.au domain wholesale prices are about to go up: here's what it means for you
If you've got a .au website, mark your calendar: from 1 October 2026, the wholesale price of every .au domain licence is rising from $8.64 to $9.50 (ex GST) a year. That's set by auDA, the body that runs the .au namespace, and it applies to every registrar in Australia—so while the exact retail impact will vary, it's the kind of change that tends to ripple all the way down to your renewal invoice.
Why the price is going up #
auDA says the 10% increase covers a CPI adjustment plus something new: the Quality Performance Index (QPI) rebate. From the same date, registrars that meet stronger quality, security and compliance standards can earn back up to $0.45 per domain per year. In effect, part of the price rise is auDA using the wholesale fee to reward registrars who lift their game—good news for the health of the .au space, even if it's your renewal that's funding it.
What it means for the market #
This isn't a one-off. Wholesale .au pricing has crept up every year for the past few years—from $7.78 to $8.45 in 2024, then to $8.64 in 2025, and now to $9.50 this October. Registrars have historically passed most, if not all, of these increases straight through to customers, usually within weeks of the wholesale change taking effect (sometimes even before it, to be safe). Don't expect every retailer to move at once or by the same amount, though. Some may bump prices exactly in line with the $0.86 wholesale increase; others may hold steady for a while to stay competitive, absorb part of the rise, or use it as cover to push through a bigger increase than the wholesale change actually justifies. A few of the more efficient or scale-heavy registrars may even qualify for enough of the QPI rebate to soften the blow. That's exactly the kind of variation worth checking before you renew (which is what we're here for).
What you should do now #
If you've got .au domains up for renewal in the next few months, or you've been meaning to register a new one, it's worth acting before 1 October. Renewing early locks in today's pricing for another year (or more, if your registrar allows multi-year renewals), and it sidesteps the scramble that tends to follow when a wholesale change lands and every provider updates its pricing pages at once. We'll be tracking how individual registrars respond once the new wholesale price kicks in, so check back on our comparison table closer to October to see who passed the increase on—and who didn't.
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