The ICANN fee is a small mandatory charge added to many domain registrations, renewals and transfers. Learn what it is, how much it costs, when it appears on your bill, and which domain extensions currently require it.
Intro
If you’ve ever bought or renewed a domain name you might have noticed a small line item called an ICANN fee on your invoice. It’s tiny — usually just a few cents per year — but it’s helpful to know what it is, why it’s charged, and which domain extensions include it. This post explains the ICANN fee in plain language and lists the domain extensions that require it.
What is an ICANN fee?
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is the nonprofit organization that coordinates the global Domain Name System (DNS). As part of its role, ICANN collects a mandatory annual fee of $0.20 (twenty US cents) for each year of domain registration, renewal, or transfer when the domain’s registry requires it.
Where applicable, the ICANN fee is added to the listed price for the domain at the time of purchase and is itemized in your shopping cart or invoice, so you can see it separately from the domain registration price.
How much is the fee?
- Amount: $0.20 per year per domain (when applicable).
- When applied: On registration, renewal, and transfers — for each year you register/renew/transfer.
- Visibility: It should be shown separately on the shopping cart or checkout receipt as an ICANN fee.
Why does ICANN charge this fee?
ICANN uses the funds it collects to support core global coordination and administrative functions related to domain names and the DNS. The fee is small because it’s spread across millions of domain registrations worldwide.
Which domain extensions require an ICANN fee?
The following domain extensions (TLDs) require the ICANN fee and, when you purchase or renew them, the $0.20-per-year charge will be added and itemized:
.academy, .accountant, .accountants, .actor, .adult, .africa, .agency, .airforce, .apartments, .app, .archi, .army, .art, .asia, .associates, .attorney, .auction, .audio, .auto, .autos, .baby, .band, .bar, .bargains, .beauty, .beer, .berlin, .best, .bet, .bid, .bike, .bingo, .bio, .biz, .black, .blackfriday, .blog, .blue, .boats, .bond, .boo, .boston, .bot, .boutique, .broker, .build, .builders, .business, .buzz, .cab, .cafe, .cam, .camera, .camp, .capital, .cards, .care, .careers, .car, .cars, .casa, .cash, .casino, .catering, .center, .ceo, .cfd, .channel, .charity, .chat, .cheap, .christmas, .church, .city, .claims, .cleaning, .click, .clinic, .clothing, .cloud, .club, .coach, .codes, .coffee, .college, .com, .community, .company, .computer, .condos, .construction, .consulting, .contact, .contractors, .cooking, .cool, .country, .coupons, .courses, .credit, .creditcard, .cricket, .cruises, .cymru, .cyou, .dad, .dance, .date, .dating, .day, .deal, .dealer, .deals, .degree, .delivery, .democrat, .dental, .dentist, .desi, .design, .dev, .diamonds, .diet, .digital, .direct, .directory, .discount, .diy, .doctor, .dog, .domains, .download, .earth, .eco, .education, .email, .energy, .engineer, .engineering, .enterprises, .equipment, .esq, .estate, .events, .exchange, .expert, .exposed, .express, .fail, .faith, .family, .fan, .fans, .farm, .fashion, .feedback, .film, .finance, .financial, .fish, .fishing, .fit, .fitness, .flights, .florist, .flowers, .foo, .food, .football, .forex, .forsale, .forum, .foundation, .fun, .fund, .furniture, .futbol, .fyi, .gallery, .game, .games, .garden, .gay, .gdn, .gift, .gifts, .gives, .giving, .glass, .global, .gmbh, .gold, .golf, .graphics, .gratis, .green, .gripe, .group, .guide, .guitars, .guru, .hair, .hamburg, .haus, .health, .healthcare, .help, .hiphop, .hockey, .holdings, .holiday, .homes, .horse, .hospital, .host, .hosting, .house, .how, .icu, .immo, .immobilien, .inc, .industries, .info, .ing, .ink, .institute, .insure, .international, .investments, .irish, .jetzt, .jewelry, .juegos, .kaufen, .kids, .kim, .kitchen, .kiwi, .krd, .kyoto, .land, .lat, .law, .lawyer, .lease, .legal, .lgbt, .life, .lifestyle, .lighting, .limited, .limo, .link, .live, .living, .llc, .loan, .loans, .locker, .lol, .london, .love, .ltd, .ltda, .luxury, .maison, .makeup, .management, .market, .marketing, .markets, .mba, .media, .melbourne, .meme, .memorial, .men, .menu, .miami, .mobi, .moda, .moe, .mom, .money, .monster, .mortgage, .motorcycles, .mov, .movie, .music, .nagoya, .name, .navy, .net, .network, .new, .news, .nexus, .ngo, .ninja, .now, .nyc, .observer, .okinawa, .one, .ong, .onl, .online, .org, .osaka, .page, .paris, .partners, .parts, .party, .pet, .phd, .photo, .photography, .photos, .physio, .pics, .pictures, .pink, .pizza, .place, .plumbing, .plus, .poker, .porn, .press, .pro, .productions, .prof, .promo, .properties, .property, .protection, .pub, .quest, .racing, .realty, .recipes, .red, .rehab, .reise, .reisen, .rent, .rentals, .repair, .report, .republican, .rest, .restaurant, .review, .reviews, .rich, .rip, .rocks, .rodeo, .rsvp, .run, .ryukyu, .sale, .salon, .sarl, .sbs, .school, .schule, .science, .security, .services, .sex, .sexy, .shiksha, .shoes, .shop, .shopping, .show, .singles, .site, .ski, .skin, .soccer, .social, .software, .solar, .solutions, .soy, .space, .storage, .store, .stream, .studio, .study, .style, .sucks, .supplies, .supply, .support, .surf, .surgery, .sydney, .systems, .tattoo, .tax, .taxi, .team, .tech, .technology, .tel, .tennis, .theater, .theatre, .tickets, .tienda, .tips, .tires, .today, .tokyo, .tools, .top, .tours, .town, .toys, .trade, .trading, .training, .travel, .tube, .university, .uno, .vacations, .vana, .vegas, .ventures, .vet, .viajes, .video, .villas, .vin, .vip, .vision, .vodka, .vote, .voting, .voto, .voyage, .wales, .watch, .webcam, .website, .wedding, .whoswho, .wiki, .win, .wine, .work, .works, .world, .wtf, .xn-3ds443g, .xn-6frz82g, .xxx, .xyz, .yachts, .yoga, .yokohama, .zip, .zone
Tip: If your registrar lists a domain extension not shown above, check your cart — registrars will itemize the ICANN fee at checkout if it applies.
Quick examples
- Buying example.com for 2 years: ICANN fee = $0.20 × 2 = $0.40 (added and itemized).
- Renewing example.app for 1 year: ICANN fee = $0.20.
Because the fee is so small, it rarely changes the buying decision — it’s mostly about transparency at checkout.
Conclusion
The ICANN fee is a minor, mandatory charge (when required by the registry) used to help fund ICANN’s global domain coordination work. It’s typically $0.20 per year, added to registrations, renewals, and transfers for affected domain extensions and shown as a separate line item at checkout. If you’re buying domains frequently, it’s helpful to know which TLDs include the fee — and now you do.