Why the question ‘how much does a .gov.uk domain cost’ is not easy to answer!
Authors: Sandra Lowe, Will Christmas - Parish Council Domains Helper Service, Cabinet Office
At the Parish Council Domains Helper Service, we are often asked ‘how much does a .gov.uk domain cost?’ and we always pause before answering. On the surface, this appears to be quite a simple question but, actually, there are some complexities! This is because the cost of moving over to a .gov.uk domain depends on two key factors:
- The services that a council might need to buy in addition to the domain itself
- The .gov.uk Approved Registrar that a council chooses to work with
Let’s look at these in turn - first up, services:
At a very minimum, a council will need to buy a .gov.uk domain from a .gov.uk Approved Registrar who will manage and monitor it on their behalf.
However, councils may also need to factor in the purchase of other services such as emails, a website or data storage and migration. The cost of these services will vary - for example, a council buying 10 email addresses with a large amount of storage will pay more than a smaller council that only needs to buy one email address. Similarly, a council that wants to completely redesign their website will pay more than a council who wants to keep their existing website, but connect this to their new domain.
Costs will also vary from one .gov.uk Approved Registrar to another. An Approved Registrar is a company who buys and manages a .gov.uk domain on behalf of a council. These companies operate in a commercial marketplace so the prices they charge will differ. For example, some include the cost of a domain in a ‘bundle’; some offer a domain free of charge when purchasing other services; some add a small mark-up to the wholesale cost of a .gov.uk domain.
So, in essence, costs will always vary:
- From council to council, based on their service and support needs, and
- From one Approved Registrar to another depending on their commercial offering
Sounds complicated? It doesn’t need to be. The Parish Council Domains Helper Service has established a shortlist of Approved Registrars for councils to select from. All of these have experience and knowledge of working with councils and have committed to providing an enhanced level of support to councils as part of the Service. They also understand what kinds of services councils need and the kinds of budgets they are working to.
As a government organisation, the Cabinet Office is commercially neutral - we are not able to direct councils to any particular provider. The shortlist helps narrow down the choice and makes clear what services each Approved Registrar offers. However, we still encourage councils to research which of these companies can best serve their needs and are most competitively priced. We suggest putting together at least three quotes to help councils make an informed decision. We also recommend that no decision is based on cost alone.
If your council is thinking about moving to a .gov.uk domain, you can register their interest by completing a short form or emailing
Apply for a .gov.uk domain name: step by step - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
