You can’t buy a domain name directly with ICANN. You can only buy a domain through a middleman who acts as an ICANN-accredited registrar. These companies have been accredited by ICANN as public domain registrars in one or more domain extensions.
In addition, many domain registration companies are not accredited by ICANN themselves but they can serve as a reseller of accredited registrars. So you can also buy a domain name from them or register yourself as a reseller.
However, If you’re still willing to buy a domain name directly from ICANN, you need to become an ICANN registrar first or a domain reseller. It might happen when you need to buy a lot of domain names or already have so many then you can directly deal with ICANN instead of any kind of middleman to save ultimate cost.
How Much Does ICANN Charge for Becoming an Accredited Registrar?
ICANN charges a $3,500 application fee, which is non-refundable regardless of whether the application is approved, denied, or withdrawn. Additionally, a $4,000 yearly accreditation fee will be charged when you got approved. And they accept payments through wire transfer, ACH, check, or credit cards.
To read more about the payment process read this instruction.
How Much Does ICANN Charge for Domain Registration through an Accredited Registrar?
ICANN charges a fixed annual fee of $0.18 for each domain registration, renewal, or transfer. For example, if your .com domain’s price is $9.79 for a single year, then you’ll have to pay $9.97 in total, and for two years, you’ll be charged $19.94.
Does It Matter Where I Buy My Domain Name?
It is a matter to choose the right domain registrar where you want to buy your domain. Because there are lots of ICANN-accredited registrars available nowadays but not all of these providers offer a solid service.
Consider who offers live chat support, reasonable registration and renewal price, free domain transfer, free domain privacy protection, free e-mail, free SSL, free DNSSEC, and more things.
Also, some of them offer free WHOIS privacy and some of them aren’t and charge more than the actual domain price (between $2 and $20). So it looks like a worthless buying where it is available for free with Namecheap and other registrars to protect their domain’s personal information from the public.
Can I Buy a Domain Permanently?
You can’t buy a domain name forever. Domain name registration is done every year. Nonetheless, you can prepay for up to 10 years, which ensures that you will have space for a considerable length of time.
Who Controls the ICANN?
ICANN is controlled by a board of directors made up of 16 voting members where eight members are selected by a nominating committee, six representatives of its supporting organizations, one CEO, and a large subgroups. And finally, the U.S. government manages certain functions that maintain the Internet’s core infrastructure.
Conclusion:
I prefer NameCheap for managing all of my domain names in one place. I have many domains for myself and my clients with them. Overall they’re a reliable and a secure domain name provider which I love the most.
I hope this guide can help you with an overview of the ICANN domain registration process and instructions for directly with ICANN or via an ICANN-accredited registrar. If you think so, then please share this article on your favorite social media site or blog.
And if you have any questions, feedback, or suggestions, feel free to reach out to us using our contact form or simply leave a comment below! We’ll be happy to hear your thoughts.
