The .co domain, and the .com tax
If the .com is gone, .co is the first place people look. It's short, it's global, and it has one specific problem that sank at least one well-funded rebrand. Worth knowing before you pick it.
Reviewed May 2026
.co gets pitched as the natural runner-up to .com. Drop one letter, keep the shape, and you've got something that reads as 'company' or 'corporation' and works anywhere. The pitch is decent. It's also a marketing line, and there's a gap between the line and how .co behaves once real people are typing your address.
Where .co comes from
.co is Colombia's country-code domain. In 2010 the registry opened it to the whole world, marketed it hard, and repositioned a national domain as a global one. It worked, to a point: .co picked up real adoption, a few recognisable names, and a reputation as the startup-friendly short option. It's now run by GoDaddy Registry, which took over the registry business that managed it.
The .com tax
Here's the problem .co never quite escapes. People's fingers type .com. It's the default, it's muscle memory, and a share of anyone you tell about yourname.co will end up at yourname.com instead. If you own both, fine. If someone else owns the .com, you're handing them traffic every day and there's nothing you can do about it.
The clearest cautionary tale is Overstock, which rebranded to O.co in 2011 and quietly walked it back. Too many people kept landing on the wrong site. When you do see .co used well, like t.co or g.co, it's usually a link shortener, not the brand's front door.
What it costs
.co pricing tends to lean on first-year promotions: a low number to get you in, then a normal-to-higher renewal. That's standard for a marketed extension. Check the renewal price, not the teaser, before you commit a brand to it.
When .co actually works
It's a fine choice when the .com is gone, you're comfortable that the .com owner isn't a competitor (or isn't using it), your audience skews online-native and won't fat-finger it, and the name is strong enough to carry itself. It's a poor choice when you're up against an active .com with your exact name, or when your customers are the kind who'll type .com without thinking and never notice they're on the wrong site. Go in clear-eyed: .co is a real option, not a free .com.