Guide
Spaceship domain review: what a .com really costs over three years
The short answer
Spaceship has the lowest .com renewal in our registrar comparison: $8.88 the first year, then $9.98 a year, or $28.84 over three years ($29.44 with ICANN's $0.20 yearly fee). Privacy and two-factor login are free, email is extra, and Spaceship has not yet published its .com price for after Verisign's November 1, 2026 increase.
The short version
- .com first year: $8.88, shown as a sale price (regular $9.66).
- .com renewal: $9.98 a year, plus ICANN’s $0.20 fee at checkout.
- 3-year total: $28.84, or $29.44 with the ICANN fee. That is the lowest .com renewal in our registrar comparison.
- Right for: anyone who wants a cheap .com to keep for years and does not need email bundled in.
A domain registrar is the company you rent your domain name from. Spaceship is one, accredited by ICANN.
What a .com really costs over three years
| .com at Spaceship | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Listed price | $8.88 | $9.98 | $9.98 | $28.84 |
| With $0.20 ICANN fee | $9.08 | $10.18 | $10.18 | $29.44 |
The math: $8.88 + $9.98 + $9.98 = $28.84. Add $0.20 a year for ICANN ($0.60) and you get $29.44.
Spaceship’s .com page also lets you register for several years at once. Three years up front is listed at $28.20 ($8.88 + $9.66 + $9.66), or $28.80 with the ICANN fee. You pay it all today, but you also lock in today’s price for those years.
Other popular endings
| Ending | First year | Renewal |
|---|---|---|
| .net | $11.20 | $11.20 |
| .org | $6.65 (sale) | $11.39 |
| .co | $15.53 (sale) | $31.05 |
| .io | $31.98 (sale) | $51.75 |
The ICANN $0.20 fee is added to .net and .org, not to .co or .io. Note how .co and .io double at renewal. Our guide to domain extensions explains the choice.
What is included free
- WHOIS privacy: free on eligible domains, run by Withheld for Privacy. It is not available for .ca.
- Two-factor login: accounts support 2FA and passkeys. Turn one on the day you sign up.
- Registrar lock: you can turn the domain lock on and off in your account.
- Email forwarding: up to 100 aliases. The help page does not state a price. Forwarding passes mail to an inbox you already have; it is not a mailbox.
- DNS: domains use Spaceship’s nameservers, and you can switch to another provider’s. The help pages do not say whether Spaceship’s DNS is free.
- SSL: a free certificate with a domain alone is not mentioned on the pages we checked. Spaceship sells SSL certificates separately.
In general terms, from managing our own domains there: the dashboard shows what renews when, and you can switch auto-renew on for each domain.
Upsells to watch for
- Spacemail (email): billed yearly. Starter is $5.88 the first year for 1 mailbox, then $6.88 a year. Pro is $6.88 the first year for 1 mailbox with more storage, then $8.88 a year. Advanced is $22.88 the first year for 5 mailboxes, then $27.88 a year. See email hosting for what you get.
- Hosting, EasyWP (managed WordPress), CDN, SSL and FastVPN: all sold separately. Their prices are not covered on this page.
- Letting a domain expire: not an upsell, but the costliest mistake. After 30 days of grace, getting a .com back costs $41.40 plus the $9.98 renewal, or $51.38. Keep auto-renew on and a working card on file.
Moving your domain away
- Turn off the domain lock and get the EPP authorization code from your Spaceship account.
- You cannot move a domain in its first 60 days after registration, or within 60 days of a transfer.
- Under ICANN rules, a registrar must give you the code within five days of asking if you cannot get it yourself.
- Spaceship’s agreement lists no transfer-out fee, but unpaid fees can block a transfer.
- If you also move DNS, Spaceship warns that switching nameservers cuts hosting and email links until you rebuild the records, and can take up to 48 hours.
Our domain transfer guide walks through the whole move.
Who it is right for, and who should look elsewhere
Right for:
- Owners who want the lowest .com renewal and plan to keep the domain for years.
- People who host their site and email somewhere else and only need the domain.
- Anyone managing many domains who wants one simple renewal list.
Look elsewhere if:
- You want a free mailbox with your domain. Spacemail costs extra.
- You want one price with the ICANN fee already built in. Porkbun and Cloudflare do that; see our registrar comparison.
- You want a .co or .io and care about the renewal; compare first.
To add hosting and email into the total, try our website cost calculator.
Sources
Spaceship: .com pricing, domain pricing, ICANN fee, Domain Registration Agreement, domain life cycle, redemption pricing, email forwarding, custom nameservers, passkeys and 2FA, Spacemail pricing, legal, ownership note. Verisign: Q1 2026 results. ICANN: Transfer Policy.
Questions people ask
Is Spaceship owned by Namecheap?
Spaceship's own site says Spaceship is a trademark of Namecheap, Inc. and that it was founded by Richard Kirkendall. Treat the two as related companies. We use both for our own domains and have no affiliate deal with either.
Will Spaceship's .com renewal go up after November 1, 2026?
Most likely. Verisign's wholesale .com fee rises from $10.26 to $10.97 a year on that date, and Spaceship's $9.98 renewal is below both. Spaceship had not published a new .com price on the pages we checked, and its agreement says renewal prices can change before your renewal date.
Does a Spaceship domain come with free email?
No mailbox is included. You can set up email forwarding with up to 100 aliases (the help page gives no price), or buy Spacemail, which starts at $5.88 for the first year for one mailbox and renews at $6.88 a year.
How do I transfer a domain away from Spaceship?
Turn off the domain lock, get the EPP authorization code in your account, and start the transfer at the new registrar. You cannot move a domain in its first 60 days or within 60 days of a transfer. Spaceship's agreement lists no transfer-out fee.
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