For years, many in the domain industry — myself included — believed that Verisign (NASDAQ: VRSN) could not raise the wholesale price of .com domains in 2026.
But after digging deeper, it turns out the assumption was too simplistic.

Why Everyone Thought 2026 Was Off-Limits

The logic was straightforward:

• Verisign raised .com prices in September 2024.

• That increase happened in the final year of the previous six-year contract cycle.

• The .com Registry Agreement allows Verisign to increase prices in four of every six years, typically the last four.

• Therefore, after the 2024 increase, the next allowed window would seem to exclude 2025 and 2026.

But the reality is more nuanced.

The Key Detail Everyone Overlooked

The timing of the 2024 increase—September 1—was arbitrary and not tied to the actual contractual “pricing year.”

The Real Timeline

• Amendment 35 (NTIA + Verisign) became effective October 26, 2018.

• ICANN and Verisign aligned their registry agreement to begin the same date: October 26.

• This defines the official Pricing Year as:
  October 26 → October 25

• Verisign could have raised prices on October 26, 2020—but froze increases due to the pandemic.

• Instead, it raised prices each year on September 1, late in each allowed pricing year.

The last allowable increase of the 2018–2024 cycle was therefore September 1, 2024.

New Agreement, New Window

The NTIA renewed the agreement on November 29, 2024.

An NTIA blog post stated:

“The current terms do not permit any increases in wholesale .com prices until September 1, 2026.”

However, this conflicts with the actual text of NTIA’s amendment and ICANN’s registry agreement.

The Contract Says Something Different

The ICANN contract explicitly states that Verisign may raise prices:

“…in each Pricing Year of the final four Pricing Years of every six-year period,
with the first six-year period beginning on October 26, 2018…”

Meaning the new six-year cycle starts again:

October 26, 2024 → October 25, 2030

Thus, the four permissible years for price increases are:

• Pricing Year 3 → 2026

• Pricing Year 4 → 2027

• Pricing Year 5 → 2028

• Pricing Year 6 → 2029

So what’s the earliest possible increase?

Based on the contract:

• Verisign could raise prices on or after October 26, 2026

Based on the NTIA’s public blog post:

• Verisign could raise prices starting September 1, 2026

Either way…
👉 A .com price hike is very likely in late 2026.

How Much Will Prices Increase?

The .com contract allows Verisign to raise prices by up to 7% in each permitted year.

So the wholesale fee could increase from:

• $10.26 → $10.97 (approx.)

Verisign must give six months’ notice, so any planned increase will be known before mid-2026.