Believe it or not, domain names can be very expensive. According to a major web host (a company that helps people launch websites), some of the world’s priciest domains sell for thousands — if not millions — of dollars. These expensive domains get pricey for a few reasons, but it typically comes down to business. When companies realize a domain could help them make sales, they’re willing to spend a ton of cash.
Interestingly, many ultra-expensive domain name sales are hard to pin down. A lot of pricey sales are kept private, or at least everyone involved tries to keep them private. That means it’s not always easy to track down the world’s most expensive domain names. But when these sales do come out of the dark, the final prices can be shocking.
From multi-million-dollar industry leaders to hard-to-explain and mysterious sales, these are the world’s most expensive domain names.
- Insure.com
- 360.com
- Internet.com
- Voice.com
- PrivateJet.com
- VacationRentals.com
- Insurance.com
- CarInsurance.com
Domain Owner: QuinStreet Inc.
Type of Website: Insurance research and comparison tool
Interesting Fact: This domain’s owner also owns the number one most expensive domain name in the world
photo source: prnewswire.com
Kicking off this list is Insure.com. The website is owned by QuinStreet Inc. (remember that name, it’ll come up again). According to reports from 2009, the company purchased Insure.com for $16 million — you read that right, million.
QuinStreet Inc. seems to work in a lot of different industries, but the company says it’s a “pioneer in powering decentralized online marketplaces” that help people compare brands.
In the same reports discussing the sale of Insure.com, people familiar with domain sales pointed out other expensive names. Among these pricey websites is Toys.com, which ToysRUs purchased for over $5 million. Meanwhile, Ad.com was sold for more than $1 million.
Did you know?
When Insure.com sold in 2009, reports said the final price was 10-times higher than the previous sale price in 2001.
Domain Owner: Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd.
Type of Website: Security product sales
Interesting Fact: This website is very popular in China
photo source: webdevelopersnotes.com
At number seven we’ve got 360.com. Interestingly, compared to other sites on this list, 360.com stands out by being way more popular outside the U.S. The site is owned by Qihoo, a leading security brand in China that offers a lot of internet security products.
As the seventh-most-expensive domain name in the world, 360.com is worth an estimated $17 million.
Did you know?
According to the company, 360.com “is the largest provider of Internet and mobile security products in China.” The brand was established in 2005 and the company calls itself a “pioneer” of free online security products.
Domain Owner: QuinStreet Inc.
Type of Website: Unknown
Interesting Fact: This domain went up for auction in 2021 with a starting bid of $35 million
photo source: crunchbase.com
Internet.com has a pretty bold name, but the site doesn’t offer a whole lot as of recent reports. Despite selling to QuinStreet Inc. for nearly $20 million in 2009, the website has remained pretty barebones. Recent research says the site will one day offer “private and secure email service for the world,” but that’s just about it.
Interestingly, recent reports suggest Internet.com could go up for sale again — one even suggests the domain name could fetch $35 million or more.
But for now, Internet.com is another strange example of expensive domains.
Did you know?
Reports say owning Internet.com gives QuinStreet Inc. access to a segment of 15 million internet users.
Domain Owner: Block.one
Type of Website: NFT creation and sales
Interesting Fact: This site was sold by MicroStrategy® Incorporated in 2019
photo source: about.voice.com
Voice.com got caught up in the tech industry, so it’s no surprise that the domain is expensive. According to reports from 2019, the site is worth $30 million. That’s nearly double the price of Insure.com.
So what does Voice.com offer? According to the website, Voice.com makes “NFTs easy for creators like you” — so it looks like the company deals with digital assets and blockchain.
Voice.com is owned by Block.one, a company that says it works with “innovative” businesses. When the company purchased Voice.com, representatives said the domain would become a social media platform. A company representative also said the name “voice” was chosen because it is “universally understood.”
Did you know?
Voice.com was originally owned by a business called MicroStrategy. The company says they own “more than a dozen evocative and powerful domain names.”
Domain Owner: Nations Luxury Transportation, LLC
Type of Website: Domain sales (digital real estate investments and acquisitions)
Interesting Fact: This website automatically redirects to oceanfrontdomains.com
photo source: webdevelopersnotes.com
Coming in at number four is PrivateJet.com — this one’s a little mysterious.
According to people familiar with the matter, the domain name was sold in 2012 for more than $30 million. Nations Luxury Transportation, LLC was behind the expensive purchase, and the company said PrivateJet.com would be used to create a “destination website” for private jet fans, pilots, and passengers.
The business even said to expect over 250,000 monthly website visitors by the end of 2012 — but that’s where things get weird. Today, PrivateJet.com automatically sends users to oceanfrontdomains.com, a website claiming to deal with “digital real estate investments and acquisitions.” It’s unclear exactly what happened to PrivateJet.com — all we know is the domain name was incredibly expensive in 2012.
Did you know?
At the time of PrivateJet.com’s sale, Nations Luxury Transportation’s CEO said the domain would help “revolutionize the super-luxury segment of Private Jet transportation.”
Domain Owner: Expedia Group
Type of Website: Travel and hospitality
Interesting Fact: This domain automatically redirects to vrbo.com
photo source: vrbo.com
VRBO is a popular vacation rental service where users can book short stays in homes owned by other users. Interestingly, the brand wasn’t always known as VRBO. Before its name change in 2019, the company was called HomeAway — but the business’s parent company refreshed the name and branding. As the brand told Forbes, the refresh was due in part to a mission to get people “excited about a trip rather than frustrated by planning it.”
Today, users can search directly for vrbo.com or they can access VactionRentals.com. That domain automatically redirects to VRBO’s website, meaning users get sent to the rebranded company.
According to a recent report, VacationRentals.com is valued at $35 million — making it the third-most-expensive domain name in the world.
Did you know?
VRBO stands for vacation rental by owner, but users often pronounced it “ver-bow,” so the company just went with it.
Domain Owner: QuinStreet Inc.
Type of Website: Insurance shopping and research
Interesting Fact: The same company that owns this website owns the number one most expensive domain name
photo source: linkedin.com
Coming in at the number-two spot is Insurance.com — which is valued at a crazy $35.6 million.
According to reports about the sale, some argue that QuinStreet Inc.’s purchase of Insurance.com was about more than the domain name. “The value wasn’t just in the domain name,” says one reporter. And it’s not hard to see why. While the domain is now used to compare insurance plans, Insurance.com was originally run as an actual insurance agency. As a result, the domain had an established online presence before QuinStreet Inc. made the purchase — so the company was sort of buying an entire business rather than a single domain.
Still, the Insurance.com domain did sell for more than $35 million, making it the second-most-expensive domain name on the whole internet.
Did you know?
Insurance.com offers price comparisons for auto, home, health, and life insurance.
Domain Owner: QuinStreet Inc.
Type of Website: Car insurance research and purchase
Interesting Fact: QuinStreet Inc. says it provides “marketplace solutions to match searchers with brands in digital media”
photo source: prnewswire.com
CarInsurance.com is the most expensive domain name in the world.
Of all the domain names on the entire internet, CarInsurance.com is by far the most expensive. The wildly pricey name is yet again owned by QuinStreet Inc., making the company the owner of at least four of the world’s most expensive domains.
As with other domains owned by QuinStreet Inc, CarInsurance.com is designed to help customers find services — in this case, car insurance. As the company puts it, “We help you make smart insurance decisions.”
Did you know?
According to a major web host, the average price of a domain sold on the secondary market is in the thousands.
