How to Buy a Domain Name in New Zealand
- How to buy a domain name in New Zealand: 4 steps
- .co.nz, .nz or .com: which should you choose?
- Do you need to be in New Zealand to buy a .co.nz domain?
- How long can you register a domain for?
- What does a domain name cost in New Zealand?
- What’s included with your domain
- Buying your domain and hosting together
- Already own a domain? Here’s how to transfer it
- Frequently asked questions
Buying a domain name in New Zealand takes about five minutes. Search for the name you want, choose your extension (.co.nz, .nz or .com), enter your contact details, and pay. Your domain is active within minutes, and you can point it at a website whenever you’re ready.
That’s the short version. Below is everything else worth knowing before you buy: which extension actually suits your business, what a domain really costs in New Zealand, and the rules most people get wrong.
How to buy a domain name in New Zealand: 4 steps
Step 1: Search for the name you want
Type the name into a domain name search and it tells you instantly whether it’s available. If your first choice is taken, try a different extension before you start bolting words on. yourbusiness.nz is far better than yourbusinessltd.co.nz.
A few things worth doing before you commit:
- Say it out loud. If you have to spell it over the phone every time, it’s the wrong name.
- Check the social handles while you’re at it. Matching names across the board is worth more than a perfect domain on its own.
- Skip hyphens and numbers. They get lost in conversation and typed wrong.
- Shorter wins. Every extra character is another chance for someone to mistype it.
Step 2: Choose your extension
This is the decision that actually matters, and there’s more on it in the next section. The short answer for most New Zealand businesses: .co.nz.
Step 3: Register it
You’ll need a name, an email address, a physical address and a phone number. That’s it: no paperwork, no business number, no waiting for approval. Registration is granted on a first-come, first-served basis, so the name is yours the moment you pay.
Your contact details go into the public WHOIS record unless you add domain privacy, which replaces them with proxy details. Worth taking if you’re registering as an individual rather than a company.
Step 4: Point it at your website
A domain on its own is just a name. It needs somewhere to send visitors. You do that by updating the nameservers to point at your hosting provider.
If you buy your domain and hosting from the same place, this step is done for you and there’s nothing to configure. If they’re with different providers, you’ll be copying nameserver records between two dashboards.
.co.nz, .nz or .com: which should you choose?
| Extension | Choose it if | Why |
|---|---|---|
| .co.nz | You’re a New Zealand business serving New Zealand customers | The default for Kiwi businesses. Tells customers immediately that you’re local, and it’s the extension people here expect to type |
| .nz | You want something shorter and more modern, or your .co.nz is taken | Same New Zealand signal, fewer characters. Increasingly common with newer businesses |
| .com | You sell internationally, or you want the most recognised address in the world | No geographic association at all. The safest choice if New Zealand isn’t your only market |
| .org.nz | You’re a charity, club, or community organisation | Signals not-for-profit |
| .net.nz | You’re a network or infrastructure business | Rarely the right pick for a general business |
A tip worth the money: if the budget stretches, register both the .co.nz and the .com of your business name. It stops a competitor picking up the other one later, and it costs less than one hour of anyone’s time to sort out afterwards.
The full list of .nz extensions
New Zealand has more second-level domains than most people realise. These are all open to anyone, first-come first-served:
.co.nz, .nz, .net.nz, .org.nz, .ac.nz, .geek.nz, .gen.nz, .kiwi.nz, .maori.nz, .school.nz
A few others, like .govt.nz and .health.nz, are moderated and restricted to specific organisations.
Do you need to be in New Zealand to buy a .co.nz domain?
No. This is the single most common misconception about .nz domains, and it stops people buying who are perfectly entitled to.
The .nz Rules set by the Domain Name Commission say a person can register a .nz domain name if they are “an Identifiable Individual over the age of 18 or lawfully constituted entity” (clause 2.2.1). There is no residency requirement, no address requirement, and no requirement to prove a connection to New Zealand.
The Domain Name Commission puts it plainly: “there is no requirement that registrants of .nz domain names reside in New Zealand.”
In practice, around one in five .nz domains is registered by someone outside the country, many of them in Australia. If you’re an Australian business selling into New Zealand, a .co.nz is one of the cheapest credibility signals you can buy.
What you do need is accurate contact details, and to be reachable at them.
How long can you register a domain for?
Between one and ten years at a time. Ten years is the maximum the .nz Rules allow (clause 2.3.13). You can’t buy a domain permanently, anywhere in the world, from anyone. Domain names are licensed, not owned outright.
Registering for multiple years up front means fewer renewals to remember, and the name stays yours for the whole term.
If you miss a renewal, you don’t lose the name immediately. There’s a grace period after expiry where you can still renew normally. After that, a cancelled .nz domain enters a 90-day pending release period before it returns to the pool, so a name that looks “expired” often can’t be registered by anyone else for another three months.
What does a domain name cost in New Zealand?
Domain pricing in New Zealand is more variable than it looks, and the advertised number isn’t always what you pay.
| Extension | Price per year (GST incl.) |
|---|---|
| .co.nz | $33.00 |
| .nz | $33.00 |
| .com | $19.99 |
| .net | $22.99 |
| .org | $18.99 |
All our prices include GST. That’s worth checking wherever you buy. Several New Zealand registrars advertise excluding GST, which means the number you see isn’t the number you pay. A $33.50 domain advertised ex-GST is $38.53 at the checkout.
Renewal is the same price as registration, with no first-year promo that jumps when the name comes up for renewal. Our hosting renews at the same price you signed up at, too: no introductory rate that jumps in year two.
For the full breakdown including renewal pricing, see our guide to domain costs and renewals in New Zealand.
What’s included with your domain
Every domain registered with us comes with:
- A free 10GB mailbox: a real business email address on your own domain, not a generic Gmail. Need more inboxes? See our business email hosting plans.
- Full DNS control: A, CNAME, TXT, MX and SRV records, managed from one dashboard
- Privacy protection: keeps your personal contact details out of the public WHOIS database
- Renewal reminders: so a domain never quietly expires on you
- Local support: a New Zealand team to talk to when something needs sorting
Buying your domain and hosting together
Most people buying a domain need somewhere to put a website. Doing both in one place saves you the part everyone finds annoying. If you’re unsure where one stops and the other starts, here’s the difference between domain hosting and web hosting.
- One provider, one bill, one New Zealand team to call when something needs sorting
- We connect the domain to your hosting for you: no nameserver records to copy across, no DNS to configure
- Web hosting from $4.49/month, GST included, with free SSL, a free global CDN and professional email
- Free migration if you already have a website somewhere else. Here’s how moving your website to a new host works.
100% New Zealand owned and operated, with a real Kiwi support team you can actually reach.
Search for your .co.nz domain or compare our NZ hosting plans.
Already own a domain? Here’s how to transfer it
Moving a domain you already own to a new provider is straightforward, and it doesn’t take your website offline.
- Unlock the domain at your current provider.
- Request the authorisation code, sometimes called an EPP code or transfer key. For .nz domains it’s called a UDAI. Your current provider has to give it to you.
- Start the transfer with your new provider and enter that code.
- Approve the confirmation email. The transfer usually completes within a few days.
Your website and email keep running throughout, as long as the DNS records stay the same. For .com, .net and .org, a transfer normally adds a year to your registration rather than resetting it, so you’re not paying twice.
Frequently asked questions
How do I buy a domain name in New Zealand?
Search for the name you want, choose an extension like .co.nz or .com, enter your contact details and pay. It takes about five minutes and the domain is active almost immediately.
Where’s the best place to buy a domain name in NZ?
Buy from a New Zealand registrar if you want local support, NZD billing and someone in your own time zone when something goes wrong. If you’ll also need hosting or email, buying them together saves you configuring anything yourself.
How much does a domain name cost in New Zealand?
It depends on the extension. With us, a .co.nz or .nz is $33.00 a year and a .com is $19.99 a year, GST included. Always check whether a price includes GST, because many NZ registrars quote excluding it.
Can I buy a domain name permanently?
No. Domain names are licensed, not owned. The longest you can register a .nz domain for in one go is ten years, and you renew from there.
Do I need a New Zealand address to register a .co.nz?
No. Anyone over 18, or any lawfully constituted entity anywhere in the world, can register a .co.nz. You just need accurate, contactable details.
What happens if I forget to renew my domain?
There’s a grace period after expiry where you can still renew normally. We send reminders well in advance so it doesn’t get that far.
Can I register a domain that just expired?
Not straight away. A cancelled .nz domain goes into a 90-day pending release period before it becomes available again.
Do I need hosting as well as a domain?
Only if you want a website or email on that domain. A domain by itself is just the address. Hosting is the space the website lives in. If you’re not ready to build yet, register the name anyway so nobody else takes it.