| Namecheap | Hover | Porkbun | Godaddy | Gandi | NameSilo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
The average price of a .af domain is $0.
The cheapest place to buy a .af domain is Gandi for $0.
The .af domain is the Country Code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD) for Afghanistan. Established in 1997, it is overseen by the Ministry of Communications and IT, with both the administrator and registry operator being governmental organizations. The Afghanistan Network Information Centre (AFGNIC) manages the technical operations, while the ICT Directorate within the Ministry serves as the domain administrator. The .af ccTLD was one of the first in the Middle East region to be re-delegated, with NetNames initially providing free registration services and technical support until a stable registry operation could be established within the country.
The history of the .af domain has been marked by significant challenges. Due to Afghanistan's ongoing civil war in the late '90s, NetNames halted the registration of .af domain names, though they continued to make nameserver updates and provide DNS resolution for the zone. The UNDP assumed administration of the .af registry in 2000, under the approval of the Afghan Interim Administration. At that time, the internet community in Afghanistan was very small, primarily consisting of organizations and NGOs located in Kabul. The UNDP agreed to restore DNS service, build technical and administrative capacity within Afghanistan, and eventually shift technical operations to a community-based structure. However, there are no specific restrictions mentioned in the provided text for purchasing or owning a .af domain.