--- title: ".ai Passed 1 Million Domains and Raised Prices in 2026" description: "The .ai domain market in 2026: a one million name milestone, a 14% registry price rise, record sales, and why AI founders should still plan for the .com." url: https://gritbrokerage.preview.multisites.ai/post/ai-domains-one-million-price-increase publisher: Grit Brokerage contact: https://gritbrokerage.preview.multisites.ai/contact offer: https://gritbrokerage.preview.multisites.ai/inquiry --- [Market insights](https://gritbrokerage.preview.multisites.ai/blog?topic=market-insights) # .ai Passed 1 Million Domains and Raised Prices in 2026 The .ai domain passed one million registrations on January 20, 2026, up from about 587,000 a year earlier. The registry raised the two-year wholesale price from $140 to $160 on March 5. Bot.ai sold for $1.2 million, but AI.com sold for $70 million. Launch on .ai, and budget for the .com. By Grit BrokerageSep 15, 20264 min read ## How many .ai domains are registered? The .ai extension passed one million registered domains on January 20, 2026. Domain Incite reported the milestone on February 3, 2026, citing a post by the Government of Anguilla. About a year earlier, .ai held roughly 587,000 names. That is close to double in a year. This post is about market data. If you need the basics of the extension, read our earlier post on [.ai domain names](https://gritbrokerage.preview.multisites.ai/post/ai-domain-names). Here we look at prices, sales and what they mean for a founder choosing a name. Anguilla controls the .ai country-code domain, and registry fees matter to its economy. Domain Name Wire reports that .ai makes up about a quarter of the Anguilla government’s revenue. Identity Digital took over running the registry in January 2025. ## How much did .ai prices go up in 2026? The registry raised wholesale prices by about 14% on March 5, 2026. Domain Name Wire reported that the two-year minimum went from $140 to $160 wholesale. Domain Incite gave the increase as 14.3%, which matches the math: $20 on $140. Item Before March 5, 2026 After Two-year minimum, wholesale $140 $160 Implied yearly wholesale $70 $80 Change About 14% The wholesale price is what registrars pay the registry. Your registrar adds its own margin, so your price will be higher. The renewal bill hits every year, which matters if you hold many names. A [renewal fee](https://gritbrokerage.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/renewal-fee) that looks small on one name adds up across a portfolio. ## What were the biggest .ai sales in 2026? Bot.ai at $1.2 million is the top .ai sale of 2026 so far. DNJournal reported it as a record-breaking Sedo sale on February 24, 2026. The price beat the $750,000 paid for Wisdom.ai in October 2025, which was a record at that time. Our team helped the buyer of Wisdom.ai on that deal. Here are the top .ai sales on DNJournal’s year-to-date chart as it stood in mid-September 2026: Domain Price Bot.ai $1,200,000 Genesis.ai $400,000 Lotus.ai $400,000 Free.ai $350,000 Neo.ai $275,000 Orchestra.ai $250,000 These are reported sales only. Many deals never get reported, so the chart shows the top of the market, not the middle. The chart does not name buyers or say why they paid. We can see that short, common words fill most of the list. Bot.ai, Free.ai, Neo.ai and Lotus.ai are all plain English words. That fits what we see in .com: a simple word is easy to say, spell and remember, and buyers pay for that. ## How does that compare to the AI.com record? It is not close. AI.com sold for $70 million, according to the Financial Times and TechCrunch, which called it the highest price ever disclosed for a domain sale. DNJournal lists it first on its 2026 chart, ahead of every .com and .ai sale. CoinDesk reported that the buyer, Crypto.com’s CEO, paid in cryptocurrency in April 2025, and the news came out in February 2026. So the best .ai sale of the year is under 2% of the best .com sale. That gap says something about how buyers rank the two. A [.com](https://gritbrokerage.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/dot-com) is the default. A [.ai](https://gritbrokerage.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/dot-ai) is a strong second choice that tells people what you do. Read our post on [how .ai fits in the wider market](https://gritbrokerage.preview.multisites.ai/post/the-state-of-the-domain-industry) for our broader view. ## Is the .ai aftermarket a bubble? We do not think the data supports a plain yes or no. Registrations doubled in a year, prices rose, and seven-figure sales arrived. Those are the signs of a hot market. They are also signs of real demand from AI companies that need a name. Here is what we can say from the data. Reported .ai prices are far below top .com prices. Registry costs rise over time, and Anguilla’s budget depends on them. A buyer who pays six figures for a .ai name should have a business reason, not a flip plan. We cannot predict where prices go next, and a registry price rise does not by itself prove that resale values will follow. Anyone who says they can is guessing. ## Should an AI startup still try to own the .com? Yes, in time. A .ai name is a fine place to launch and costs far less than a premium .com. Many founders start there and upgrade when revenue allows. This is the same path we describe in our [startup domain upgrade guide](https://gritbrokerage.preview.multisites.ai/guides/startup-domain-upgrade). A simple plan for AI founders: 1. Launch on the .ai you can afford, and register obvious typo and .com variants if they are cheap. 2. Put the .com on a watch list from day one. 3. Set a budget line for the .com. Reserve it before you raise your next round. 4. Ask a broker to approach the .com owner quietly. Our [stealth acquisition service](https://gritbrokerage.preview.multisites.ai/buying-domains) is built for that kind of approach. 5. Read the [.com vs .ai vs .io vs .co guide](https://gritbrokerage.preview.multisites.ai/guides/com-vs-ai-vs-io-vs-co) to compare costs and trade-offs. An owner who knows a funded AI company wants the name will raise the price. A discreet approach protects your budget. ## Next step If you run an AI company and want the .com, [tell us which name you want](https://gritbrokerage.preview.multisites.ai/contact?interest=buy). We approach owners quietly, and every deal goes through third-party escrow. ## Questions this post answers ### How many .ai domains are registered? The .ai extension passed one million registered names on January 20, 2026, according to a post by the Government of Anguilla reported by Domain Incite. A year earlier it held about 587,000 names. Counts change daily, so check a current registry source before you quote one. ### How much did .ai prices go up in 2026? The registry raised wholesale prices by about 14% on March 5, 2026. Domain Name Wire reported the two-year minimum moving from $140 to $160 wholesale. What you pay at a registrar will be higher, because registrars add their own margin. ### What were the biggest .ai sales in 2026? By mid-September 2026, DNJournal's year-to-date chart showed Bot.ai at $1.2 million, the top .ai sale. Genesis.ai and Lotus.ai each sold for $400,000, and Free.ai for $350,000. DNJournal lists Neo.ai at $275,000 and Orchestra.ai at $250,000. ### Should an AI startup still try to own the .com? Yes, over time. .ai signals what a company does, and it is a fine place to launch. The .com is still where most people go when they type a name from memory. Plan the .com purchase as a later budget line, not a surprise. ## Sources 1. [Domain Incite: .ai hits seven figures, raises prices (February 3, 2026)](https://domainincite.com/31540-ai-hits-seven-figures-raises-prices) 2. [Domain Name Wire: .AI domain name prices going up $20 (February 2, 2026)](https://domainnamewire.com/2026/02/02/ai-domain-name-prices-going-up-20/) 3. [DNJournal: YTD Top 100 Domain Sales Chart](https://www.dnjournal.com/ytd-sales-charts.htm) 4. [DNJournal: Bot.ai Brings $1.2 Million in Record-Breaking Sale at Sedo (February 24, 2026)](https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2026/posts/0224.htm) 5. [TechCrunch: Crypto.com places $70M bet on AI.com domain ahead of Super Bowl (February 8, 2026)](https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/08/crypto-com-places-70m-bet-on-ai-com-domain-ahead-of-super-bowl/) 6. [Domain Name Wire: 2025 in Review, AI's impact on domains (January 5, 2026)](https://domainnamewire.com/2026/01/05/2025-in-review-ais-impact-on-domains/) ## Terms in this post - [Stealth acquisition](https://gritbrokerage.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/stealth-acquisition) - [Identity Digital](https://gritbrokerage.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/identity-digital) - [Domain upgrade](https://gritbrokerage.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/domain-upgrade) - [Aftermarket](https://gritbrokerage.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/aftermarket) - [Domain name](https://gritbrokerage.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/domain-name) - [Renewal fee](https://gritbrokerage.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/renewal-fee) - [DNJournal](https://gritbrokerage.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/dnjournal) - [Registrar](https://gritbrokerage.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/registrar) ## Keep reading - [.com vs .ai vs .io vs .co: How to Choose a Domain Extension.com is still the safest default because buyers, investors and email systems expect it. Choose .ai if your product is AI and you accept higher renewals. Choose .io for developer tools with some registry risk. Choose .co mainly as a cheaper fallback. Whatever you pick, try to own the .com too.](https://gritbrokerage.preview.multisites.ai/guides/com-vs-ai-vs-io-vs-co) - [When Should a Startup Upgrade to a Better Domain Name?Upgrade when the weak domain costs you more than the better one would: customers mistype it, investors or partners question it, or you are about to spend on brand and marketing. Most startups do it right after a funding round or before a major launch, using a broker so the owner does not see a funded buyer.](https://gritbrokerage.preview.multisites.ai/guides/startup-domain-upgrade) - [The State of the Domain IndustryGrit Brokerage says the domain industry shows renewed strength and maturity in 2025, with strategic ownership replacing speculation. It reports over eight figures in domain sales in the past year, calls .COM the cornerstone of trust and .AI the clear second power TLD, and cites several industry voices.](https://gritbrokerage.preview.multisites.ai/post/the-state-of-the-domain-industry) - [.ai Domain Names: What Are They and Do You Need One?The .ai extension is the country code domain for Anguilla, and tech companies now use it to signal AI work. The post says you.ai sold for around $700,000 and more than 350,000 .ai domains are registered, double the prior year. Grit Brokerage notes prices for sought-after .ai names are rising quickly.](https://gritbrokerage.preview.multisites.ai/post/ai-domain-names) - [.com Price Increase November 1: What Owners Should Do NowVerisign raises the wholesale .com price 7%, from $10.26 to $10.97, on November 1, 2026, plus ICANN's 20-cent fee. Renewing or transferring before then postpones the rise. You can renew up to 10 years. Verisign may add up to 7% in each of the next three years.](https://gritbrokerage.preview.multisites.ai/post/com-price-increase-november-2026) - [Biggest Domain Sales of 2026 So Far: Top 25 Through Q3AI.com at $70 million leads DNJournal's 2026 chart, followed by Club.com at $10 million and Green.com at $7.5 million. Of the top 25 reported sales, 19 are .com and six are .ai. DNJournal counts eight seven-figure sales. Most large deals stay private, so any list shows only part of the market.](https://gritbrokerage.preview.multisites.ai/post/top-domain-sales-2026-q3) ## Buying or selling a domain? Call, text or email. Responsiveness is our trademark, and a broker answers, not a form robot. [Talk to a broker](https://gritbrokerage.preview.multisites.ai/contact) [Call (442) 500-GRIT](tel:+1-442-500-4748)