Namecheap Notifies Customers of New .fm Pricing Effective August 15, 2026

Update (August 6, 2026): Namecheap has retracted the price increase reported below. In a follow-up notice sent to customers on the morning of August 6, under the heading “Prices for .fm domains will not be changing,” the company said the original email was sent incorrectly as the result of a miscommunication, and that prices for .fm domains will remain unchanged. Namecheap added that its processes are under review to mitigate related errors going forward. No new pricing takes effect on August 15. Customers who renewed early in response to the original notice did so at the standard rate, which is unchanged.¹

The original August 4 report is preserved below for the record. GBTI Network will keep an ear open for further information about the sudden hike and its retraction, including whether the underlying registry price is in fact moving, and will update this article if the picture changes.

August 4, 2026: Namecheap has notified customers that its standard .fm domain pricing will increase on August 15, 2026. Renewal and reactivation pricing will rise from $118.98 to $202.98 per year, an increase of $84, or approximately 70.6 percent. Transfer pricing will rise from $99.98 to $180.98, an increase of $81, or approximately 81 percent.²

Namecheap attributed the changes to a universal price increase from the .fm domain registry. Customers may renew, reactivate, or transfer eligible domains at the current rates until August 15.

Pricing details remain limited

The customer notice does not identify the new wholesale registry price or provide a breakdown of how Namecheap calculated its updated retail prices.

At the time of publication, Namecheap’s public .fm page continued to list renewals at $118.98 and transfers at $99.98. The page also lists a maximum registration and renewal period of 10 years.³

The official dotFM pricing page continued to list standard .fm renewals at $98.95 per year.⁴ The public pricing pages may not yet reflect changes scheduled to take effect on August 15.

GBTI Network has not independently confirmed the new wholesale price with dotFM or the .fm registry.

Options for .fm domain holders

Customers planning to retain an .fm domain should review their expiration date, available renewal period, and pricing from other providers before August 15.

Renewing early may allow customers to add eligible years at the current price. Transferring to another provider may reduce immediate costs, but it may not prevent future increases if the underlying registry price is changing across registrars.

Domain holders should confirm whether a transfer includes an additional registration year. Namecheap states that transfer fees generally include a renewal, although procedures may vary by domain extension.⁵ Customers should also check for premium pricing, restoration fees, taxes, and other provider-specific costs.