.bible: An Extension Whose Registry Is a Publisher
.bible was delegated to the root zone on 14 May 2015, and its registry is not a commercial registry business but a publishing organisation, the American Bible Society. The registry gives 8 March 2016 as the date public registration opened. This structure is rare in the category and explains where the extension's rules come from.
The restriction sits in an unusual place. Registration is open to anyone, but use is conditional: registrants must agree to abide by the registry's acceptable use policy, and the scope of that policy has been the subject of public debate. Getting a name is straightforward; how you may use it is governed. Reading the policy before you register is not optional here. Try candidates with a domain name search.
.BIBLE Domain at a Glance
- Sponsoring organisation American Bible Society (a publisher)
- Delegated to the root zone 14 May 2015
- Public registration opened 8 March 2016 (per the registry)
- Where the restriction sits In the acceptable use policy, not in eligibility
- Document Requirement No documents are required to register a .bible domain
- Character Length 3 - 63 characters
- Registration Period 1 - 10 years
- Name Server Count 2 - 10 servers
.bible 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
$156.29 /year -
Transfer
$156.29 /year -
Renewal
$168.29 /year -
Restore
$273.29 -
Late Renewal
$28.38
Included With Every .bible 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.
.bible Domain Lifecycle
What happens day by day after it expires
Day 0 is the domain's expiry dateIn short: your .bible 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 .bible 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 .bible 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 $28.38 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 .bible 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
.bible Domain Specifications and Registration Rules
Registration conditions, supported features and the registry's own timelines in a single table.
.bible Domain Registration
- Document Requirement No documents are required to register a .bible domain
- Character Length 3 - 63 characters
- Registration Period 1 - 10 years
- Name Server Count 2 - 10 servers
.bible Domain Support
- IDN Support No
- Transfer Support Yes
- Late Renewal Support Yes
Frequently Asked Questions About .bible Domains
The questions people actually ask before registering — answered plainly.
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The registry's own information page states that registration is open to anyone. No institutional affiliation, denominational credential or similar eligibility condition is required. Registrants must, however, agree to abide by an acceptable use policy designed to protect the namespace from inappropriate use. Read the current policy text your registrar passes on before ordering.
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In short: taking the name is open, how you use it is governed. The registry has defined a policy and code of conduct intended to protect the namespace from inappropriate use, and registrants agree to abide by them. The scope of that policy has been publicly debated and has changed over time. We therefore recommend reading the current text before registering; we offer no assessment of its content.
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The restriction sits in a different place. In sponsored extensions such as .aero, your eligibility is verified before registration, and failing the condition means you never get the name. Here registration is open and the scrutiny falls on how you use it. The practical consequence: the first step is easy, but the obligation continues after registration.
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If your work sits directly in this field, the address states the subject on its own and needs no explanation after an institution's name. The rule: is your content compatible with the framework the registry's policy sets? If it is, the extension does its job. If you are unsure, read the current text first — the scope has changed over time, and running into a compliance problem later can mean changing address.
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