European domain registrars: 5 EU-owned options, with the renewal price up front
We compared registrars that bill from inside the EU: headquarters, owner, DNS network, year-two price and recovery fees. The teaser price on a domain tells you almost nothing. The renewal tells you everything.
Short answer: if you want your domains held by a European company and you care about year-two pricing, go with OVHcloud or BookMyName. OVHcloud, the French cloud provider, charges €8.49 for a .com in year one and €14.29 to renew and runs its own DNS network. BookMyName, a brand of Scaleway (Iliad group), keeps the .com at €12.34 for registration and renewal alike, and the .eu at €5.98 both years: no teaser, no jump.
This page only ranks registrars whose contracting company sits in the EU and whose registration and renewal prices are published on their own site. For each one we checked the owner, where the nameservers run, what a forgotten renewal costs you, and how to reach a human. Most "best European registrar" lists are written by registrars themselves; this one is not. Just want the cheapest registrar, wherever it is based? See our ranking of the best domain registrars, which also covers Porkbun, Namecheap and Hostinger.
Some links may be affiliate links. They change neither the order nor the verdicts on this page.
5 European registrars at a glance
To make this list, a registrar's contracting company has to be based in the EU, and its site has to show both the registration and the renewal price. Scores weigh three-year cost first, then recovery fees, ownership and support. The ranking is editorial: a sponsored spot is always labelled on its listing, and no affiliate link changes a score.
| Best for | Owner and DNS | Free plan | Team size | Visit | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | OVHcloud | Best all-round European registrar | Roubaix, France; own DNS network | 4.2/5 | .com €8.49, then €14.29/yr | — | Small businesses, agencies, OVHcloud customers | Visit → |
| 2 | BookMyName | Lowest renewals, no teaser pricing | Scaleway SAS (Iliad group), France | 4.1/5 | .com €12.34/yr, same at renewal | — | Domain portfolios, tight budgets | Visit → |
| 3 | alwaysdata | Best for developers | Paris; DNS on two separate networks | 3.8/5 | .com €14, then €16/yr | — | Developers, technical teams | Visit → |
| 4 | Ikoula | Most predictable pricing | Two data centres in France | 3.8/5 | .com €12.60/yr, same at renewal | — | Companies buying for several years | Visit → |
| 5 | Gandi | Best known name, priciest renewals | Paris; part of Your.Online (Netherlands) | 3.5/5 | .com €13.98, then €38.38/yr (VAT incl.) | — | Agencies and developers who need advanced DNS | Visit → |
Prices excluding VAT unless stated, read on the official price lists in 2026. OVHcloud prices are from its Irish storefront. Three-year cost of a .com: BookMyName €37.02, OVHcloud €37.07, Ikoula €37.80, alwaysdata €46, Gandi €90.74 VAT incl. Infomaniak (Switzerland), INWX and Netim are not ranked: their public price lists do not show both a registration and a renewal price we could read.
Is your tool missing from this page? Email us: hello@hackceleration.com
Each registrar, checked: owner, DNS, real price, limit
For each registrar we read the official price list (registration, renewal, restoration), the company details and what comes bundled with the domain. Unless stated, prices exclude VAT.
OVHcloud: Europe's biggest cloud provider, and a solid registrar
Our top pickOVHcloud is a listed French company headquartered in Roubaix, running its own data centres and its own DNS network. It is the largest registrar for .fr domains. If your servers or hosting already live there, keeping domains in the same account saves real admin time.
What you actually pay. On the Irish storefront, a .com costs €8.49 in year one and €14.29 to renew, so about €37 over three years. A .eu goes from €7.49 to €8.59, and a .fr from €5.59 to €7.79. Prices exclude VAT, which is added at your country's rate at checkout.
The tip. Each OVHcloud storefront has its own price list, so compare before you order. A .fr starts at €4.99 on the French store and €5.59 on the Irish one, while a .es starts at €4.49 then €5.79 on the Irish store against €5.99 then €6.99 on the Spanish one. Renewals of the .com (€14.29) and .fr (€7.79) are the same everywhere.
The trap. Recovery fees. Miss the renewal window and getting a .com back costs €50.99, a .fr €49.99. Turn on auto-renew when you buy and check that your saved card does not expire first.
Who it's for. Small businesses and agencies that want one European supplier for domains, DNS and servers. Not for you if fast, friendly support is your priority: OVHcloud is a large organisation, and user feedback on its help desk is mixed.
- Company
- Roubaix, France
- DNS
- Own network, DNSSEC
- Price
- .com €8.49, then €14.29/yr
- Watch out
- €50.99 to recover a .com
BookMyName: Scaleway's no-frills registrar, with flat renewals
Cheapest over timeBookMyName is the trading name of Scaleway SAS, formerly Online SAS, a subsidiary of the French Iliad group. The site is plain, the price list is long, and there are no first-year gimmicks.
What you actually pay. A .com is €12.34 to register and €12.34 to renew. A .eu is €5.98 both years. A .fr is €5.98, then €6.59. A .de is €13.47 both years. Changing the registrant of a .fr costs €1.
The tip. Restoring an expired .fr costs only €7.35, against roughly €50 at OVHcloud. The .com is the opposite: €73.17 to restore. If you hold a lot of .com names, auto-renew is not optional.
The limit. BookMyName sells domains and very little else. Inbound mailboxes (POP3, IMAP, webmail, up to 1 GB per domain) and forwarding are included, but users who moved there point out there is no outgoing mail server, so you need a separate provider to send email. The interface feels dated. Who it's for: people who know what they are doing and want a fair price every year.
- Company
- Scaleway SAS, Iliad group (France)
- DNS
- Nameservers included
- Price
- .com €12.34/yr, flat
- Watch out
- No outgoing mail server
alwaysdata: careful DNS from a small Paris company
For developersalwaysdata is a small Paris-based company, known among developers for its free-forever hosting tier for personal projects. It also sells domains and publishes a full price grid: registration, renewal, transfer and restoration terms, extension by extension.
What you actually pay. A .com is €14, then €16 a year. A .eu, .es or .de is €9, then €10. A .fr is €8, then €10. Not the cheapest, but you see every number before you buy.
What sets it apart. DNS runs on two networks with two separate IP ranges, so one outage does not take your domain offline. DNSSEC and Let's Encrypt certificates, wildcards included, are free. DNS records for your services are created automatically, with an advanced mode when you want control.
Who it's for. Developers and small technical teams who already host there. Not for you if lowest long-term cost is the only goal.
- Company
- Paris, France
- DNS
- Two networks, free DNSSEC
- Price
- .com €14, then €16/yr
- Watch out
- Pricier over time
Ikoula: a price that does not double in year two
PredictableIkoula is a French hosting company founded in 1998, owning two data centres in France and certified ISO 27001. It sells mainly to businesses, and its domain pricing shows it: no teaser followed by a steep renewal.
What you actually pay. A .com is €12.60 to register and the same to renew. A .fr is €6.99 both years, or €1 for the first year if you commit to three years.
The tip. One domain is free for the first year, once per account, with its hosting plans. If you plan to host with Ikoula, order hosting first.
The limit. The interface and documentation assume a technical reader, and prices update live on the site, so check the basket total. Who it's for: a company that wants one European supplier for domains and servers and a predictable bill.
- Company
- France, since 1998
- DNS
- Ikoula data centres in France
- Price
- .com €12.60/yr, flat
- Watch out
- Technical interface
Gandi: still in Paris, now Dutch-owned, and expensive to keep
Know the renewalGandi built its reputation as the independent French registrar of choice for developers. In 2023 it merged with the Dutch group TWS to form Your.Online, a group backed by a Dutch family investment office. It is still a European company, which is why it is ranked here, but the change of owner came with price rises and paid email, and plenty of long-time customers moved to Infomaniak, Netim or INWX.
What you actually pay. On the French storefront (VAT included), a .com is €13.98 in year one, then €38.38 a year, or €34.54 if you renew for two years or more. A .fr goes from €7.20 to €28.78. That is roughly three times what BookMyName charges over three years.
Where it still shines. LiveDNS with anycast and DNSSEC, free change of registrant, and a .fr restoration fee of €30 VAT included.
Who it's for. Agencies and developers who rely on Gandi's DNS tooling and accept the price. Not for you if you just need a domain to point at your site.
- Company
- Paris; Your.Online group (Netherlands)
- DNS
- LiveDNS anycast, DNSSEC
- Price
- .com €13.98, then €38.38/yr
- Watch out
- Renewals about 3x the teaser
European or US registrar: what actually changes
US registrars like Porkbun or Cloudflare are excellent on price for a .com. But your domain is the address of your site and every email you send. On the day of a dispute, a suspension or an acquisition, who holds it matters more than a few euros.
| EU registrar | US registrar | Edge | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Governing law | Law of an EU member state | US state law | EU registrar |
| US CLOUD ActThe law follows the company's nationality, not the server location. | Does not apply | Applies, wherever the servers are | EU registrar |
| GDPR | Applies directly | Applies to EU customers, enforced from abroad | EU registrar |
| EU country domains | .fr, .eu, .de, .es widely available | Some do not sell .fr or other EU extensions | EU registrar |
| .com renewal | €12.34 to €16 excl. VAT among our picks | Often cheaper at US specialists | US registrar |
| Support language | French, English, often by phone | English, mostly tickets or chat | — |
| Risk of acquisition | Real (Gandi in 2023) | Real | — |
General comparison: the EU column comes from the registrars ranked on this page.
How to check a registrar is really European
A European address and an EU flag on the homepage prove little. Here are the five checks we run, in order.
1. The contracting company
Open the legal notice and the terms of service. Find the company name, its registration number and its country. That company holds your domain with the registry, and its law applies. BookMyName, for example, points to Scaleway SAS: that is the company that counts, not the brand.
2. The owner
A European company can belong to a group elsewhere, and owners change. Gandi kept its Paris address after merging into a Dutch group; prices went up and email became paid. Look for recent acquisitions before committing a portfolio.
3. Where DNS runs
Check whose network serves your nameservers. OVHcloud and Ikoula use their own. If a registrar outsources DNS to a US provider, part of the chain leaves Europe. Whatever you pick, switch on DNSSEC: every registrar ranked here supports it.
4. Sub-processors for email and certificates
The domain stays with the registrar, but bundled services can live elsewhere: email, WHOIS privacy, SSL. Read the sub-processor list in the data processing agreement. Mailboxes hosted outside Europe matter more than DNS.
5. Three-year cost and recovery fees
Add up three years before choosing, then check the restoration fee: a forgotten .com costs €50.99 to recover at OVHcloud and €73.17 at BookMyName. Outgoing transfers should always be free: that is your exit door.
6. Real people, reachable
When a domain is suspended, you need a human fast. Check the support hours and channels before you buy, not after. Netim, for example, publishes bilingual support Monday to Saturday with a four-business-hour reply target, even though its price list sits behind a login.
- Name, registration number and country of the contracting company
- Main owner, and any recent acquisition
- Network running the nameservers, and DNSSEC on
- Sub-processors for email and certificates
- Total cost over three years, renewals included
- Restoration and change-of-registrant fees
Questions people ask about European registrars
What is the best European domain registrar in 2026?
OVHcloud for most people: a French company with its own DNS network, a .com at €8.49 then €14.29 a year, and around 900 extensions. If you hold many domains and want flat renewals, BookMyName keeps the .com at €12.34 every year.
Is Gandi still European?
Yes. Gandi is still based in Paris and since its 2023 merger with the Dutch group TWS belongs to Your.Online, backed by a Dutch family investment office. It is no longer independent or French-owned, and its renewals rose: a .com now renews at €38.38 a year VAT included on its French storefront.
How much does a .com cost over three years at a European registrar?
Between €37 and €46 excluding VAT among our picks: €37.02 at BookMyName, €37.07 at OVHcloud, €37.80 at Ikoula and €46 at alwaysdata. Gandi comes to €90.74 VAT included, because its renewal is almost three times its first-year price. Always add the two renewals to the teaser before you compare.
Is Infomaniak a good European registrar?
Infomaniak is a Geneva-based company with Swiss data centres, and many former Gandi users moved there. We did not rank it because its price list loads dynamically and we could not read both registration and renewal prices. Switzerland is outside the EU but recognised as offering adequate data protection.
Why use an EU registrar instead of Cloudflare or Namecheap?
Jurisdiction and access to EU extensions. An EU company is not subject to the US CLOUD Act, and it sells .fr, .eu or .de without restrictions. If you only need a .com and price is everything, US registrars are often cheaper. If you want to leave Cloudflare, see our guide to switching from Cloudflare. Want your hosting in Europe too? See our comparison of European web hosts.
Can a non-EU resident register a .eu domain?
A .eu requires the registrant to be an EU citizen, or a resident or company established in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway. A US or UK resident without an EU establishment cannot hold one. The .com has no such rule.
How do I transfer a domain to a European registrar?
Unlock the domain at your current registrar, request the authorisation code, then start the transfer at the new one. A transfer usually adds a year: BookMyName charges €12.34 to transfer a .com and Gandi €13.98 VAT included. Note that a domain cannot leave its registrar during the 60 days after registration.
What happens if I forget to renew my domain?
Your site and email stop. For a while you can still renew at the normal price, then the domain enters a redemption period where recovery is far more expensive: €50.99 for a .com at OVHcloud, €73.17 at BookMyName. After that, anyone can register it.