The short answer
IONOS renews a .com domain at $20.00 per year (price checked 29 October 2026). That is nearly double the cheapest .com renewals on the market, and it follows a first year that is often advertised at just $1. If you already own a domain at IONOS and you like having your domain, hosting, and email in one place, renewing there is simple and safe. But if price is what matters most to you, you are paying about $9 a year more than you need to — and over five years that gap grows to roughly $30 per domain.
This review is honest about both sides: what IONOS does well, what the $20.00 renewal actually buys, and the exact steps to renew, switch off auto-renew, or move your domain elsewhere.
IONOS .com renewal price at a glance
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| First year (.com, promotional offer) | Often $1 |
| Renewal (.com, per year) | $20.00 |
| Jump from first year to renewal | +$19.00 |
| What every registrar pays per .com (cost floor) | $10.46 ($10.26 Verisign wholesale + $0.20 ICANN fee) |
| IONOS markup above the cost floor | About 91% |
Prices above are the central RenewPings price list, last checked 24 October 2026 and re-confirmed against published sources on 29 October 2026. IONOS is a large, established hosting company, not a budget registrar — and its renewal price reflects that positioning.
The 5-year cost: the number that actually matters
A domain you plan to keep is a multi-year purchase, and the first-year price is only one year of it. Here is what one .com really costs over five years:
| Registrar | Year 1 | Years 2–5 (4 renewals) | 5-year total |
|---|---|---|---|
| IONOS | $1 (promo) | 4 × $20.00 = $80.00 | $81.00 |
| Porkbun | $11.08 | 4 × $11.08 = $44.32 | $55.40 |
| Spaceship | $10.18 total | 4 × $10.18 = $40.72 | $50.90 |
| Dynadot | $10.88 | 4 × $10.88 = $43.52 | $54.40 |
The gap: keeping one .com at IONOS for five years costs about $25–$30 more than keeping it at Porkbun, Dynadot, or Spaceship. With three domains, that is roughly $75–$90 over five years — for the exact same domain names. Try the maths for your own portfolio on our renewal calculator, or compare every registrar side by side on our comparison page.
What the $20.00 renewal buys you
A higher price is not automatically a bad deal. Some of the markup pays for things some owners genuinely value:
- One provider for everything. If your website, email, and domain all live at IONOS, one login and one support team covers all of it. That convenience is the main reason people stay.
- Established, large-scale support. IONOS is a major European hosting brand with phone and chat support, which suits owners who want a human to call rather than a ticket queue.
- Bundled extras. Depending on your plan, IONOS bundles email mailboxes, an SSL certificate, and a website builder with hosting packages — check your own plan, because bundled extras vary and are not part of the domain renewal itself.
- Predictability after year one. Unlike some registrars, there is no second jump waiting: once you are on the $20.00 renewal rate, that is the rate you keep paying (subject to general price changes).
Where IONOS falls short on renewal value
- The $1-to-$20 jump is the steepest pattern in the market. A $19.00 increase from year one to renewal catches owners who never looked past the advertised price. Always budget for the renewal price, not the first-year price.
- No price advantage for loyalty. Renewing for multiple years at IONOS does not earn you a discount — you simply prepay the same $20.00 rate. Cheaper registrars beat it in year one and every year after.
- The wholesale rise is coming. Verisign's .com wholesale fee rises from $10.26 to $10.97 on 1 November 2026, pushing the cost floor from $10.46 to $11.17. At-cost registrars will move by about $0.71; IONOS's $20.00 already sits far above either floor, so the wholesale change is not the reason its renewal is expensive.
How to renew a domain at IONOS (step by step)
- Sign in to your IONOS account and open Domains & SSL.
- Find the domain, check its expiry date, and select Renew.
- Choose how many years to renew for. One year is fine if you may transfer later; a longer term only makes sense if you are sure you are staying.
- Review the checkout total before paying — confirm it shows $20.00 per year for a .com and no add-ons you did not ask for.
- After payment, confirm the new expiry date in your domain list, and set a calendar reminder 30 days before the next expiry so you can compare prices again.
How to switch off auto-renew at IONOS
- In your IONOS account, open the domain's settings or contract details.
- Find the automatic renewal option and switch it off.
- Confirm the change and note the expiry date — switching auto-renew off does not cancel your domain; it simply stops automatic billing, and you can still renew manually before expiry.
Turning auto-renew off is the single best move if you are deciding whether to stay or transfer: it stops a surprise $20.00 charge while you compare.
Should you stay, or transfer out?
- Stay at IONOS if: your hosting and email are there, you value one provider and phone support, and $20.00 a year per domain fits your budget.
- Transfer out if: you own several domains, you only need the domain itself, or you want the lowest renewal price — a transfer to a cheaper registrar usually costs one year at the new registrar's renewal rate and adds a year to your registration.
- Before any transfer: unlock the domain, get your authorization code, and start at least a week before expiry. Our step-by-step transfer guides — transferring to Porkbun and transfer vs renew explained — walk through the full process.
Renewal checklist (use this every year)
- ☐ Check the renewal price, not the first-year price, before every expiry
- ☐ Compare against the cheapest renewals on our cheapest .com renewal prices post
- ☐ Decide: renew, transfer, or switch — at least 30 days before expiry
- ☐ If staying, confirm auto-renew is on; if leaving, switch it off and start the transfer early
- ☐ Run the full audit in our domain renewal audit checklist
- ☐ Re-check the head-to-head in Spaceship vs Porkbun: cheapest .com registrar and our Dynadot renewal review
Verdict
IONOS is a legitimate, well-supported registrar — but its $20.00 .com renewal is a convenience price, not a value price. If your domain, hosting, and email all live at IONOS and you like that setup, renewing there is perfectly reasonable. If you just need the domain, transferring to a registrar charging $10–$11 a year saves roughly $9 a year per domain with no downside to the domain itself. Either way, make the decision before the renewal date, not after the bill arrives.
Prices in this post: IONOS $20.00, Porkbun $11.08, Spaceship $10.18 total, Dynadot $10.88 — checked 29 October 2026. Official registrar site: IONOS. RenewPings currently has no affiliate link active for any registrar, and this post contains no affiliate links.