Retailers of .nz domains face a 22% price rise

InternetNZ, the not-for-profit group that is both the regulator and registry for .nz domains, had some big, unwelcome news yesterday.

InternetNZ’s Council recently approved a...wholesale price increase for .nz domain names effective from 1 July 2025.

It's a big change, adding about 22% to the cost. This is a wholesale price increase, so every single retailer of .nz domains will be affected. We are getting the news out to you before we've had time to confirm exactly how our prices will change.

Renew domains now to add more years at today's price

Why the urgency in sharing the bad news? Because by renewing domains now, you can push your expiry date out by years and pay today's price. As we've said before, if you know that you want a domain for the long term, it's never too early to renew.

The clock is ticking though, so make your move as soon as you can.

Why the price rise, InternetNZ?

This is the first change to .nz wholesale prices in five years. In that time, InternetNZ says that their costs have risen a lot - by 75% when it comes to running the infrastructure that holds up the operation of .nz domains, and by 30% for what they call "resource costs".

But what hasn't grown is the overall number of .nz domains. A covid-era blip growth spurt is long gone, replaced by very flat trends. So those costs need to be borne by a static base of paying customers.

International comparisons: .nz prices look high

Perhaps it's the effects of our smaller market, but when we compare other regulated domains' wholesale prices, .nz will look quite expensive when July rolls around.

• .au wholesale prices will be under half that of .nz.
• .com domains will be around 20% cheaper.
• .uk domains will be about 60% cheaper.

Whatever the reason, remember that you still have a few weeks to pay today's prices for .nz registrations and renewals. We suggest that you use you time wisely.