nmspc

Domain endings / .org

A .org expires on its renewal date.
Then up to 45 days to renew, 30 days to restore, and 5 days before it's free.

Public Interest Registry renews an unpaid .org for a year when it expires, and your registrar has up to 45 days to decide. Once the registrar deletes it, the name is released 35 days later: 30 days in which it can be restored, then five in which it can't.

When does a .org domain expire?

A .org domain expires on the expiry date in the registry record, at the end of the years you paid for. If it hasn't been renewed by then, Public Interest Registry renews it for one more year automatically and bills your registrar.

That doesn't mean you keep it: your registrar then decides, under its own terms, whether to renew you or delete the name.

Is there a grace period for .org?

Usually, but how long is up to your registrar. The registry gives the registrar 45 days after the automatic renewal to delete the name and get its money back, and how much of that time you get to renew late is set by your registrar's terms.

ICANN's rules require the registrar to let you renew after expiry until it deletes the name, and to switch off the domain's DNS for at least the last 8 days of that time, so the site and email stop working before the name is gone.

What happens when a .org domain expires?

Here is the order things happen in once the expiry date passes without a renewal. Public Interest Registry calls the last five days the Redemption Hold Period.

RemindersAbout 30 and 7 days before, and within 5 days after
Your registrar must email you at least twice before the expiry date and once more after it if the domain is neither renewed nor deleted.
Auto-renew graceautoRenewPeriodUp to 45 days, set by the registrar
Public Interest Registry has renewed the domain automatically. You can still renew it through your registrar, at the normal or the registrar's late price, until the registrar deletes it. For at least the last 8 days the domain's DNS is switched off, sometimes to a parking page that says it has expired.
RedemptionredemptionPeriod30 days
The registrar has deleted the name and it is out of the .org zone, so nothing on it works. Only the registrar that deleted it can restore it, normally for a restore fee on top of the renewal.
Pending deletependingDelete5 days
It can no longer be restored or changed.
Released
The name is purged from the registry and anyone can register it, first come, first served.

How long can you register a .org domain for?

From 1 to 10 years. A renewal can't take the total remaining term past 10 years.

How do I look up a .org domain's expiry date?

Ask the registry's RDAP server, https://rdap.publicinterestregistry.org/rdap/, or type the name in the box above and nmspc asks the same server for you. IANA's RDAP bootstrap file lists that server for .org; if it doesn't answer, nmspc falls back to WHOIS at whois.pir.org.

What else is different about .org?

You can work out when a deleted .org will be released: Public Interest Registry says it is 35 days after the registrar deleted it, which is the last-updated date in the record once it shows redemptionPeriod.

Restoring a .org in redemption costs a restore fee plus a one-year renewal; your registrar sets what it charges you.

Who runs .org?

Public Interest Registry, a nonprofit created by the Internet Society, runs .org under an agreement with ICANN; Identity Digital runs its technical backend. You buy and renew a .org through an ICANN-accredited registrar.

How nmspc keeps track

Add a .org domain and nmspc reads its expiry date from the registry, then reminds you 60, 30, 14, 7 and 1 day before it runs out, and before its certificate does. Free for every domain. Open nmspc

Sources

Checked against these pages on 25 October 2026. Registries change their rules now and then; the source wins if it disagrees.