How to register a .nl domain: rules, price and transfer

A .nl domain is a domain name with the country code extension of the Netherlands. Anyone can register one, individuals and businesses alike, and you do not need to live in the Netherlands or have a Dutch company. You register a .nl domain through a registrar such as LJPc hosting: with us it costs €11.23 a year excluding VAT, with DNS management included, and you order it in the customer portal.

Below you will find who can hold a .nl domain, which naming rules apply, when .nl is a better choice than .com, what it costs and how to register a .nl domain or transfer it to LJPc.

What is a .nl domain?

.nl is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) of the Netherlands, in the same way that .be belongs to Belgium. It was introduced on 25 April 1986 and has been run since 1996 by SIDN, based in Arnhem. SIDN is the .nl registry: it keeps the register of all .nl domain names, sets the rules and publishes the names on the internet. According to SIDN, more than 6 million .nl domains are registered. How .nl came about is covered in the history of domain names.

You always register a .nl domain through a registrar, or through a provider working with a registrar, such as LJPc hosting. Your provider records the registration, passes on changes to your details and is your point of contact. For a domain registered with us, the SIDN Whois shows LJPc as the Reseller.

Who can register a .nl domain?

Anyone. Article 1.1 of the General Terms and Conditions for .nl Registrants states that anyone, living or based anywhere in the world, may apply through a registrar to register a .nl domain name.

What SIDN expects from you as the registrant

• The real registrant. The domain must be registered to whoever actually controls it. Registering for your company? Enter the company name, not the name of an employee. Registering for yourself? Enter your own details.
• Your own details. Since 1 October 2023, a .nl domain may not be registered in the name of a registrar, a reseller or a privacy or proxy service. Privacy for individuals is built in: SIDN does not show the name and address of a private registrant in the public Whois. See manage the WHOIS data of your domain for more.
• A street address. Use your home or office address. A PO box is not allowed.
• Accurate, current details. If your name, address or legal form changes, update it through your registrar. At LJPc you update your details yourself in the portal. If SIDN suspects a domain is used for fraud, such as a fake web shop, it can ask the registrant to prove their identity. If that does not happen within 3 working days, SIDN makes the domain unreachable, as described on its registration data verification page (in Dutch).
• Respect for the rights of others. The name and the way you use it must not infringe the rights of others, such as a trademark, and must not conflict with public order or morality.

New: checking that registrants can be reached

Under the Dutch Cyber Security Act (Cyberbeveiligingswet, CSA), in force since 15 August 2026, registrars must collect registration data for every domain registration in the Netherlands, not only .nl, and confirm that the registrant can be reached by verifying an email address or phone number. SIDN will update the .nl terms and conditions accordingly on 1 January 2027, according to SIDN's announcement. Make sure your contact details are correct.

Which naming rules apply to .nl?

SIDN publishes the rules on its what is a domain name page and in the technical requirements for .nl:

• Length. A .nl name has 2 to 63 characters, not counting .nl.
• Characters. Only the letters a to z, the digits 0 to 9 and the hyphen.
• Hyphens. A hyphen always sits between two letters or digits, so a name cannot start or end with a hyphen or contain two hyphens in a row.
• No accented letters. .nl does not support internationalised domain names, so letters such as é, ë or ü cannot be used. For café de Zon you would choose cafedezon.nl.
• Reserved names. ftp.nl, mail.nl, nl.nl and www.nl cannot be registered.
• First come, first served. SIDN assigns a free name to the first application that meets the requirements.

At SIDN, a .nl registration has no expiry date: it runs until it is cancelled. At LJPc hosting you pay for your .nl domain per year and we renew it automatically every year.

Why choose a .nl domain?

• Instantly recognisable as Dutch. Visitors see at once that you focus on the Netherlands. According to research by SIDN and GfK (in Dutch), 80% of Dutch internet users prefer to buy from a .nl website when they have the choice.
• A clear signal to Google. In its guidelines for multi-regional sites, Google calls a country code extension a strong signal that a site is meant for that country.
• Privacy for individuals. SIDN keeps the name and address of private registrants out of the public Whois, without a separate privacy service.
• Fast changes. SIDN processes a change of registrant and a transfer immediately. See change the owner of a domain.
• A safety net when cancelling. A cancelled .nl domain first spends 40 days in quarantine, so a cancellation you regret can still be reversed.

.nl or .com: which is better?

It depends on where your customers are. .com is a generic extension that does not belong to any country, and Google does not treat it as a signal for a particular country. A .nl domain tells Dutch visitors and Google that your site is meant for the Netherlands. This is how to choose:

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

How much does a .nl domain cost at LJPc?

SIDN lets each registrar set its own prices. At LJPc hosting a .nl domain costs €11.23 a year, excluding VAT. Transferring an existing .nl domain to us costs the same and covers your first year with us. The order wizard shows the price before you order, and current prices for all extensions are on our domain names page.

You add hosting for your website and email separately. You can also choose DNS management only or forward the domain to another website. Our plans are on the web hosting page.

How to register a .nl domain with LJPc

1. Log in at portal.ljpc.nl, type the name with .nl 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, for example yourcompany.nl. You see straight away whether it is available and what it costs per year, with other extensions alongside.
3. Select the .nl domain and choose what it should do: a hosting plan, DNS management only, a forwarding plan, or a server or hosting space you already have with us.
4. In the cart, check the Registration contact: the details SIDN will record as the registrant. Make sure the registrant, your name and your address are correct.
5. Accept the terms and conditions and complete your order. Once your order is complete, we request the registration at SIDN.

SIDN adds a new .nl name to the .nl zone within an hour. After that the new information still has to spread across the internet, as explained in DNS propagation. Every option in the order wizard is covered in register a domain and link it to your hosting. Your .nl domain then appears 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 .nl domain

• Automatic yearly renewal. Auto-renewal is on by default, so your .nl domain keeps running as long as your subscription does. To stop, see cancel a domain or hosting.
• DNS and DNSSEC. Your domain gets our name servers ns1.ljpc.network, ns2.ljpc.network and ns3.ljpc.network, and we switch on DNSSEC automatically. See what is DNSSEC.
• Your transfer code in the portal. The transfer code of your .nl domain is shown on your domain's page in the portal, in the Authorization code block, so you have it at hand whenever you want to move.
• Your details under your control. You change the registrant and contact details of your domain yourself in the portal. For .nl, a new registrant is recorded straight away, as described in change the owner of a domain.

Received an invoice or renewal letter for your .nl domain from a company you do not recognise? Read how to spot a fake domain invoice first.

Transferring a .nl domain to LJPc

You transfer a .nl domain with a transfer token: a unique code held by your current registrar. Under SIDN's rules, your registrar must give you the token within five days of your request. A .nl domain has no transfer lock to switch off. Not sure who your domain is with? See who manages my domain.

1. Are your website and email moving too? Set them up with us first, because after the transfer your domain's name servers point to LJPc. See migrate your website to LJPc.
2. Request the transfer token from your current registrar. The procedure differs per registrar.
3. Open the order wizard, choose I already have one at another registrar, enter your .nl 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 hosting or DNS management only and complete your order. We start the transfer and you can follow its status in the portal.

SIDN carries out a .nl transfer immediately, so your domain is often with us within a few minutes. According to SIDN's transfer guide, you can always transfer, but a contract with your current registrar may continue afterwards, so check how far ahead you have already paid there. Follow the transfer step by step in transfer your domain to LJPc.

Transferring a .nl domain from LJPc to another provider

To move your .nl domain to another provider, give them the transfer code from the Authorization code block in the portal. Your new provider then requests the transfer at SIDN. What else to consider, such as the end of your subscription with us, is covered in get your EPP code and transfer your domain.

Keeping your .nl domain with another registrar

Want to keep your .nl domain where it is and only host your website or email with us? Then the domain does not need to move. You connect it with our name servers, as described in change your name servers, or with individual DNS records, as described in point a domain at LJPc hosting.

Cancelled or expired: quarantine

When a .nl domain is cancelled, for example because it was not renewed, it spends 40 days in quarantine at SIDN. During that time nobody else can register the name, the website and email on the domain stop working, and only the previous registrant can restore the name through a registrar. After the 40 days the name becomes available within an hour and anyone can register it. What to do then is explained in expired domain or quarantine.

Want a .nl name that someone else is letting lapse? Use a backorder.

Not sure which extension suits you, or is a transfer stuck? Open a support ticket and we will help you out.