Register a .amsterdam domain: rules, price and transfer

A .amsterdam domain is the domain extension of the city of Amsterdam. Anyone can register one, even if you do not live or work in Amsterdam: the registry only asks that your details are correct and that you use the name fairly. At LJPc hosting a .amsterdam domain costs €36.99 a year excluding VAT, with DNS management included, and you order or transfer it in the customer portal.

Below you will find when a .amsterdam domain suits you, which rules apply, what it costs and how to register or transfer one.

What is a .amsterdam domain?

.amsterdam is the city's own extension. The City of Amsterdam owns it and has granted the day-to-day running to dotAmsterdam B.V. under a concession. The registry itself runs at SIDN, the organisation that also manages .nl. What SIDN does is explained in what is SIDN.

.amsterdam was added to the internet's root zone in November 2014 and registrations opened in 2015. It started with a priority phase in which Amsterdam organisations and residents could claim their names first. According to the registry, almost 12,000 domains were registered in that phase, and 80 percent of .amsterdam domains are still held by people and organisations from Amsterdam.

Unlike .nl, .amsterdam is not a country code extension but a generic one, like .com and .frl. The registry has an agreement with ICANN, the organisation that sets the global rules for generic extensions. Transfers, changes of holder and disputes for .amsterdam therefore follow ICANN rules you also see with .com. How all these extensions came about is told in the history of domain names.

When should you choose a .amsterdam domain?

A .amsterdam domain shows that your business, club or event belongs to Amsterdam. The name you want is also often still free under .amsterdam when it is already taken under .nl or .com.

You redirect a .amsterdam domain to your main site in the same way as any other domain; see redirect a domain to another website.

Do not expect the extension itself to give you a head start in Google. Google treats every extension that is not a country code as a generic extension, .amsterdam included. Whether people in Amsterdam find you depends on signals from your website itself, such as a local address and phone number, the language of your content, links from other local websites and your Google Business Profile. That is in Google's guidelines for multi-regional websites. The registry also says that for search, .amsterdam works as well as any other extension.

Who can register a .amsterdam domain?

Anyone: individuals, clubs, businesses and public bodies, in Amsterdam and beyond. You do not need an address in Amsterdam. At launch, Amsterdam brands, businesses and residents had priority; that phase is over and names now go on a first come, first served basis. When you register, you accept the registry's rules:

• Correct details. Your name, address, email address and phone number are correct, and you pass on any change within 7 days. If you do not respond within 15 days to a question from the registry or your registrar about your details, the domain can be suspended or cancelled.
• Fair use. You do not use the name to mislead people, for spam or phishing, or for anything that breaks the law. The registry also forbids a name or website that suggests you are the City of Amsterdam, one of its departments or another Dutch public authority, and use that harms the reputation of Amsterdam or the Netherlands.
• Other people's rights. The registry does not check whether you are entitled to a name, and a company name or trademark does not give you a right to the matching .amsterdam domain. It is up to you to make sure your name does not infringe someone else's trademark or name.
• Subdomains for your own use. You create subdomains such as shop.yourbusiness.amsterdam for your own websites and services. Selling subdomains to others as a product is not allowed by the registry.

If you break these rules, the registry can suspend or cancel the domain. The full terms are on the .amsterdam policies page.

Which names are allowed under .amsterdam?

• Length. With us you register a name of 3 to 63 characters, not counting the .amsterdam extension.
• Characters. The letters a to z, the digits 0 to 9 and the hyphen. A hyphen cannot be the first or last character, and there cannot be two hyphens in a row in the third and fourth positions.
• No accents. You write a .amsterdam name without accented letters, so yourcafe.amsterdam rather than yourcafé.amsterdam.
• Reserved and premium names. The registry holds back some names, such as those of international organisations. Short and very generic names are offered as premium names, at their own price through the Sedo platform. If you want such a name for an idea that benefits Amsterdam as a whole, the registry invites you to get in touch.

How much does a .amsterdam domain cost at LJPc?

A .amsterdam domain costs €36.99 a year at LJPc hosting, excluding VAT. Transferring an existing .amsterdam domain to us costs the same, because the registry extends the domain by a year on transfer. The registry leaves pricing to registrars, so prices differ between providers; when you compare, look at the renewal price too. The order wizard shows the price before you order, and our domain names page lists current prices for all extensions.

You add hosting for your website and email as you need it. You can also take DNS management only, or redirect the domain to another website. Our packages are on the web hosting page.

How to register a .amsterdam domain at LJPc

1. Log in to portal.ljpc.nl and click Add a website on the dashboard, or go straight to the order wizard. No account yet? Create one first.
2. Choose I am looking for one or want to register one and type the name followed by .amsterdam, for example yourbusiness.amsterdam. You see straight away whether it is available and what it costs per year, alongside other extensions.
3. Pick the .amsterdam domain and then what it should do: a hosting package, DNS management only, a redirect package, or a server or hosting space you already have with us.
4. Check the Registration contact in the cart: the details under which the domain is registered in your name. Your contact details are all .amsterdam needs: the cart does not ask for anything extra.
5. Accept the terms and conditions and complete your order. We then handle the registration with the registry.

Every option in the order wizard is explained in register a domain and link it to your hosting. Afterwards you find your .amsterdam domain in the portal under Services > Domain names. If the name you want is taken, a domain backorder lets you claim it the moment it becomes available.

What LJPc takes care of for your .amsterdam domain

• Renewed automatically every year. Auto-renewal is on by default, so your .amsterdam domain keeps running as long as your subscription does. To stop, see cancel a domain or hosting.
• DNS and DNSSEC. Your domain gets our nameservers ns1.ljpc.network, ns2.ljpc.network and ns3.ljpc.network, and we switch on DNSSEC automatically. How that protection works is explained in what is DNSSEC.
• Your transfer code always at hand. The domain page in the portal shows the transfer code in the Authorization code block.
• The transfer lock under your control. The Transfer lock switch lets you turn the transfer lock of your .amsterdam domain on or off yourself.
• Your details under your control. You update the contact details of your domain in the portal, as described in manage the WHOIS data of your domain. If the domain needs to go to someone else, read change the owner of a domain: as with .com, the current and the new holder both approve the change by email.

Transfer your .amsterdam domain to LJPc

You transfer a .amsterdam domain with a transfer code, also called an authorisation code, token or EPP code. Your current provider gives it to you.

1. Are your website and email moving too? Set them up with us first, because a domain transfer does not move your website or email for you. See migrate your website to LJPc for how to plan it.
2. Ask your current provider for the transfer code and have them remove the transfer lock from the domain.
3. Open the order wizard, choose I already have one at another registrar, enter your .amsterdam domain and choose Transfer to LJPc. Enter the transfer code. The portal checks right away whether the transfer can go ahead with that code.
4. Choose your hosting or DNS management only and complete your order. We start the transfer and you follow its status in the portal.

According to the registry you receive one or more emails along the way and the domain moves within five days at most. After the transfer your domain's term is one year longer. A .amsterdam domain cannot be transferred in the first 60 days after registration, after a previous transfer or after a change of holder. How to follow the transfer, what to do with an approval email and what to do if it gets stuck is covered in transfer your domain to LJPc.

Transfer your .amsterdam domain from LJPc to another provider

If your .amsterdam domain is moving to another provider, you handle the transfer code and the transfer lock yourself in the portal:

1. Open the page of your .amsterdam domain in the portal.
2. In the Authorization code block, click Show to see the transfer code, or Copy to copy it.
3. In the Domain overview block, find Transfer lock and click the switch so it reads Off.
4. Give the code to your new provider, who uses it to request the transfer.

If the domain is also going to a new owner, .amsterdam handles that in two steps: first the domain moves to the new provider, then that provider puts it in the new owner's name. What else is involved, such as ending your subscription with us, is explained in get your transfer code and transfer your domain.

Keep your .amsterdam domain at another registrar

If you want to keep your .amsterdam domain at your current registrar and only host your website or email with us, the domain does not need to move. You connect it with our nameservers, as described in change your nameservers, or with individual DNS records, as described in point a domain at another provider to LJPc hosting. Not sure where your domain is registered? Find out with who manages my domain.

Expired or cancelled

If a .amsterdam domain is not renewed or you cancel it, it goes into quarantine at the registry for 40 days, the same as a .nl domain. During that time your website and email on that name stop working, and only the holder can have the domain restored through a registrar. After the quarantine the name becomes available to anyone.

What the statuses in the portal mean and how to get a domain back is covered in expired domain or quarantine. If your .amsterdam domain shows Expired, Redemption period or Pending delete in the portal, open a support ticket right away.

WHOIS, complaints and disputes

The public .amsterdam WHOIS shows which registrar manages a domain and when it was registered and expires. The holder's name, address and email address are hidden; for an organisation, the organisation name may be visible. Anyone who needs the details for a legal case or a law enforcement investigation can request access from the registry.

For a complaint about a .amsterdam domain, first try to reach the holder or their registrar. If that does not work, you can turn to the registry. Report abuse such as phishing or malware to the registry through its abuse reporting page.

If someone claims rights to a .amsterdam name, for example because it is their trademark, it can go through ICANN's dispute policy (UDRP), the fast-track URS suspension procedure or the courts, the same as with .com. .amsterdam also has its own dispute procedure, run by WIPO. It covers trademarks and trade names protected in the Netherlands and the names of people, public bodies, associations and foundations in the Netherlands, where the holder has no right to the name and uses it in bad faith. If the complainant wins, the domain is put in their name. The registry itself is not a party to such a dispute.

Not sure whether .amsterdam is right for you, or is a transfer stuck? Open a support ticket and we will look into it with you.