Buying a domain in Nepal

A domain is the name customers type: yourbrand.com or yourbrand.com.np. You have two real choices in Nepal, and one of them is free.

The free one: .com.np

Nepal's own domains (.com.np and .np) are registered at register.com.np (run by Mercantile, the .np registry) and cost nothing: no fee to register, none to renew. The trade is paperwork and a short wait, and the name should match you or your business.

1. Go to register.com.np, search the name you want, and make an account if it is free.
2. Apply for the domain. As an individual you upload a copy of your citizenship or passport and a short signed cover letter requesting the name (their site has the format: one paragraph, addressed to the hostmaster). As a business you upload the company registration certificate (and PAN if asked) instead, and the domain should match the registered name.
3. When it asks for name servers, you can use Cloudflare's free plan (make a Cloudflare account, add the domain, and it tells you two name servers to enter). This is the one extra step .np needs, because the registry hosts no DNS for you.
4. Approval is by a person and usually takes a few working days. You will get an email; after that the domain is yours to point at your shop. Your shop on your own domain takes it from there.

The paid one: .com

A .com is instant, needs no documents, and reads international, at roughly 10 to 15 US dollars a year. Buy it from any large registrar (Namecheap, Porkbun, Cloudflare); paying usually needs a card that works internationally. Several Nepali hosting companies also resell .com domains and take eSewa, Khalti or bank transfer. The yearly price is a little higher, and for a shop without an international card it is the practical road.

Which one?

If the free paperwork does not put you off, .com.np says Nepal and costs nothing, forever. If you want the shortest, most international name and can pay yearly, take the .com. Check both on their registrars before deciding: the same word is often free on one and taken on the other. And whichever you buy, the connection to your shop is the same one DNS record.

Stuck at any step? Message us on WhatsApp. Helping a shop pick and connect a name is a thing we genuinely enjoy.