CCTLD: I mapped all 248 country-code domains. A few of the rules surprised me

[doctor-raydoctor-ray is verified member.]

Hi everyone,

ccTLD info has always been scattered: one rule on a registrar page, a different one in an old thread, and no clear answer on who runs half these extensions. So I built the free reference I always wanted: https://cctld.it.com

A few things I learned along the way:

• Only about half (128 of 248) are open to anyone worldwide.
• .it isn't open to US registrants directly. You need an EEA connection.
• .ai has a 2-year minimum, so the real upfront cost is double the yearly price.
• Since September 2026, .ru and .su holders must verify their identity through a Russian government portal.
• Google treats 20 ccTLDs as generic (.io, .ai, .co, .me, .tv…). The rest signal a target country.

On the site:
• A profile for every extension: registry, who can register, region and official IANA link
• In-depth guides for 71 major ccTLDs
• A directory you can filter by "open worldwide" vs "local presence required"
• Free tools: compare extensions side by side, a holding-cost calculator and a domain hack finder

It's free, with no ads and no sign-up. Where a registry's rules couldn't be confirmed, it says so instead of guessing.

You all know these extensions better than anyone, so I'd love to hear from you:
• What's the strangest ccTLD rule you've run into?
• Which ccTLD do you think is most underpriced right now?
• Spot anything wrong for an extension you hold? Tell me and I'll fix it.

Thanks for taking a look!
David

 

[doctor-raydoctor-ray is verified member.]

Hello everyone! What is your favorite cctld and why?

 

[ElhagMousab]

Most of my portfolio is .com, but if I had to pick one ccTLD it would be .de. The aftermarket there is deep, the buyers are local businesses that actually need the name, and the renewal price has stayed in the same band for years, which matters to me more than a cheap first-year promo. What convinced me was watching a two-word German service name sit unsold for months and then go to a Hamburg agency at a number I would have called unrealistic for a .com of the same length. The other extension I keep coming back to is .co.uk, mostly because end users there treat it as the default rather than an alternative.

The rules are the part people underestimate. Every extension has its own eligibility, renewal quirks and transfer paperwork, and I have lost money twice by assuming a registry worked like the one before it. These days I keep a renewal calendar outside the registrar account, because one missed notice costs more than a year of holding.

 

[HelmutsHelmuts is verified member.]

Hi everyone,

ccTLD info has always been scattered: one rule on a registrar page, a different one in an old thread, and no clear answer on who runs half these extensions. So I built the free reference I always wanted: https://cctld.it.com

A few things I learned along the way:

• Only about half (128 of 248) are open to anyone worldwide.
• .it isn't open to US registrants directly. You need an EEA connection.
• .ai has a 2-year minimum, so the real upfront cost is double the yearly price.
• Since September 2026, .ru and .su holders must verify their identity through a Russian government portal.
• Google treats 20 ccTLDs as generic (.io, .ai, .co, .me, .tv…). The rest signal a target country.

On the site:
• A profile for every extension: registry, who can register, region and official IANA link
• In-depth guides for 71 major ccTLDs
• A directory you can filter by "open worldwide" vs "local presence required"
• Free tools: compare extensions side by side, a holding-cost calculator and a domain hack finder

It's free, with no ads and no sign-up. Where a registry's rules couldn't be confirmed, it says so instead of guessing.

You all know these extensions better than anyone, so I'd love to hear from you:
• What's the strangest ccTLD rule you've run into?
• Which ccTLD do you think is most underpriced right now?
• Spot anything wrong for an extension you hold? Tell me and I'll fix it.

Thanks for taking a look!
David

Good morning David,

Really curious - could you share the raw data of your research.

ahhh .su > Soviet Union .. I really hope ICANN closes this one.. all the countries (at least on the West side of Russia) remember this time as being occupied by Russia that started with cleansing of elites..

This is actually a very cool idea - @birajst, we could also think on publishing findings of ours regurarly, don't you think?

--

@doctor-ray - cool use of it.com And, a very nice design!

.. the structure - perfect!! Love it

are there any data points you will be adding? some stats on the zone and the country itself, perfaps?

.. very very cool resource

btw, I also have a few cool it.com domains - keep them all for development

let me send your page to the @it.com team maybe you will get some extra advertising from them

 

[HelmutsHelmuts is verified member.]

Hello everyone! What is your favorite cctld and why?

.lv

 

[nicenicnicenic is verified member.]

.lv

Haha Helmuts, why .lv?

 

[birajstbirajst is verified member.]

Good morning David,

Really curious - could you share the raw data of your research.

ahhh .su > Soviet Union .. I really hope ICANN closes this one.. all the countries (at least on the West side of Russia) remember this time as being occupied by Russia that started with cleansing of elites..

This is actually a very cool idea - @birajst, we could also think on publishing findings of ours regurarly, don't you think?

--

@doctor-ray - cool use of it.com And, a very nice design!

.. the structure - perfect!! Love it

are there any data points you will be adding? some stats on the zone and the country itself, perfaps?

.. very very cool resource

btw, I also have a few cool it.com domains - keep them all for development

let me send your page to the @it.com team maybe you will get some extra advertising from them

Sounds good to me @Helmuts I'm up for it. I already have a lot of cctld data from sld checker so somethink like domain counts per extension would be easy to share. let me think about what would be most useful for everyone.

Nice work @doctor-ray , the site looks clean

 

[doctor-raydoctor-ray is verified member.]

Good morning David,

Really curious - could you share the raw data of your research.

ahhh .su > Soviet Union .. I really hope ICANN closes this one.. all the countries (at least on the West side of Russia) remember this time as being occupied by Russia that started with cleansing of elites..

This is actually a very cool idea - @birajst, we could also think on publishing findings of ours regurarly, don't you think?

--

@doctor-ray - cool use of it.com And, a very nice design!

.. the structure - perfect!! Love it

are there any data points you will be adding? some stats on the zone and the country itself, perfaps?

.. very very cool resource

btw, I also have a few cool it.com domains - keep them all for development

let me send your page to the @it.com team maybe you will get some extra advertising from them

Thanks everyone, really appreciate the kind words!

@Helmuts Yes, happy to share the raw data. I’ll put together a CSV of all 248 extensions (code, country, region, registry, open worldwide or local presence, IANA link) and post the link here. And thank you for passing it to the it.com team!

On .su: it’s an odd one. The country is long gone, but the extension is still in the root and still taking registrations. There’s been talk for years about retiring it, so it’ll be interesting to see if that ever happens.


More data points: yes, zone sizes and some basic country stats are next on my list.

 

[doctor-raydoctor-ray is verified member.]

@birajst Domain counts per extension from SLD Checker would be a great addition. If you’re up for sharing them, I’d add them to each extension’s page and credit DNForum / SLD Checker as the source.


@ElhagMousab Great point about the renewal calendar. Assuming one registry works like the last one has burned a lot of us. .de is a good pick, too: real local end users and steady pricing.


@Helmuts and why .lv? I’m curious too

 

[birajstbirajst is verified member.]

@birajst Domain counts per extension from SLD Checker would be a great addition. If you’re up for sharing them, I’d add them to each extension’s page and credit DNForum / SLD Checker as the source.


@ElhagMousab Great point about the renewal calendar. Assuming one registry works like the last one has burned a lot of us. .de is a good pick, too: real local end users and steady pricing.


@Helmuts and why .lv? I’m curious too

Thank you @doctor-ray, that sounds great and I appreciate the credit I will check our cctld data and put together CSV for the extensions where we have reliable counts. Just want to mention out that these would be domains tracked by SLD Checker so they may not match with the official registry totals. i will share an update once I've verified the numbers.