Quick answer
What does the .me domain stand for?
Montenegro. .me is Montenegro's country code, open to anyone since it launched in 2008, and its registry sells it as a personal-name ending for portfolios, bios and short links. At Pearlcay, a .me costs $18.99/year the first year and $18.99/year to renew (2 November 2026), paid in crypto with no KYC.
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.me at a glance
| Country code of | Montenegro, a country on the Adriatic coast in Southeastern Europe |
|---|---|
| Registry | Government of Montenegro |
| Technical operator | doMEn d.o.o. (Montenegro), with Identity Digital as technical back-end |
| Who can register | Anyone, anywhere. Third-level names such as .co.me are for Montenegrin citizens and companies. |
| Registration term | 1 to 10 years |
| Public WHOIS / RDAP | Privacy is supported; free at Pearlcay |
| Known for | Personal sites and link domains: t.me (Telegram), wa.me (WhatsApp), proton.me |
.me price per year
| Extension | 1st year | Renewal | Transfer | WHOIS privacy | Restrictions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .me | $18.99 | $18.99 | $18.99 | Free | None |
No first-year discount: the first year costs the same as the renewal, while several registrars advertise a low first year. A transfer in needs a domain more than 60 days old. Two-letter and some other names are registry premiums.
Montenegro, the country behind .me
Montenegro is not an island. It is a small country on the Adriatic coast of the Balkans, and its capital is Podgorica. It declared independence on 3 June 2006 and was given the ISO country code ME that September, according to Wikipedia.
ICANN delegated .me to the Government of Montenegro in September 2007, and the domain became active on 24 September 2007. After a government bid, the registry went to doMEn d.o.o., a Montenegro-based joint venture of Afilias, GoDaddy and ME-net. Trademark holders could apply in a sunrise period that opened on 6 May 2008, land-rush auctions ran in July and August 2008, and general availability opened on 17 July 2008, while the auctions were still running. Before that, Montenegrins mostly used .cg.yu under the former Yugoslav .yu domain, which was phased out.
Most early buyers wanted domain hacks, and the registry announced one million names in March 2016. Today IANA lists the Government of Montenegro as sponsor, with the University of Montenegro as its contact, in a record last updated in October 2020.
The result is a country code that works like a personal namespace: the registry positions .me for global use, and names directly under it are open to the whole world.
Who uses .me, and why?
"Me" is a first-person word, so the ending suits anything personal: portfolios, CVs, link-in-bio pages, personal blogs and small apps. Telegram uses t.me for its public links, WhatsApp uses wa.me for click-to-chat links, and Proton, the Swiss encrypted email company, uses proton.me as its main domain.
It works for domain hacks too. A word that ends in "me" can be split before those two letters: "welcome" becomes "welco.me", and "home" becomes "ho.me". Our domain hacks guide explains the idea and the traps.
A .me name also reads naturally in a sentence, as in "see my work at yourname.me", which is why CVs and business cards use it. Pearlcay includes free DNS and free URL and email forwarding, so the name can point to a portfolio hosted elsewhere or to a social profile.
Short names are in demand. The registry treats two-letter and some other names as premiums, so the best short names cost more; see why. If you only need a personal page, a longer name at the normal price is usually enough.
.me at other registrars, 2 November 2026
Prices per year in US dollars. Several registrars discount the first year heavily and renew higher, so compare the Renewal column. Cloudflare sells at cost.
| Registrar | First year | Renewal | Pays in crypto |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pearlcay | $18.99 | $18.99 | Yes, only crypto |
| Namecheap | $10.98 (sale; list $19.98) | $23.98 | Yes (deposit to account funds first) |
| Spaceship | $8.70 | $15.53 | Yes (Bitcoin; other coins not documented) |
| Dynadot | $9.37 | $17.18 | Yes (BTC, USDT, USDC and more) |
| Porkbun | $17.27 | $17.27 | Yes (USDC via Coinbase) |
| Cloudflare | $16.56 | $16.56 | No |
Last checked on ; 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.
.me rules: eligibility, lookalikes and disputes
Who can register. Anyone. Names directly under .me are open worldwide. Third-level names such as .co.me, .org.me and .gov.me are for Montenegrin citizens and companies, according to Wikipedia.
Terms. 1 to 10 years. A transfer in needs a domain more than 60 days old.
Privacy. The registry supports privacy. At Pearlcay it is free, and what stays public still depends on the registry.
Email check. After you register, the registrant email must be verified within 15 days, as ICANN rules require. We collect no other contact data from you.
Lookalikes. The registry blocks homoglyph variants of a registered name, so nobody else can register a lookalike spelled with similar-looking characters.
Short names. Two-letter and some other names are registry premiums. See why some names cost more.
Disputes. Trademark disputes follow the UDRP. In 2008 WIPO panels ordered creditmutuel.me, porsche.me and exxonmobil.me transferred to the trademark owners, according to Wikipedia citing the decisions.
Content. The sources we checked show no content rule specific to .me. Our acceptable use policy applies, as for every extension.
Risks. In August 2026 the Montenegrin government said it had started creating a state-owned company to manage .me eventually, with no dates given (Domain Incite, 3 August 2026). The coverage we read reports no change for current holders. We found no registry price notice for 2025 or 2026.
.me questions
Is .me only for personal websites?
No. Businesses, apps and services use it too. Telegram, WhatsApp and Proton all use .me addresses. The registry sells it as a personal-name ending, but nothing limits it to people.
Do I need to live in Montenegro to register a .me?
No. Names directly under .me are open worldwide. Pearlcay sells them with no ID check and collects one verified email address per domain, as ICANN rules require.
What is the difference between .me and .co.me?
A name directly under .me is open to everyone. Third-level names such as .co.me are for Montenegrin citizens and companies, and Pearlcay sells names directly under .me.
Why are some short .me names so expensive?
The registry treats two-letter and some other names as premiums and sets a higher price for them. See the page on registry premium names.
Can I get WHOIS privacy on a .me?
Yes. The registry supports it and it is free at Pearlcay. What stays public depends on the registry.
How long can I register a .me for?
From 1 to 10 years. A transfer in needs a domain more than 60 days old.
Sources (4)
- Delegation record for .me — IANA (checked 2026-11-02)
- .me (delegation, doMEn, launch, names on .me, disputes) — Wikipedia (checked 2026-11-02)
- Government moves to nationalize .me (3 August 2026) — Domain Incite (checked 2026-11-02)
- Registrar price lists read on 2 November 2026 (Namecheap shown; Spaceship, Dynadot, Porkbun, Cloudflare read the same day) namecheap.com/domains/full-tld-list — Namecheap and the other registrars named (checked 2026-11-02)