France uses .fr, which requires a local presence to register. Below: who operates each namespace, what its rules actually constrain, the accredited local registrars, and how global registrars compare on price where we hold a sourced figure.
Gandi and OVHcloud are the registrars this site tracks that meet all three local conditions in France: a storefront in an official language, billing in EUR, and .fr for sale. Of the 11 local storefronts read on 2026-09-29, Ikoula prints the lowest standing .fr price: €8.39 incl. VAT, computed from €6.99 ex. VAT, then OVHcloud at €9.35 incl. VAT, computed from €7.79 ex. VAT; €4.99 first year. Afnic accredits 333 registrars to sell .fr; none of them is tested or scored here. Global registrars that sell .fr in US dollars are the global option for a buyer in France, not a recommendation in it.
Registrars accredited by Afnic (Association française pour le nommage Internet en coopération)
These 333 companies are accredited by the France registry to sell .fr. Every figure below is a fact the registry publishes, read from its accredited-registrar list on 2026-09-29.
Afnic (Association française pour le nommage Internet en coopération) publishes 333 registrars under contract for .fr. Of those, it lists 0 as offering DNSSEC.
We have not tested any of these registrars, so nothing here carries a price, a score or a ranking. Comparing them on price and service is work we have not done, and saying which is better would be invention.
Which registrars have a French site, bill in EUR and sell .fr?
Three conditions decide whether a registrar can be recommended in France rather than merely to the world from it: an interface in an official language, billing in the local currency, and selling the local namespace. All three must hold. 2 of the 19 registrars below meet all three.
The English storefront was read and French was not among them. Language switchers are often rendered in JavaScript, which this read cannot see, so this is not recorded as a "no".
The English storefronts were read and French was not among them. Language switchers are often rendered in JavaScript, which this read cannot see, so this is not recorded as a "no".
Bills in USD only. "All prices are in USD" is a positive statement that no other billing currency is offered, so this is a recorded 'no' on every non-USD currency rather than an absence.
The English storefronts were read and French was not among them. Language switchers are often rendered in JavaScript, which this read cannot see, so this is not recorded as a "no".
Offers EUR in a currency selector, but whether the card is charged in EUR or in USD after a conversion is not established. Nine currencies in the selector, which is more than any other registrar tracked here. Whether the card is charged in the selected currency or in USD after a conversion is NOT established: https://www.dynadot.com/community/help/question/change-currency was read on the same date and says nothing about how charges are made or about an exchange rate. Until that is established these do not pass the currency condition, because the condition exists to protect a buyer from a conversion fee and a display-only currency does not.
The English storefront was read and French was not among them. Language switchers are often rendered in JavaScript, which this read cannot see, so this is not recorded as a "no".
The English storefront was read and French was not among them. Language switchers are often rendered in JavaScript, which this read cannot see, so this is not recorded as a "no".
Bills in USD only. "All pricing is per year and in USD." is a positive statement that no other billing currency is offered, as Porkbun's is; recorded as a 'no' on every non-USD currency.
The English storefront was read and French was not among them. Language switchers are often rendered in JavaScript, which this read cannot see, so this is not recorded as a "no".
The English storefront was read and French was not among them. Language switchers are often rendered in JavaScript, which this read cannot see, so this is not recorded as a "no".
The German and English and Italian storefronts were read and French was not among them. Language switchers are often rendered in JavaScript, which this read cannot see, so this is not recorded as a "no".
Offers EUR in a currency selector, but whether the card is charged in EUR or in USD after a conversion is not established. Thirteen currencies in the selector (AU$, R$, CA$, ¥, €, £, ₹, MX$, ₱, ﷼, ฿, ₺, USD $). Whether the card is charged in the selected currency is not established by the page, so none passes the currency condition.
A dash is ignorance, not a failing grade: it means we have not established that condition either way. Several registrars render their language and currency switchers in JavaScript, which the read behind this table cannot see, so we record nothing rather than a false “no”. A currency that appears only in a display selector does not count as billing in that currency, because a converted price charged in dollars is exactly the case this condition exists to catch.
Where to buy a .fr: Afnic-accredited registrars, read from their own storefronts
Eleven storefronts drawn from Afnic's directory of 333 accredited registrars (read from the directory page's own embedded data on 2026-09-29) were opened in a real browser. GoDaddy returned HTTP 403, and the IONOS, Infomaniak and Nordnet pages printed no .fr price. Seven pages printed a .fr price in euros with its tax treatment, most of them HT (excluding VAT), and five of those show a discounted first year beside a higher regular or renewal price.
Ordered by the standing .fr price each registrar's own page printed on 2026-09-29: the renewal where the page states one, else the regular price, VAT included (added at 20% where the page states prices excluding it). Price only: this site has not tested their support, uptime or transfers, and none of them carries a score.
Ordered by the standing .fr price each registrar's own page printed on 2026-09-29: the renewal where the page states one, else the regular price, VAT included (added at 20% where the page states prices excluding it). Price only: this site has not tested their support, uptime or transfers, and none of them carries a score.
Read, not ranked
A local-language storefront, but no .fr price with its VAT treatment on the page read.
IIONOSThe .fr page read prints no price for .fr and no currency.
IInfomaniakThe .fr tariff table printed no figures on the page read, and the only currency shown was CHF.
NNordnetThe page prints only a general 'Dès 29€ HT/ an' figure, not a price for .fr.
Not read on 2026-09-29: GoDaddy (HTTP 403 Access Denied on fr.godaddy.com/tlds/fr-domain and fr.godaddy.com/domains on 2026-09-29. Nothing read.). Unread is a fact about our read, not a finding about the registrar.
Operates a French-language storefront, which is an official language of France. Bills in EUR. Page in French. ".com - 13,20 €" with a tax control offering "Excluding VAT" and "20.0% VAT". Sells .fr, and we hold a sourced price for it.
Operates a French-language storefront, which is an official language of France. Bills in EUR. Page in French. ".com 7,99 € HT", renewal "13,49 € HT"; HT (hors taxes) appears throughout the pricing section. Sells .fr, and we hold a sourced price for it.
Ordered by our overall score where a registrar carries one. A registrar we have not tested can meet all three local conditions and is listed for it, without a score and never above a scored one.
does not bill in EUR; no French-language storefront established
Verified .com renewal of $11.08. Not the cheapest .com we verify: Spaceship renews at $10.18, 9% less. Porkbun is the pick here for catalogue breadth, not for price. WHOIS privacy: free, included by default.
Buying a gTLD through an English-language registrar that bills in dollars is a real and common choice, so it is named with the trade stated rather than dropped. It is not a recommendation in France: the conditions it misses are in the column above.
Business use, globally
Namecheap
Support channels: 24/7 live chat, ticket support, knowledge base.
Developers, globally
Cloudflare Registrar
Industry-leading anycast DNS with deep developer tooling. Public API documented.
These two are the site’s global picks and are the same on every country page, which is why they are labelled globally and sit outside the table above. Nothing about a registrar’s API or its support channels changes at a border; what does change is language, billing currency and whether it can sell the local namespace, and that is what the eligibility table measures.
Policy authority: AFNIC under French government agreement
Local presence: Yes: registrant must be located in the EU/EEA, Switzerland, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, the Vatican, the UK, Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein. Postal address is verified.
DNSSEC: Signed at the root
IDN: Supported (French characters)
AFNIC also runs .pm, .re, .tf, .wf, .yt for French overseas territories. The .fr WHOIS is heavily redacted under GDPR.
Purpose: France's national ccTLD, administered by AFNIC.
Eligibility: Registrant must reside in or be established in the EU/EEA, Switzerland, the UK, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, or the Vatican. AFNIC verifies the postal address at registration and may revoke domains with provably invalid addresses.
Pricing fetched from each registrar's own pricing page on the date shown. Local registrars may bill in EUR and add VAT/GST/sales tax on top.
AFNIC enforces a charter prohibiting names that exploit institutional, geographic, or otherwise reserved strings without authorisation. WHOIS is heavily GDPR-redacted for individual registrants.
Namespace map
What you can register under .fr
The Public Suffix List records 10 registrable namespaces under .fr.
Registrable namespaces under .fr from the Public Suffix List, with which of the registrars this site tracks sell each one and the cheapest renewal price we have verified.
Namespace
.asso.fr
.avoues.fr
.cci.fr
.com.fr
.gouv.fr
.greta.fr
.huissier-justice.fr
.nom.fr
.prd.fr
.tm.fr
Operator: Association Française pour le Nommage Internet en Coopération (A.F.N.I.C.) · .fr signed in the root zone (2026-09-28)
Verified and sample pricing per registrar for this TLD, with first-year, renewal, ten-year cost and the date each figure was checked
Registrar
First-year
Renewal
10-year cost
WHOIS privacy
Last checked
(verified price)
Spaceship
$9.08
$10.18
$100.70
Free
2026-09-02
(verified price)
Dynadot
$10.88
$10.88
$108.80
Free
2026-09-28
(verified price)
Porkbun
$11.08
$11.08
$110.80
Free
2026-09-28
(verified price)
OVHcloud
$9.20
$14.69
$141.41
Available; contact data red…
2026-09-28
(verified price)
AAmazon Route 53
$16.00
$16.00
$160.00
Free, with exceptions
2026-09-29
(verified price)
NNameSilo
$17.29
$17.29
$172.90
Free
2026-09-28
(verified price)
Namecheap
$11.28
$18.48
$177.60
Free, with exceptions
2026-08-19
(verified price)
Hover
$18.99
$18.99
$189.90
Free, with exceptions
2026-09-28
(verified price)
NName.com
$12.99
$19.99
$192.90
Available (Whois Privacy) o…
2026-09-28
(verified price)
IONOS
$1.00
$20.00
$181.00
Available; contact data red…
2026-09-29
(verified price)
Gandi
$11.00
$38.38
$356.42
Free, with exceptions
2026-09-28
Compared across the 11 registrars whose .com price we have read ourselves.
Most global registrars price domains in USD; local registrars often invoice in EUR.
Can a registrar we track handle France?
.fr is sold by 3 of the registrars whose prices we verify, renewing from $8.59: less than the cheapest verified .com at $10.18.
At $8.59 a year, .fr is 20th of 295 by price among the extensions we verify: $1.59 less than the cheapest verified .com. Registering locally costs less here than registering the default.
France ccTLDs and whether a registrar we verify sells each one
ccTLD
Sellers we verify
Cheapest verified renewal
vs cheapest .com
.fr
3 (+5 listed, price not verified)
$8.59
-$1.59
Renewals are all-in and per year, at the cheapest registrar we verify for that extension, checked 2026-09-29. The .com reference is the cheapest verified .com renewal ($10.18). "Listed" counts registrars our country notes record as selling the extension without a price we have read ourselves.
What this page does not tell you: how the registrars based in France compare. We list 333 of them by name only, no prices, no scores, no hands-on testing, so any claim here that a local registrar is cheaper, better supported or easier to pay would be invention. Where local billing in Euro (EUR), local-language support, or a registry rule requires a local registrar, that is a reason to use one, and comparing them is work we have not done. France also applies a local-presence or nexus requirement to at least one of its ccTLDs: see the registry rules above before assuming eligibility.
FAQ
What is the best domain registrar in France?+
Gandi and OVHcloud are the registrars this site tracks that meet all three local conditions in France: a storefront in an official language, billing in EUR, and .fr for sale. Of the 11 local storefronts read on 2026-09-29, Ikoula prints the lowest standing .fr price: €8.39 incl. VAT, computed from €6.99 ex. VAT, then OVHcloud at €9.35 incl. VAT, computed from €7.79 ex. VAT; €4.99 first year. Afnic accredits 333 registrars to sell .fr; none of them is tested or scored here. Global registrars that sell .fr in US dollars are the global option for a buyer in France, not a recommendation in it.
Do I need a local presence to register a .fr domain?+
Yes: registrant must be located in the EU/EEA, Switzerland, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, the Vatican, the UK, Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein. Postal address is verified.
Which global registrars sell .fr?+
Porkbun, Namecheap, Cloudflare Registrar, GoDaddy, Dynadot, Gandi, OVHcloud, AWS Route 53. AFNIC enforces a charter prohibiting names that exploit institutional, geographic, or otherwise reserved strings without authorisation. WHOIS is heavily GDPR-redacted for individual registrants.
Which currency are domains billed in for users in France?+
Most global registrars bill in USD regardless of buyer location. Local registrars typically invoice in Euro (EUR). Gandi, OVHcloud, Online, and IONOS bill in EUR with French TVA shown on the receipt and SEPA direct debit available. Global registrars bill in USD; B2C EU registrants pay VAT in addition.
What payment methods work in France?+
Gandi, OVHcloud, Online, and IONOS bill in EUR with French TVA shown on the receipt and SEPA direct debit available. Global registrars bill in USD; B2C EU registrants pay VAT in addition.
