Register a .frl domain: rules, price and transfer

A .frl domain is the domain extension for Friesland and the Frisian people. Anyone can register one, whether or not you live or work in Friesland: the registry only asks that your details are correct and that you use the name fairly. At LJPc hosting a .frl domain costs €36.99 a year excluding VAT, with DNS management included, and you order or transfer it in the customer portal.

Below you can read when a Frisian domain name is a good fit, which rules apply, what .frl costs and how to register or transfer a .frl domain.

What is a .frl domain?

.frl is the extension for Fryslân, the Dutch province of Friesland. It is run by FRLregistry B.V. in Leeuwarden. .frl launched in 2015 with a priority phase in which Frisian organisations and residents could claim their names first. According to the registry, 95 percent of .frl domains are still registered by Frisians.

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

When is a .frl domain the right choice?

A .frl domain shows that your business, club or project belongs to Friesland. The name you want is also often still available under .frl when it is already taken under .nl or .com.

A .frl domain redirects 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 regional extensions such as .frl as generic extensions, like .com. Whether people in Friesland find you depends on signals on your website itself, such as a local address and phone number, the language of your content and links from other local websites, as described in Google's guidelines for multi-regional sites. The registry also says .frl performs as well in search as any other extension.

Who can register a .frl domain?

Anyone: individuals, clubs, businesses and public bodies, in Friesland and beyond. You do not need an address in Friesland. When you register, you do agree to the registry's rules:

• Correct details. Your name, address, email address and phone number must be correct, and you pass on any change within 7 days. If you do not answer a question from the registry or your registrar about your details within 15 days, the domain can be suspended or cancelled.
• Fair use. You do not use the name to mislead people, for spam or for anything that breaks the law. The registry also prohibits names or websites that suggest you are the province of Fryslân, a municipality or another public authority.
• Other people's rights. The registry does not check whether you are entitled to a name: it is first come, first served. Making sure your name does not infringe someone else's trademark or name is your responsibility.

If these rules are broken, the registry can suspend or cancel the domain. The full terms are on the .frl policies page.

What makes a valid .frl name?

• Length. 2 to 63 characters, not counting the .frl extension.
• Characters. The letters a to z, the digits 0 to 9 and the hyphen. A hyphen cannot come first or last, and you cannot have two hyphens in the third and fourth positions.
• Frisian letters. Unlike .nl, .frl accepts accented letters such as á, é, ó, ú, â, ê, ô, û, ä, ë, ï, ö and ü, so a name like sûkerbôle.frl is possible. The registry does point out that not every email program or order form handles these characters.
• Reserved and premium names. The registry holds back some names, such as the names of international organisations. Short and very generic names are often premium names, at a higher registry price.

In the order wizard in the portal you type a name using the letters a to z, digits and hyphens. If you want a .frl domain with Frisian letters, open a support ticket and we will look into it with you. If the wizard shows Premium domein, neem contact op next to a name, you order that name through a support ticket; the button opens the ticket for you. See order a domain and hosting in the customer portal for how that works.

How much does a .frl domain cost at LJPc?

A .frl domain costs €36.99 a year at LJPc hosting, excluding VAT. Transferring an existing .frl 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. 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 .frl 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 .frl, for example yourbusiness.frl. You see straight away whether it is available and what it costs per year, alongside other extensions.
3. Pick the .frl 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 regular contact details are all .frl 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 .frl 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 .frl domain

• Renewed automatically every year. Auto-renewal is on by default, so your .frl 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 .frl 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 .frl domain to LJPc

You transfer a .frl domain with a transfer code, also called an authorisation code 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 .frl 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. A .frl 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 .frl domain from LJPc to another provider

If your .frl 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 .frl 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.

What else is involved, such as ending your subscription with us, is explained in get your transfer code and transfer your domain.

Keep your .frl domain at another registrar

If you want to keep your .frl 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

After its expiry date a .frl domain follows the same ICANN rules as .com: first a period in which only the holder can get the domain back through their registrar, after which the name becomes available to anyone. How long each phase lasts and what the statuses in the portal mean is covered in expired domain or quarantine. If your .frl domain shows Expired, Redemption period or Pending delete in the portal, open a support ticket right away.

WHOIS and disputes

The public .frl WHOIS shows which registrar manages a domain and when it was registered and expires. The holder's name, address and email address are hidden. Anyone with a legitimate reason can request the full details from the registry. For a question or complaint about a .frl domain, the registry refers you to the registrar or reseller of that domain.

If someone claims rights to a .frl name, for example because it is their trademark, it goes through ICANN's dispute policy (UDRP), the fast-track URS suspension procedure or the courts, the same as with .com. The registry itself is not a party to such a dispute.

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