Three-year totals: .dev $34.49, .app $38.61, .io $123.94. All three renew under $46 a year, but .io costs triple the Google endings. Here is the real price breakdown and which one to pick.
The totals first
Best three-year totals today: .dev at $34.49 with Porkbun, .app at $38.61 with Porkbun, and .io at $123.94 with Spaceship. The Google endings cost about a dollar a month; .io costs about three and a half dollars a month.
None of the three carries a renewal trap. All three renew within a few dollars of their first year. The difference is the registry floor: .io starts near $28 a year wholesale, while .dev and .app start under $9.
.IO: the premium startup ending
.io registers from $28.12 at Porkbun and renews from $45 at Cloudflare. It is the only one of the three where the choice of registrar moves real money: Porkbun’s $28.12 first year against a $45 renewal is a very different three years than registering at the renewal price from day one.
You pay the premium for signaling. .io still reads “funded tech startup” in a way no other ending does. If that signal is worth $90 extra over three years to you, the math supports it. If not, keep reading.
.DEV vs .APP: a dollar apart
.dev: $8.75 first year, $12.18 renewal, $34.49 over three years. .app: $8.75 first year, $14.18 renewal, $38.61 over three years. Both cheapest at Porkbun for year one, both cheapest at Cloudflare for renewals.
Choose on meaning, not money. .dev belongs on a personal site, a docs page, or an API. .app belongs on the product itself. Both are Google registry endings with the $0.18 ICANN fee included and HTTPS required by default.
The founder decision
If the name is available in all three, default to .dev or .app and spend the $90 you saved on the product. Take .io only when the brand demands it: when the .io is the name, not just the ending.
Whatever you pick, register where the three-year total is lowest today and set a calendar reminder for the renewal. Endings don’t get cheaper while you wait; registrars rotate promos, not registries.
Questions this article answers
Is .io more expensive than .dev and .app?
Dramatically. Best three-year totals: .dev $34.49, .app $38.61, .io $123.94. A .io costs roughly triple per year because its registry charges far more.
Which is cheapest to renew, .io, .dev, or .app?
.dev at $12.18 a year, then .app at $14.18, then .io at $45. All three cheapest renewals are at Cloudflare.
Should a SaaS use .dev or .app?
On price they are nearly identical, about a dollar a year apart. Pick on meaning: .dev reads builder, .app reads product. Both require HTTPS, which is table stakes for a SaaS anyway.