Backend: CentralNic
- RegistrarsOpenprovider, AI Vikings, Porkbun, Name.com, Dynadot, Atom, Cloudflare, GoDaddy and othersSell registrations and pass the wholesale fee to the registry
- RegistrantYouHold the individual name for the term you have paid for
IANA's delegation record lists the Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies (MinTIC) of Colombia as the ccTLD manager. That's the body with policy authority over .co. The actual grunt work, running the database and keeping name servers up, is contracted out. Since 3 October 2025 that job has belonged to CentralNic Ltd, a subsidiary of Team Internet Group. CentralNic is also named as the technical contact in the IANA record, so one company covers both the operator role and the backend infrastructure.
That's a change from how things ran before. From 2014, .CO Internet S.A.S. operated as a Neustar subsidiary. Management passed formally to MinTIC in 2020, and the day-to-day operations were later handed to CentralNic.
Three layers make up the whole setup. The registry, MinTIC holding policy and CentralNic running operations, sets the rules and keeps the authoritative database of every .co domain, published via WHOIS at whois.registry.co. Registrars, companies such as GoDaddy, Namecheap or EuroDNS, are the accredited sellers who handle the public-facing side: billing, DNS, support. The registrant is simply whoever holds the registration contract, the buyer. Your actual relationship, and your invoice, sits with the registrar. The registry only steps in for policy matters like disputes or restricted third-level names.
- Delegated managerMinistry of Information and Communications Technologies (MinTIC)Listed by IANA as the ccTLD manager for .co, responsible for policy and administrative oversight of the Colombian country-code domain. source
- Registry operatorCentralNic LtdAppointed by MinTIC to handle day-to-day registry operations for .co, stated to be in this role from 3 October 2025. source
- Corporate parentTeam Internet GroupParent company of CentralNic Ltd, the entity currently running .co registry operations. source
- Technical backendCentralNicListed as the technical contact organisation in the IANA delegation record, providing name server and technical operations for .co. source
- Policy authorityMinistry of Information and Communications Technologies (MinTIC)Confirmed by IANA report as the entity to which management of .co was transferred in 2020, exercising regulatory and policy supervision over the TLD. source
What changed, and when
- IANA registration date recorded for the .co domain (not a commercial launch date). source
- Second-level .co domains became available worldwide on a first-come, first-served basis, with no registration restrictions. source
- .CO Internet S.A.S. was acquired by Neustar for approximately US$109 million and became a wholly owned subsidiary responsible for .co promotion, administration and technical operation. source
- CentralNic Ltd, a subsidiary of Team Internet Group, became the appointed registry operator handling day-to-day management of .co under MinTIC's oversight. source
Who can register .co, and what are the rules?
Anyone, anywhere can register a .co domain. No domicile requirement, no residency check, and that goes for the parallel .com.co, .net.co and .nom.co spaces too, according to GoDaddy's registrar guidance. You don't submit documentation and you don't need to prove local presence, which is odd for a ccTLD. It's a big part of why .co gets marketed as a global domain rather than something strictly Colombian.
The restrictions that do exist sit one level down. Names like .gov.co, .edu.co and .mil.co are reserved for qualifying Colombian government, education and military bodies, and have to go through a locally authorised registrar rather than a standard reseller.
Term limits are murkier. One registrar guide says a 1 year minimum registration with renewals stacking up to a 5 year total. Another lists a flat 1 year maximum. The sources we checked do not settle this, so check the actual limit with your registrar before you commit to a multi-year renewal plan.
Renewing, transferring and expiring a .co name
Transfers work the way they do everywhere else: unlock the domain, grab an authorisation code from the losing registrar, confirm the move with the new one. One registrar's .co rules page mentions a 60-day lock applied once a transfer completes, and bulk transfers aren't supported here. Registrar-set locks such as clientTransferProhibited behave exactly as you'd expect.
Minimum registration is one year, and you can renew in one-year increments whenever you like, per EuroDNS. The maximum term is murkier: one reseller guide claims the total registered term can't exceed five years, while a registrar's own listing caps registration at one year. The sources don't agree, so this one stays unresolved.
Once a .co domain expires, a support article specific to the extension describes a 15-day redemption grace period, followed by five days in pending-delete status before the name is released back into the pool. If you restore a domain, it sits under a five-day hold where no changes are allowed. None of the sources checked for this piece confirm an actual redemption or restore fee for .co, so no figure is quoted here.
Is .co right for this project?
Three situations come up most often when someone is deciding whether to buy a .co name.
A startup whose ideal .com is taken. "Co" reads naturally as shorthand for company, so a matching .co can work as a primary domain, especially for a product name people already say out loud. The catch is habit: plenty of visitors will type .com no matter what you actually own. This only works if you also grab the .com through redirects or a later purchase, or you make the .co spelling impossible to miss in your marketing.
A business with an actual Colombian connection. Plain .co won't signal that connection to anyone. It has been open and unrestricted worldwide since 2010, so registering it says nothing about where you're based. If the Colombian tie actually matters for credibility, look at the third-level options such as .com.co instead, and note these come with their own registrar-specific requirements separate from ordinary .co registration.
An individual or side project choosing .co mainly on price or availability. Registration and renewal pricing sits above budget extensions at most registrars, for example around €60 a year at EuroDNS. Compare the total cost against alternatives rather than assuming .co is the cheap option by default. And because the maximum-term question mentioned above still isn't settled, check directly with your chosen registrar before locking in a multi-year registration.
None of this makes .co a better or worse technical choice than any other open extension. It comes down to audience expectations and cost, not the domain's standing with search engines or browsers.
.co alternatives
.io
another ccTLD repurposed as an open, unrestricted namespace, but associated more specifically with tech and startup audiences
.me
open worldwide like .co but read as personal branding rather than a company abbreviation
.app
a gTLD restricted to HTTPS by registry policy, suited to app and product names where that requirement matters
.co questions
Is a .co domain restricted to people or businesses in Colombia?
No. .co has been open to anyone, anywhere, since general availability kicked off in 2010. There's no domicile or residency requirement for registering a .co, .com.co, .net.co or .nom.co domain. The only restrictions apply to specific third-level names like .gov.co and .edu.co, which are reserved for qualifying Colombian entities.
Sources: godaddy.com, en.wikipedia.org
Who actually runs the .co registry day to day?
The ccTLD sits under Colombia's Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies (MinTIC), which is what IANA lists as the registry manager. The actual running of the domain, though, falls to an appointed operator. As of 3 October 2025, that's CentralNic Ltd, part of the Team Internet Group.
Sources: iana.org, registry.co
Is there a five-year limit on how long you can register a .co domain?
The sources here do not agree with each other. One reseller guide says the total registered term, renewals included, tops out at five years. A separate registrar listing says the maximum registration period is one year. Ring your registrar before you commit to a multi-year term, because if you take either source at face value you might overpay or get refused at checkout.
Sources: support.opensrs.com, asiaregistry.com
What happens if a .co domain is not renewed on time?
Per a registrar knowledge base covering .co specifically, an expired domain gets a 15-day redemption grace period, then five days of pending-delete status before release. A restored domain then sits on a five-day hold, and nothing can be changed during that window.
Sources: manage.resellerclub.com
Does moving a .co domain to a new registrar lock it afterwards?
According to a registrar's knowledge base, .co domains carry a 60-day transfer lock once a transfer completes, and bulk transfers aren't supported for this extension.
Sources: manage.vip.domain.com
Sources and accountability
Facts on this page were checked against the sources below on 2026-09-12. Prices come from the public sources described in the methodology and carry their own check dates. Registry facts and retail prices are refreshed on different schedules.
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- IANA root zone record iana
- .CO Domain Registry, Official Registry of the .CO Extension registry
- .co - Wikipedia news
- About .co domains registrar
- Register your .co domain name registrar
- An OpenSRS Reseller's Guide to .CO Domain Policies registrar
- Renew .CO World Domain Names | Asia Registry registrar