# What is a .ac domain, and is it only for universities?

> .ac domains from Ascension Island: open to anyone, not only academics, 1 to 10 years. Pearlcay sells .ac with no KYC, paid in crypto, one flat price.

- URL: https://pearlcay.com/ac-domain/
- Last updated: 2026-11-02
- Publisher: Pearlcay (https://pearlcay.com)

The .ac ending belongs to Ascension Island, a speck in the South Atlantic. Schools like it because ac means academic in many countries, but the registry lets anyone register, and so does Pearlcay.

**Quick answer — Who can register a .ac domain?**

.ac is the country code of Ascension Island, a British territory in the South Atlantic. Anyone in the world can register one: the registry asks for no academic status and no residency. At **Pearlcay**, a .ac costs **$50.49/year** the first year and $50.49/year to renew (2 November 2026), paid in crypto with no KYC.

## Search a .ac domain

Search a domain name: https://pearlcay.com/app/domains/?q=yourname.ac

Popular extensions: .ac ($50.49)

If the name is taken, or the registry refuses it, the full amount goes back to your balance.

## .ac at a glance

| Attribute | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Country code of | Ascension Island, part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha |
| Registry | Internet Computer Bureau Limited |
| Technical operator | Identity Digital (formerly Afilias), through Internet Computer Bureau |
| Who can register | Anyone, anywhere; no academic requirement |
| Registration term | 1 to 10 years on registrar price pages |
| Public WHOIS / RDAP | Set by the registry; sources disagree on how much shows |
| Known for | The academic reading of "ac", open to anyone |

## .ac price per year

| Extension | 1st year | Renewal | Transfer | WHOIS privacy | Restrictions |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| .ac | $50.49 | $50.49 | $50.49 | Hidden by the registry | None |

*1 extensions · prices per year in USD*

The price is the same in year one and at every renewal. A transfer is priced like one renewal; registrar pages say the domain must be at least 60 days old and the transfer adds one year.

## Ascension Island behind .ac

Ascension Island is a volcanic island in the middle of the South Atlantic. It is part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, it has an elected Island Council, and its administrative centre is Georgetown, according to a United Nations working paper of 2024. About 800 people lived there in 2023.

IANA names Internet Computer Bureau Limited as the manager of .ac and as its technical contact. It also ran .io and .sh. Domain Incite reported in 2018, from Afilias's accounts, that Afilias paid $70.17 million in cash for all of Internet Computer Bureau in April 2017. Afilias and Donuts rebranded as Identity Digital in June 2022, so Identity Digital is the company behind .ac today. The survey of 2 November 2026 names it as the technical operator.

So .ac is a sister of [.io](https://pearlcay.com/io-domain/ "What is a .io domain, and what about the Chagos question?") and [.sh](https://pearlcay.com/sh-domain/ "What is a .sh domain, and who can register one?"): three island codes that were run by one small registry company before it was sold to a larger one. The IANA record was last updated on 23 October 2026, and its name servers sit under nic.ac.

## Who uses a .ac domain?

The label ac means academic in many countries. Universities sit under ac.uk in the United Kingdom, ac.jp in Japan and ac.nz in New Zealand. A .ac ending borrows that reading, so some schools, researchers and student groups like it. It is not the same thing. A name under ac.uk is controlled and meant for academic bodies. A .ac name is an Ascension Island registration open to anyone.

The registry says so itself. Its website states that anyone, anywhere can register and that names are issued first come, first served. It also advises academic institutions to register in other endings. That is a registry telling schools not to rely on .ac for their main address.

Other uses are plain short names and domain hacks. Words that end in ac split across the dot, as in zodi.ac or cardi.ac. These are patterns, not registered names.

Read [domain hacks](https://pearlcay.com/domain-hacks/ "What is a domain hack?") before you build a name around the split. And if you want a technology reading rather than an academic one, compare [.io](https://pearlcay.com/io-domain/ "What is a .io domain, and what about the Chagos question?").

## .ac price at other registrars

Prices listed on 2 November 2026. Namecheap's $28.98 first year is a sale: its list price is $62.98 and it renews at $76.98. Cloudflare sells at cost, $45.00, but does not take crypto.

| Registrar | First year | Renewal | Pays in crypto |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Pearlcay | $50.49 | $50.49 | Yes, only crypto |
| Namecheap | $28.98 | $76.98 | Yes (BitPay or BTCPay, account funds first) |
| Cloudflare | $45.00 | $45.00 | No |
| Porkbun | $26.06 | $46.65 | Yes (USDC) |

*Last checked on November 2, 2026; older figures carry their own date.*

Prices per year in US dollars, from each registrar's public price list on 2 November 2026 (sources below). They change often: check before you buy.

## What are the .ac rules?

**Who can register.** Anyone. The registry's site says names are first come, first served, and the survey lists no residency or academic requirement.

**Term.** Registrar price pages list 1 to 10 years. A different dataset lists a one-year maximum, so this point is unclear.

**Transfers.** Registrar pages say the domain must be at least 60 days old and the transfer adds one year. At Pearlcay a transfer is priced like one renewal.

**Whois.** The sources disagree. NameSilo's privacy guide lists .ac as without privacy support, while our dataset says the registry hides personal data. Treat what shows as the registry's decision.

**Disputes.** Pearlcay handles trademark disputes through the UDRP.

**Price risk.** The survey found no .ac price notice for 2025 or 2026.

**Content.** The sources behind this page set no content rule for .ac. Abuse reports follow our [abuse](https://pearlcay.com/abuse/ "How do I report abuse on a Pearlcay domain?") page.

## .ac questions

### What does .ac stand for?

It is the country code of Ascension Island. In many countries ac is also the label for academic bodies, such as ac.uk and ac.jp, which is why people read .ac as academic.

### Do I need to be a university to register a .ac domain?

No. The registry site says anyone, anywhere can register, first come, first served. It adds that academic institutions are advised to register in other endings.

### Is .ac related to .io and .sh?

Yes. Internet Computer Bureau ran all three. Afilias bought the company in April 2017, and Afilias is now part of Identity Digital.

### Does the .ac price rise after the first year?

Not at Pearlcay: the first year and every renewal cost the same. Elsewhere it can jump: on 2 November 2026 Namecheap listed $28.98 for the first year and $76.98 to renew.

### Is a .ac the same as an ac.uk address?

No. A name under ac.uk sits in the academic space of the United Kingdom and is controlled. A .ac name is an Ascension Island registration open to anyone, and the registry itself advises schools to register in other endings.

### Can I transfer a .ac to Pearlcay?

Usually, once the domain is at least 60 days old and unlocked. Get the transfer code from your current registrar, then follow [how it works](https://pearlcay.com/how-it-works/ "How do I register a short domain with crypto and no KYC?"). Registrar pages say the transfer adds one year.

## Sources

1. [Delegation record for .AC](https://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/ac.html) — IANA (checked 2026-11-02)
2. [.ac registry website](https://www.nic.ac) — Internet Computer Bureau (nic.ac) (checked 2026-11-02)
3. [Afilias bought .io for $70 million](https://domainincite.com/?p=23650) — Domain Incite (checked 2026-11-02)
4. [Donuts Inc. and Afilias, Inc. rebrand to Identity Digital](https://afilias.mediaroom.com/2022-06-22-Donuts-Inc-and-Afilias,-Inc-Rebrand-to-Identity-Digital) — Identity Digital (checked 2026-11-02)
5. [Working paper A/AC.109/2024/13 (Saint Helena, including Ascension)](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/4041089/files/A_AC.109_2024_13-EN.pdf) — United Nations (checked 2026-11-02)
6. [Namecheap full TLD list (.ac)](https://www.namecheap.com/domains/full-tld-list/) — Namecheap (checked 2026-11-02)
7. [Cloudflare Registrar search (.ac)](https://www.cloudflare.com/domains/search?q=name.ac) — Cloudflare (checked 2026-11-02)
8. [Porkbun public pricing API](https://api.porkbun.com/api/json/v3/pricing/get) — Porkbun (checked 2026-11-02)

## Other short extensions

- [.io domains](https://pearlcay.com/io-domain/ "What is a .io domain, and what about the Chagos question?")
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- [.sh domains](https://pearlcay.com/sh-domain/ "What is a .sh domain, and who can register one?")
- [.ws domains](https://pearlcay.com/ws-domain/ "What is a .ws domain, and does it stand for website?")
- [.la domains](https://pearlcay.com/la-domain/ "What is a .la domain: Laos or Los Angeles?")
- [.fm domains](https://pearlcay.com/fm-domain/ "What is a .fm domain, and is it only for radio?")
- [.ac domains](https://pearlcay.com/ac-domain/ "What is a .ac domain, and is it only for universities?")
- [.pw domains](https://pearlcay.com/pw-domain/ "What is a .pw domain, and what does it stand for?")
- [.vc domains](https://pearlcay.com/vc-domain/ "What is a .vc domain, and is it only for venture capital?")

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Pearlcay: Pearlcay registers short country-code domains, most of them island extensions: .ai (Anguilla), .io (Chagos Islands), .gg (Guernsey), .sh (Saint Helena), .tv (Tuvalu) and ten more, paid in crypto with no KYC: no ID, only one verified email per domain. It is run by DomaineGoat LLC, a company registered in Panama; domains are registered through its ICANN-accredited registrar partner. A .ai costs $86.99/year, sold for at least 2 years.