.bio Domains: An Ending That Carries a Content Rule
.bio entered the root zone on 15 May 2014, and its registry is Identity Digital Limited. The word carries two readings. Across much of Europe — German and French in particular — it means organic produce, while English speakers read it as short for biography. The rule side of the extension grows out of the first reading; the second is why it also turns up on personal profile pages.
The restriction sits in an unusual place: registration is open, but content is conditional. The extension belongs to the same policy family as its sibling .organic, and a site in agriculture, food or farming that makes an organic claim is expected to commit to not undermining the organic principles set out by IFOAM - Organics International. Getting a name is easy; how you use it is reviewed. Try candidates with a domain name search.
.BIO Domain at a Glance
- Sponsoring organisation Identity Digital Limited
- Root zone record 15 May 2014
- Where the restriction sits In the site's content, not in eligibility
- Basis of the policy IFOAM - Organics International principles of organic agriculture
- Sibling extension .organic, from the same policy family
- Document Requirement No documents are required to register a .bio domain
- Character Length 1 - 63 characters
- Registration Period 1 - 10 years
- Name Server Count 2 - 10 servers
.bio Domain Prices — No Surprise Fees
Registration, transfer and renewal fees are listed separately. The renewal price can differ from the first-year price, so you see both up front.
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New Registration
$8.99 /year -
Transfer
$72.79 /year -
Renewal
$80.29 /year -
Restore
$184.90 -
Late Renewal
$15.36
Included With Every .bio Domain
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Free DNS management
Change A, MX, TXT and CNAME records yourself from the panel — no waiting on anyone when you move a site or mailbox.
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Domain lock
While the lock is on, nobody can move your domain to another registrar without your approval.
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Domain forwarding
Point the domain at your existing site, a campaign page or a social profile — at no extra cost.
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Free WHOIS privacy
Your name, address and phone stay out of public WHOIS records, which cuts down spam and scam calls.
.bio Domain Lifecycle
What happens day by day after it expires
Day 0 is the domain's expiry dateIn short: your .bio domain is put on Client Hold on its expiry date, so the site and e-mail stop that same day. You can still renew during the first 20 days, but from this point a late renewal fee is added on top of the renewal price. On day 20 the registration is deleted and until day 50 only a paid restore brings it back. Nothing at all can be done in the 5 days that follow, and on day 55 the name is open to anyone. There is exactly one way never to enter this chain: keep auto-renewal on.
Domain Is Available (Available)
A .bio address at this stage has not been taken yet, and it goes to whoever registers first. Check the name you have in mind — if it is free, it can be yours within minutes.
Domain Is Active (Active Period)
Once registration is complete, the domain is registered to you for the term you selected. You can renew at any point before it expires to keep it active, or switch on auto-renewal so you never have to watch the date.
Renewal Window (Client Hold)
On its expiry date your .bio domain is put on Client Hold: the site and e-mail go down that day, but the registration is still yours. A single renewal within these first 20 days brings everything back exactly as it was — nothing is lost. The only difference is that a $15.36 late renewal fee is now added to the renewal price; renewing before the expiry date avoids that fee entirely.
Redemption Period (Redemption / RGP)
On day 20 the registration is deleted and the 30-day redemption period that ICANN requires of every gTLD registry begins. The name is not released to anyone during this time; only you can take it back, by paying the restore fee, until day 50. That fee is far higher than a renewal — renewing on time is always the cheaper route.
Pending Delete (Pending Delete)
Once the redemption window closes too, the domain enters its final 5 days and there is no way back. Neither renewal nor restore works here; nobody — your registrar included — can return the name to you. The registry uses this window as the last hold before the name goes back into the pool.
Open to Anyone Again (Released)
On day 55 the name .bio returns to the pool and anyone can register it. Sought-after names are often gone within seconds, and there is no guaranteed way to get one back. Yet staying out of this timeline is entirely in your hands: leave auto-renewal on and the expiry date will never catch you off guard.
The timeline above is the schedule Atak Domain applies and publishes. The ICANN chart you will find elsewhere shows a renewal window of up to 45 days after expiry; ICANN's policy on expired registrations (section 2.2.1) lets registrars delete an expired domain at any time, provided they disclose their policy in advance. We apply that window as 20 days and publish it here in plain sight. Full text of the policy: ICANN Expired Registration Recovery Policy
.bio Domain Specifications and Registration Rules
Registration conditions, supported features and the registry's own timelines in a single table.
.bio Domain Registration
- Document Requirement No documents are required to register a .bio domain
- Character Length 1 - 63 characters
- Registration Period 1 - 10 years
- Name Server Count 2 - 10 servers
.bio Domain Support
- IDN Support No
- Transfer Support Yes
- Late Renewal Support Yes
Frequently Asked Questions About .bio Domains
The questions people actually ask before registering — answered plainly.
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Registration appears open to anyone, and no organic certificate is requested at the door. The distinction appears in what you do with the name. If you publish a site in agriculture, food or farming that makes an organic claim as a producer, processor or seller, the commitment to the registry's policy applies. A personal profile or biography page sits outside that frame entirely.
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Certification could not be verified as a condition of registration; what is asked for is a commitment not to undermine the organic principles. The policy was defined together with IFOAM - Organics International, and sites that fall short can be removed after review. The practical consequence: without certification, make no organic claim and describe the product as it is. Ask your registrar for the current policy text before ordering.
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Both come from the same policy family; language and market separate them. This word is the everyday term for organic produce in German, French and Italian, while .organic reads more directly in English-speaking markets. A producer selling into Europe needs less explaining with the first; a brand facing North America with the second. Compare the two side by side using a bulk domain name search.
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Yes, and in the English reading that use is common. A first and last name plus this ending gives a short CV page or portfolio a memorable address. The organic content policy does not come into play here, because no agricultural or food claim is being made. If the personal site carries a contact form, still set up an encrypted connection from the SSL certificate page.
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According to the project's registry data, DNSSEC is supported on this extension. DNSSEC signs DNS answers so that attempts to intercept a lookup and return a forged response become detectable. On a producer site that carries certification and trust claims, that is a meaningful layer. You enable it through your DNS provider, and the signing records must reach the registry; your registrar handles that step for you.
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