Head-to-head / .com vs .co
.com vs .co
.com wins whenever it's actually available at sane money — it's the default of defaults and this isn't close. The real decision is what to do when the .com is taken: .co is the best pure substitute — one letter off, 'company' semantics, fully normalized by a decade of startups. Just accept that some users will type .com and land elsewhere.
.com wins every time it's actually available at sane money — this isn't close, it's the default of defaults. The real question is what to do when it isn't, and .co is the best pure substitute: one letter off, 'company' semantics, fully normalized. Just accept the structural tax — some users will type .com and land on someone else's site. If you win big, budget to buy the .com later. Everyone does.
When to pick which
Choose .com — Pick .com when the exact-match is available at a price you can stomach. It's the only extension that requires zero explanation to users, investors, and email filters alike — stop optimizing and buy it.
Choose .co — Pick .co when the .com is taken or absurdly priced and you want the closest credible stand-in. It reads as 'company', looks clean, and a decade of startups (from Vine to Angel.co) normalized it.
Side by side
| .com | .co | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical price / yr | ~$10–12 | ~$25–35 |
| Type | Generic (VeriSign) | Country-code for Colombia, marketed globally |
| Type-in traffic leakage | None — it's the default | Real — some users auto-type .com |
| Trust at first glance | Universal | High, but a notch below .com |
| Our rating | 5/5 | 4/5 |
| Around since | 1985 | 1991 |
| Type | generic | ccTLD (Colombia) |
| One-liner | Still the king. If the .com is available and affordable, stop reading and buy it. | The best pure .com substitute — one letter off, reads as 'company', no explanation needed. |
Common questions
Is .co as good as .com?
Close, but not equal. .co is the strongest .com substitute and reads as 'company', but you'll lose a slice of type-in traffic to the matching .com and pay two to three times the renewal. If the .com is available at reasonable money, take it; otherwise .co is the best fallback.
Will people confuse .co with .com?
Some will — a fraction of users habitually type .com after any brand name. If you build on .co and grow, budget to buy the matching .com later to catch that traffic. Many .co startups eventually do.
Deeper dives: the full .com review and the full .co review. Not sure a name is even free? Here’s how to check a domain the honest way.