Costs
Domain redemption fees by registrar
What it costs to restore a .com from the redemption period at ten registrars, read from each registrar's own page on 20 October 2026. Published fees run from $41.40 to $175.
Published · Figures checked against ICANN policy, not recalled.
Check it now: the free domain drop date checker will see whether a domain is in redemption, and the last day it can be restored.
Once a registrar deletes an expired domain, the registry holds it in the redemption grace period for 30 days. The previous owner can still get it back, but not by renewing: the registrar has to send the registry a restore request, and charges a fee for it on top of, or bundled with, a year's renewal. ICANN's Expired Registration Recovery Policy (section 4.1.1) requires every gTLD registrar to display that fee on its website, so these figures come from the registrars themselves rather than from estimates.
.com restore fees, registrar by registrar
| Registrar | .com restore fee | Renewal | What their page says |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spaceship | $41.40 | Extra | Redemption fee; the standard renewal price is added on top. |
| Squarespace Domains | $45 | Extra | One-time redemption fee plus the current domain price. Squarespace says it cannot waive or refund it. |
| GoDaddy | $80 | Extra | Redemption fee plus a one-year renewal. Quoted in a GoDaddy resources article; its help centre says only that a fee applies from day 18. |
| Namecheap | $88.48 | Included | Namecheap lists one price that already adds the redemption fee and the renewal together (plus the $0.20 ICANN fee). |
| IONOS | $90 | Not stated | A one-time recovery fee; the page does not say whether renewal is extra. |
| Network Solutions | $99 | Extra | Redemption fee plus the standard renewal. Recovery goes through customer support, not the control panel. |
| Dynadot | $100.92 | Not stated | Listed as the .com "Restore" price beside register, renew and transfer; the page does not say whether renewal is included. |
| Hover | $175 | Extra | Redemption fee plus the renewal cost. Hover redeems on your behalf after you contact support. |
| Cloudflare | Not published | Extra | No .com figure published. The restore fee varies by TLD, is separate from renewal, and is shown before you confirm. |
| Porkbun | Not published | Extra | No figure published; its knowledge base says the redemption fee varies by registry and is added to the normal renewal fee. |
Each registrar's page was read on . Fees change; the linked page is the authority, not this one.
The figures are not like-for-like. Namecheap quotes one price that already includes the renewal. Most of the others quote the fee alone and add a year's renewal at checkout, so their real cost is the fee plus roughly the normal renewal price. Two say nothing either way, and two publish no .com figure at all.
Why restoring costs so much more than renewing
The registry charges the registrar a restore fee for pulling a deleted name back out of the redemption grace period, and the restore itself is a manual or semi-manual operation at many registrars — several, including Hover and Network Solutions, only do it through support. A renewal is automatic and cheap; a restore is an exception. The markup on top of the registry's charge is the registrar's own decision, which is why the same .com costs four times as much to restore at one registrar as at another.
When the fee starts to apply
Not on the expiry date. For a gTLD the sequence is auto-renew grace first (up to 45 days, at the normal renewal price), then the 30-day redemption period where this fee applies, then 5 days of pending delete where nothing can save it. The first stage's length is the registrar's choice, so the day the fee starts differs too: GoDaddy's published timeline adds a redemption fee from day 18 after expiry, while Cloudflare places redemption at days 41–70. The redemption vs pending delete guide explains the two late stages in full.
To see which stage a domain is in right now, and the last day it can be restored, look it up in the drop date checker. The registry's own status is the only reliable answer; the registrar's dashboard may already have removed the domain from your account.
Country-code domains are different
ccTLD registries set their own rules, and some have no redemption fee at all. Cloudflare notes that .uk names can be restored by renewing, with no extra fee, for up to 90 days after expiry. Others charge far more than any .com figure above. Check the registrar's page for the exact extension before assuming any of these numbers carry over.
How to avoid paying it
- Renew before the grace period ends. Every registrar here renews at the normal price until the domain is deleted into redemption.
- Check auto-renew and the card behind it. Most redemption cases are a card that expired, not a decision to let the domain go.
- Watch the registry, not the inbox. Renewal reminders go to whatever address is on the account, which is often someone who left. The registry status changes whether or not anyone reads the email.
Common questions
How much does it cost to restore a domain from redemption?
For a .com, the published restore fees range from $41.40 at Spaceship to $175 at Hover, usually plus a year's renewal. Namecheap quotes $88.48 with the renewal already included.
Why is the redemption fee so much higher than renewal?
Because the registry charges the registrar for restoring a deleted name, the restore is often handled manually, and each registrar adds its own markup. A renewal is automatic and cheap; a restore is treated as an exception.
Can a registrar waive the redemption fee?
Some will not: Squarespace says it cannot waive or refund it. The reliable way to avoid the fee is to renew before the domain is deleted into the redemption period.
How long do I have to pay the redemption fee?
The redemption grace period lasts 30 days for gTLDs such as .com. After that the domain spends 5 days in pending delete, when it cannot be restored at any price, and is then released.
Never pay a redemption fee
DropPerch reads the registry every day and emails you when a domain you watch nears expiry, enters grace, or is deleted into redemption, while renewing still costs the normal price.