.co
Executive summary
Buying a .co domain is a credible option for startups and brands seeking short, modern web addresses: industry guides report roughly 2–3 million .co registrations historically and note wider adoption in 2025—registrations cost about $20–30/year at retail vendors [1] [2] [3]. Advocates say .co reads as “company” and is useful when .com is unavailable; critics and some investors warn of resale market softness and competition from many new TLDs [4] [5] [6] [7].
1. Why .co now looks like a practical brand choice
Domain guides and registrars pitch .co as a short, globally recognized alternative to .com that works well for startups and modern businesses because it’s memorable, associated with “company,” and widely available when the desirable .com is taken; retail articles place typical registration prices around $20–30/year in 2025 and say .co is treated as a generic option rather than strictly Colombian [1] [4] [3].
2. Adoption and scale: what the numbers say
Historical registry data and industry reporting show .co grew rapidly after commercial opening—half a million by 2010 and millions thereafter; sources put multi‑million registration totals (over 2 million by late 2010s) and contemporary guides reference millions of active .co names in 2025, signalling a nontrivial installed base for brand use and short URLs [2] [1] [3].
3. Branding upsides: short, memorable, startup‑friendly
Marketers and blogs emphasize .co’s appeal for concise naming, branding parity with short URLs used by tech firms, and perceived modernity; analysts compare .co favorably to expensive premium .coms, arguing it democratizes access to short brand names [5] [1].
4. Pricing, registrar offerings, and practical costs
Multiple registrars and guides list .co at a premium to some legacy TLDs but within typical domain budget ranges—roughly $20–30/year at mainstream hosts in 2025; registrars bundle services (privacy, email forwarding, DNS features) that affect effective cost and value [1] [3] [8].
5. Risks and counterarguments from investors and forums
Domain investors and community threads report mixed resale performance for .co: some sellers see slow sales and pricing pressure, and marketplaces suggest a decline in secondary liquidity compared with premium .coms—evidence that while useful for branding, .co may not hold the same investment upside as .com [6] [9].
6. Competitive landscape: more TLDs, niche choices, and SEO context
Industry trend pieces highlight a proliferation of new gTLDs and niche endings—.tech, .shop, location TLDs—that grew registrations year over year and provide targeted branding options; that expansion means .co competes with many alternatives for attention and naming relevance, and registrants should pick extensions that match audience expectations [7] [10].
7. Practical decision checklist for buyers
Experts suggest weighing four factors: brand fit (does “.co” reinforce your identity?), availability (is your preferred .com unavailable?), budget (registration and renewal costs), and resale or investor goals (is this a long‑term brand asset or a speculative buy?). If you need a global, short address and can accept potential resale limits, .co is often recommended [1] [5] [6].
8. What sources do not address / limits of reporting
Available sources do not mention long‑term trademark conflict rates specific to .co, nor do they provide independent, audited up‑to‑date market shares for 2025 beyond registrar and blog estimates; consumer confusion metrics between .co and .com are not given in the cited material (not found in current reporting).
9. Bottom line — who should register .co and why
Register .co if you are a startup, creator, or company that prioritizes a short, brandable name and faces unavailable or prohibitively expensive .com alternatives; be cautious if your primary objective is domain investment capital appreciation, since investor forums and sales reports show inconsistent secondary market performance [1] [5] [6].