How to register a .be domain: requirements, price and transfer

A .be domain is a domain name under Belgium's country-code extension .be, and anyone can register one: individuals and companies, whether they are based in Belgium, the Netherlands or anywhere else. You register a .be domain through a registrar such as LJPc hosting. With us a .be domain costs €9.99 a year excluding VAT, DNS management included, and you order it in the customer portal.

This guide covers the rules for .be, when a Belgian domain name is the right choice, what it costs, how to register one and how to transfer an existing .be domain to LJPc.

What is a .be domain?

.be is the country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) of Belgium, the way .nl is for the Netherlands and .de for Germany. It is run by DNS Belgium, the registry in Leuven that keeps the register of every .be domain and sets the rules. You can read more about the registry and the history of .be in DNS Belgium explained.

You always register a .be domain through a registrar, or through a provider that works with one. The registrar records the registration, renews it every year and updates your details when something changes.

Who can register a .be domain?

Anyone. The DNS Belgium registration guidelines state that .be domain names can be registered by everyone, with the registrant being either a private person or an organisation, and the .be terms and conditions contain no Belgian address or residency requirement. A company or person outside Belgium registers a .be domain in exactly the same way as a Belgian resident.

Registration is first come, first served: whoever applies for an available name first gets it.

.be domain requirements

The rules for registrants are in the DNS Belgium terms and conditions (version 6.3, in force since 16 September 2025). These are the ones you deal with as a domain holder:

• A valid name. A .be name has 2 to 63 characters: letters, digits and hyphens, and accented letters are allowed too. The full naming rules are in DNS Belgium explained.
• One year at a time. A registration is valid for one year and renews one year at a time.
• Accurate contact details. Your name or company name, address, email address and phone number must be correct and kept up to date. You change them through your registrar.
• A working email address. DNS Belgium uses the registrant's email address for official messages about the domain, such as the transfer code. If that address goes out of date, DNS Belgium may end the registration.
• Details that are yours. You register the domain in your own name or that of your organisation. Under the terms, contact details meant to hide the registrant's real identity are not allowed.
• Respect for other people's rights. The name must not infringe someone else's rights, such as a trademark. In a dispute, the other party can go to the CEPANI arbitration centre or to court.

Identity check for new .be domains

DNS Belgium checks the identity of some new registrants itself, through its Registrant Verification programme. An algorithm picks which registrations are checked, based on factors such as the words in the name, the contact details, the email address and the nameservers.

If your registration is selected, the domain is registered in your name, but a website or email on it only works once you have completed the check. You do this online, for example with itsme, eID or Onfido, or with an official document such as an ID card or, for a company, its deed of incorporation. DNS Belgium covers the cost of the check.

.be or .nl or both?

A country-code domain tells visitors and search engines which country your website is for. In its guidance on multi-regional sites, Google calls a ccTLD a strong signal that a site is intended for that country, and the location of your server does not matter for it. According to DNS Belgium, many people automatically associate a .be domain with a Belgian business, and someone who knows your company name will nearly always try .be first.

How to point a second domain at your main site is covered in redirect a domain to another website.

How much does a .be domain cost at LJPc?

A .be domain costs €9.99 a year at LJPc hosting, excluding VAT. You pay the same amount to transfer an existing .be domain to us, and that gives you a fresh registration year with us. The order wizard shows the price before you order, and our domain names page lists the current prices of all extensions.

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

How to register a .be domain with LJPc

1. Sign in at portal.ljpc.nl, type the name with .be at the end in the Find your domain card on the dashboard and click Search, or open the order wizard directly. No account yet? Create one first.
2. Choose I am looking for one or want to register one and type the name with .be at the end, for example yourcompany.be. You see right away whether it is available and what it costs per year, with other extensions next to it.
3. Pick the .be domain, then choose what it should do: a hosting package, DNS management only, a forwarding package, or a server or hosting space you already have with us.
4. In your cart, check the registration contact: the details that put the domain in your name at DNS Belgium. Make sure your name and address are correct.
5. Accept the terms and conditions and complete your order. Once the order is complete, we register the domain with DNS Belgium.

Every option in the order wizard is explained in how to register a domain and link it to your hosting. You will then find your .be domain in the portal under Services > Domains.

What LJPc takes care of for your .be domain

• Renewed every year. Automatic renewal is on by default, so your .be domain stays active for as long as your subscription runs. 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. Learn how that protection works in what is DNSSEC.
• Transfer lock on. We switch on the transfer lock when we register the domain, so nobody can start a transfer without your cooperation. If you ever want to move, you switch it off yourself in the portal.
• DNS Belgium email in your portal. The email address on your domain is an address of your customer portal, so a transfer code or a request to confirm your identity arrives in the Inbox of the portal.
• Your details under your control. You manage the registrant and contact details of your domain yourself in the portal, as described in how to manage WHOIS data.

How to transfer a .be domain to LJPc

A .be domain moves with a transfer code that DNS Belgium generates itself and emails to the registrant's address. You request it on the DNS Belgium transfer code page or through your current registrar, and it is valid for 7 days.

1. Are your website and email moving too? Set them up with us first, because after the transfer the nameservers of your domain point to LJPc. See migrate your website to LJPc.
2. Switch off the transfer lock at your current registrar.
3. Request the transfer code from DNS Belgium. The email comes from no-reply@dnsbelgium.be.
4. Open the order wizard, choose I already have one at another registrar, enter your .be domain and choose Transfer to LJPc. Enter the transfer code. The portal checks right away whether the code is valid and the lock is off.
5. Choose your hosting or DNS management only and complete your order. We start the transfer and you follow its status in the portal.

Under the DNS Belgium terms, a completed transfer starts a new registration year, and DNS Belgium does not refund the rest of the current year. You get the most out of your current year by transferring shortly before it ends, before your current registrar bills the domain for another year. Your current registrar may also charge a small fee for the transfer.

More on the transfer code, such as requesting it again or handing a domain over to a new owner, is in DNS Belgium explained. How to follow the transfer until it is complete is in transfer your domain to LJPc.

Keep your .be domain at another registrar

If you want to keep your .be domain where it is and only move your website or email to us, the domain does not need to transfer. You connect it with our nameservers, as described in how to change your nameservers, or with individual DNS records, as described in point your domain to LJPc hosting.

Not sure which extension suits you, or is a transfer stuck? Create a support ticket and we will look into it with you.