Head-to-head / .io vs .dev
.io vs .dev
For developer-facing products in 2026, .dev quietly wins: about a quarter of the price, registry-enforced HTTPS, and a clearer statement of audience. .io's remaining edge is incumbency and sounding like the startups you grew up reading about — real brand gravity, but nostalgia priced at 3–5x. New projects should default to .dev.
For developer-facing products in 2026, .dev quietly wins: a quarter of the price, registry-enforced HTTPS, and a clearer statement of audience. .io's remaining advantages are incumbency and sounding like the startups you grew up reading about. That's real brand gravity, but it's nostalgia priced at 4x. New projects should default to .dev.
When to pick which
Choose .io — Pick .io when the incumbent-startup aura genuinely matters to your buyers, or you want a short real-word domain and the .dev equivalent is taken. Accept the higher renewal as the cost of the vibe.
Choose .dev — Pick .dev for almost any new developer tool: it's cheaper, forces HTTPS, and says 'for developers' more clearly than .io does. The value-per-dollar is hard to beat.
Side by side
| .io | .dev | |
|---|---|---|
| Our rating | 4/5 | 5/5 |
| Typical price | ~$30–60/yr | ~$12–15/yr |
| Around since | 1997 | 2019 |
| Type | ccTLD (British Indian Ocean Territory) | generic |
| One-liner | The default startup TLD of the 2010s. Still credible for dev tools, but pricier and no longer novel — and its ccTLD status has a real geopolitical asterisk. | Best value in domains for anything developer-facing. Cheap, on-message, and HTTPS-enforced at the registry level. |
Common questions
Should I use .io or .dev for a developer tool?
Default to .dev for new projects — it's roughly a quarter of .io's price, enforces HTTPS at the browser level, and states the audience clearly. Choose .io only when its incumbent-startup recognition is worth paying several times more for.
Why is .io so much more expensive than .dev?
.io is a ccTLD with premium positioning and higher registry pricing; .dev is a Google-run generic priced closer to cost. Expect .io renewals around $30–60/yr versus roughly $12–15/yr for .dev.
Deeper dives: the full .io review and the full .dev review. Not sure a name is even free? Here’s how to check a domain the honest way.