.boo Domains: An Ending Where Browsers Demand HTTPS
.boo entered the root zone on 12 June 2014, and its registry is Charleston Road Registry Inc., the domain arm of Google. Three letters and one syllable make it easy to remember and easy to say. What really sets it apart, though, is not the name but the behaviour of the browser — and that is worth knowing before you register.
The extension sits on the HSTS preload list; a query to hstspreload.org returns this name as preloaded. In practice that means the browser connects to every address under the ending over HTTPS only, with no per-site configuration on your part. Publish without a valid certificate and the visitor sees nothing at all. So the domain plan and the SSL certificate plan are made at the same time.
.BOO Domain at a Glance
- Sponsoring organisation Charleston Road Registry Inc. (Google Registry)
- Root zone record 12 June 2014
- Technical condition On the HSTS preload list — HTTPS-only connections
- Eligibility condition No verified restriction
- Document Requirement No documents are required to register a .boo domain
- Character Length 3 - 63 characters
- Registration Period 1 - 10 years
- Name Server Count 2 - 10 servers
.boo 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
$15.99 /year -
Transfer
$15.99 /year -
Renewal
$17.19 /year -
Restore
$125.00
Included With Every .boo 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 forwarding
Point the domain at your existing site, a campaign page or a social profile — at no extra cost.
.boo Domain Lifecycle
What happens day by day after it expires
Day 0 is the domain's expiry dateIn short: your .boo 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 .boo 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 .boo 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 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 .boo 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
.boo Domain Specifications and Registration Rules
Registration conditions, supported features and the registry's own timelines in a single table.
.boo Domain Registration
- Document Requirement No documents are required to register a .boo domain
- Character Length 3 - 63 characters
- Registration Period 1 - 10 years
- Name Server Count 2 - 10 servers
.boo Domain Support
- IDN Support No
- Transfer Support Yes
- Late Renewal Support Yes
Frequently Asked Questions About .boo Domains
The questions people actually ask before registering — answered plainly.
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No, it will not. Because the extension is on the HSTS preload list, the browser refuses the unencrypted connection without trying it; the visitor sees no warning and the page simply never loads. This behaviour does not depend on an individual site's settings — it applies across the whole ending. So plan the certificate on the day you register the name, starting from the SSL certificate page.
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It tells the browser to reach a domain over HTTPS only. Normally that rule is learned from a header the site sends, which leaves a short open window on the very first visit. Preloading closes that window, because the rule is built into the browser from the start. Applied across an entire extension, the result is simple: users cannot land on an unencrypted connection even on a first visit.
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No published eligibility condition could be verified; the name appears open on a first-come basis. You are not expected to have a relationship with Google or to work in a particular sector. The only real requirement is the technical one: a valid certificate. Beyond that your registrar's own agreement applies, so reading the text at checkout remains a good habit.
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The project's registry record holds no row for this extension, so we make no claim about DNSSEC or privacy support. The correct route is to ask your registrar before ordering. Meanwhile the protection the ending already provides is worth keeping in view: because the connection cannot fall outside HTTPS, a large share of interception attempts is eliminated up front. Inspect the served chain with an SSL checker.
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Three letters, one syllable and easy pronunciation in many languages make a useful base for a brand chasing a short address. The word carries a playful note in English, so on projects that lean on gravity the tone may not match. For campaigns, events and community projects it works well. Try several roots at once with a bulk domain name search and compare how they sound.
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