---
title: ".io Domain Names — Register a .io Domain | Name.ai"
description: "Register a .io domain. Pricing, registration terms, who .io suits, and premium .io domains available now on the Name.ai marketplace."
url: https://name.ai/domains/tld/io
---

# .io Domain Names — Register a .io Domain | Name.ai

.io is the country-code extension for the British Indian Ocean Territory, adopted broadly by developer tools, APIs and technical startups because it reads as "input/output". It signals a technical audience clearly, at a registry price below .ai but above generic extensions.

## Character

- A country-code extension used almost entirely outside its territory, with no local presence requirement for registrants.
- The "input/output" reading gave it early traction with developer tooling, and that association is now well established.
- Because it is a ccTLD, its long-term administration follows territorial arrangements rather than generic-TLD policy — a consideration for very long-horizon brand decisions.

## Good for

- Developer tools, APIs and infrastructure products
- Open-source projects and technical documentation sites
- B2B software addressing engineers as the primary buyer

## Consider instead

- [object Object]
- [object Object]
- [object Object]

## Frequently asked questions

### Is .io a good domain for a startup?

It is a strong fit when the buyer is technical — developer tools, APIs and infrastructure products use it heavily enough that it reads as native. It is a weaker fit for consumer brands, where .com recall still dominates.

### Does Google treat .io as a country-specific domain?

Google treats .io as a generic top-level domain rather than geo-targeting it to the British Indian Ocean Territory, so using it does not restrict your search visibility to a region.

## Live data

Registration price, minimum term, registrant and nameserver requirements for .io are read from registry data at request time and are not reproduced here. Machine-readable equivalents:

- Pricing: `GET https://name.ai/api/pricing/tld`
- Requirements: `GET https://name.ai/api/tlds/io/metadata`
- Availability for a specific name: `POST https://name.ai/api/domain/search`

Premium .io domains available now: [https://name.ai/market?tld=io](https://name.ai/market?tld=io).

Copy last revised 2026-08-19.

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Markdown representation of https://name.ai/domains/tld/io. The same URL returns HTML to any client that asks for `text/html`. Site map for agents: https://name.ai/llms.txt