Note: The ENS App and ENS Explorer are both currently on Sepolia testnet. Behaviour and available features may change before mainnet.
Two variables determine the cost of a .eth name:
Base price — depends on the character length of the name.
Multi-year discount — depends on how many years you add in a single transaction.
Base price
.eth name pricing is based on character count and charged in stablecoins (USDC or DAI).
Name length | Example | Annual fee |
5+ characters |
| $8 |
4 characters |
| $160 |
3 characters |
| $640 |
Multi-year discount
Whether registering or renewing, the time you add in one transaction sets a discount rate applied to the base price.
Term | Discount off annual rate |
1 year | None |
2 years | ~12.5% |
3 years | ~31% |
4 years | ~31% |
5 years | ~31% |
6 years and above | ~44% (maximum — no cap on term length) |
See Multi-year discounts on registration and renewal for worked examples.
Gas fees
Every registration, renewal, and record change is an Ethereum transaction, which means gas. Gas is paid in ETH on Mainnet and changes with network demand.
What you actually pay
Cost = Base Price × Years added × (100% − Eligible Discount)
Example (3 years, 5+ character name):
$16.50 = $8 × 3 years × (100% − 31.25%)
Effective $5.50 p.a.
During registration and renewal, the full cost of the time being added appears as a calculation of base price, years added, and discount rate.
What happens to the price when a name expires?
Grace period (28 days after expiry). The name can still be extended at the standard renewal price — nobody else can register it. See Name expiry and grace period.
Price Cooldown (21 days after grace ends). The name is released to anyone, but a decaying one-time additional fee applies on top of the standard registration fee — starting at $100 million and falling to $0. It has to be registered as new, not extended. See Price Cooldown.
Available. Once the additional fee reaches $0, the name costs the standard registration fee, like any other.
Common questions
Why does ENS charge fees?
Fees do two things. They stop name hoarding by making it expensive to sit on a large stockpile, which keeps names available for people who'll actually use them. And they fund ongoing ENS development through the DAO. Those are the only two purposes — see the ENS DAO Constitution.
Are there fees on subnames?
ENS only sets fees for .eth second-level names like name.eth. Subnames such as sub.name.eth are issued by whoever controls the parent name — they decide whether to charge.
Can I register a 1- or 2-character .eth name?
No. The shortest .eth name you can register is 3 characters.