Web3 names compared on registration and renewal cost

Web3 naming looks like a purchase and behaves like a lease. The first-year price is the teaser; the renewal cadence, grace period, and what happens when you miss it - that is the product. The ranking above prices the full lifecycle, and this page maps the economics: what the lease really costs, where the sniper economy attacks, and the claim routes to check before you need them.

The lifecycle is the contract

A name has one cash-outflow side (renewals + gas) and one value side (whatever your users resolve through it). The honest cost model is price per held year, including gas and premium tiers [1]:

• Renewal cadence - yearly bills need a wallet that is alive at renewal time. Auto-renew needs an approval in place; if neither exists, the sniper economy waits.
• Grace periods - weeks, not months, on most registries. Miss it and the name enters an auction where snipers bid in minutes.
• Premium tiers - the resale market prices expiring names; check what renewal costs in the premium bracket before you build a brand on a suffix.
• Resolver lock-in - the records format you pick (content hash, IPFS gateway, custom resolver) becomes your migration burden. Standardize early [1].

Squatting: the economy that waits for you

Every registry has a sniper economy tuned to its grace rules:

• Watchbots monitor expiry lists and bid the moment protection lapses. The defense is automation: auto-renew approvals, or a reminder cadence you actually honor.
• Brand conflicts run through dispute processes that differ per system - some honor trademark filings, others run first-priority auctions. The ENS vs UD comparison maps the differences [3].
• TLD-level games (Handshake-style) are auctions with different dynamics: you are buying into a root zone, not a suffix, and the squatting economy prices that in.
• Renewal-rate traps. Some registrars publish teaser first-year pricing with a different renewal bracket - the same structure the affiliate program terms document for hosting deals. Price year two, not year one [4].

What a name does not give you

Three misconceptions, each with a support-ticket ledger:

• A name is not hosting. A name points at records - addresses, content hashes. Gateways and resolvers are separate services; the name does not store anything. Our scam watch keeps the operators that confused the two on record.
• A name is not a trademark. Registration gives you the lease, not brand exclusivity. Disputes run through each system's process, with different outcomes [3].
• A name is not portable. Moving to another registry means moving resolvers and users. The ENS vs UD comparison maps the real differences before you build. For anything user-facing, test the migration path once while it is still cheap to change your mind.

A useful stress test before you commit: 0 naming projects in our archive stopped resolving entirely - the registry outlives some of them, and your resolver setup should not depend on any single operator staying alive.

Renewal economics and what to verify

The renewal terms some registrars publish read like financing deals - and that is the right mental model. Compare a five-year hold, not a first purchase - price per held year including gas and premiums:

• Yearly models (ENS-style): cheap on rollups, but the wallet must be alive at renewal time [1].
• One-time models: no renewal bill; the claim and resale markets differ, and subname terms vary by provider [3].
• Root-zone names (Handshake TLDs): auction games with a different squatting dynamic - you are buying into a zone, not a suffix [2].

The honest ledger: 14 systems are tracked in the table above, of which 93% let you register without identity checks - a real differentiator if your name needs to stay unlinked from your legal identity. Before committing, price the renewal column first and the price column second.

What breaks in practice

• Dead wallets. A seed phrase that no longer signs at renewal time. Every registry has an expiry list; the sniper economy reads it daily.
• Gas spikes. Yearly renewals on Ethereum mainnet collide with fee spikes; on rollups the same operation costs cents. Set the renewal cadence to match your gas reality.
• Subname dependencies. Subname issuance terms vary - some are revocable, some are rentals. Read the subname contract before you build a brand on one [3].
• Registry capture at expiry. Where an expired name lands differs: public auctions, registrar custody, or back to the open market. The difference decides whether you get a reminder or a ransom - and 0 projects in our archive resolved the hard way.

Live from our database - caveats and sources in each linked review.

The FAQ below answers the renewal, claim-route and portability questions in full. Two of the 14 tracked systems let you hold a name without identity checks at any point - worth knowing before the first purchase, not after.