Quick answer
What is the best domain extension for a personal website?
The best domain extension for a personal website is .com with your full name, at $11.99/year on DotAlmanac. If that is taken, .me reads as personal and costs $18.49/year, the same to renew, as of 29 October 2026. Developers can use .dev; writers can use .blog.
Personal domains at DotAlmanac (29 October 2026)
| Your name in .com | $11.99 first year, $11.99 renewal |
|---|---|
| .me | $18.49 first year, $18.49 renewal (Government of Montenegro) |
| .name | $11.99 first year, $12.49 renewal (Verisign) |
| WHOIS privacy | Free on all 43 extensions DotAlmanac sells in your name |
| Contact data collected | One email address per domain, verified and kept private |
| Email on your domain | Free forwarding to the inbox you already use |
| Longest term allowed | 10 years for .com, .me and .name |
Which extension should you use for a personal website?
Your full name in .com, because it is the address people guess when they look you up. DotAlmanac is a domain extension guide and registrar: compare every extension, then register it with no KYC and pay in crypto.
Common names are often taken in .com. Then choose by what you do, not by price alone:
- Consultants and freelancers: .pro, unrestricted since November 2015, or .me.
- Artists and designers: .art or .design, which say the work before the name.
- Writers: .blog, run by Automattic and open to anyone; WordPress is not required.
- Developers: .dev, covered in extensions for developers.
- Everyone else: .me, short and personal in any language.
| Extension | Registry | 1st year | Renewal | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| .com | Verisign | $11.99 | $11.99 | Anyone, if your name is free |
| .me | Government of Montenegro | $18.49 | $18.49 | Portfolios, link-in-bio pages |
| .name | Verisign | $11.99 | $12.49 | Personal names only |
| .pro | Identity Digital | $19.99 | $20.99 | Consultants, freelancers |
| .art | UK Creative Ideas | $16.99 | $18.49 | Artists, galleries |
| .blog | Automattic | $25.99 | $27.99 | Writers, newsletters |
| .page | Google Registry | $11.99 | $13.49 | One-page profiles (HTTPS required) |
Will your name and address be public?
Not on the extensions DotAlmanac sells in your name: WHOIS privacy is free on all 43 of them. We collect a single piece of contact data: one email address per domain, verified as ICANN requires and kept private. For .com, Verisign runs a thin registry that receives no registrant contact data at all.
Other extensions are stricter. According to DotAlmanac's table of 225 extensions, 23 forbid WHOIS privacy, including .us, .es, .in and .au. On those, a personal site can publish its owner's details. Check the rule before you register a country code in your own name.
Domain protection goes one step further. It costs +$29 a year per domain, added to the price of the domain itself:
- DomaineGoat LLC becomes the registrant, you remain the beneficiary, and moving it back to your own name costs nothing;
- the transfer lock is on;
- DomaineGoat LLC holds only your email;
- a person reads each complaint before anything happens to the domain.
How do you get an email address on your own name?
Turn on free email forwarding: mail sent to [email protected] lands in the inbox you already use. Nothing to host, nothing to pay beyond the domain. Steps: email forwarding for your domain.
To send from that address as well, pick a mail host template in the client area. The Proton Mail template, for example, writes MX 10 mail.protonmail.ch and 20 mailsec.protonmail.ch and the SPF line include:_spf.protonmail.ch. Fastmail, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 and Zoho Mail have templates too. Your address then stays the same if you change provider.
How long should you keep a personal domain?
For life, if it carries your name. Old links, CVs and email contacts point to it for years after you stop updating the site. A lapsed personal domain can be registered by anyone, along with the mail sent to it.
Three habits protect it:
- Pick an extension with a stable price. At DotAlmanac, .com and .me renew at their first-year price; .page renews 13 % higher.
- Avoid a country code you can lose after a move. Codes tied to residency, such as .fr or .ca, stop fitting once you live elsewhere. DotAlmanac does not sell them.
- Renew ahead. The registries of .com, .me and .name allow up to 10 years at a time. Weigh it with should you register a domain for 10 years.
Personal website domains: FAQ
Should I use my full name as my domain?
Yes, if you want people to find you by name. Use firstnamelastname, without hyphens. If your name is common, add a middle initial before switching to another extension.
Is .me a good domain for a personal website?
Yes. .me is open to anyone, reads as personal and costs $18.49/year at DotAlmanac, with no increase at renewal. Some two-letter names are registry premiums and cost more.
What is the .name extension for?
Personal names. Verisign runs it, and the registry policy reserves it for individuals, so a company using one can be challenged. It costs $11.99 the first year at DotAlmanac.
Can I keep my home address off a personal domain?
Yes. DotAlmanac collects one email per domain, not your address, and WHOIS privacy costs nothing on every extension whose registry permits it. Avoid the 23 extensions in our table that forbid privacy.
Do I need hosting for a personal website?
Not paid hosting. GitHub Pages, Netlify and Cloudflare Pages host static sites for free, and DotAlmanac has a DNS template for each. See connect a domain to GitHub Pages.
Search your name
Popular extensions
- .com $11.99
- .me $18.49
- .name $11.99
- .pro $19.99
- .blog $25.99
- .page $11.99
Sources (5)
- .me delegation record — IANA (checked 2026-10-29)
- .name registration terms — Amazon Route 53 (checked 2026-10-29)
- .pro registration terms — Amazon Route 53 (checked 2026-10-29)
- The .blog domain extension is now open to registrars — WP Tavern (checked 2026-10-29)
- usTLD privacy services policy — about.us (checked 2026-10-29)
Claim your name
Look up your name in .com, .me and .name; WHOIS privacy comes free.