Domain name guide Domain name in Mauritius: .mu or .com, and the real price
Your domain name is your website's address. You rent it by the year, it doesn't cost much, and yet it is often what blocks everything the day you want to change provider. Here is how to choose it, what it really costs in Mauritius, and whose name it should be in.
By Mathieu, Quartz · Updated · 3 min read
.mu or .com?
The .mu is Mauritius's extension. Google uses it as a signal: a .mu site is aimed at Mauritius. It is open to everyone, with no residency requirement. There are also variants such as .co.mu or .org.mu, less common.
The .com is universal and much cheaper. It says nothing about your country, which works for local and international customers alike. The downside: short names are often already taken.
My simple rule: if your customers are mostly in Mauritius, take the .mu. If you also target other countries, the .com is simpler.
What does it really cost?
You don't buy a domain name once and for all: you rent it, for one to ten years depending on the registrar, and renew it for as long as you keep your site. Here are public prices collected from several registrars, for one year.
| Extension and registrar | First year | Renewal |
|---|---|---|
| .com at Dynadot | $10.88 | $10.88 |
| .com at Gandi | €11 | €29 to €32 |
| .mu at a Mauritian reseller | Rs 3,500 | Rs 3,500 |
| .mu at Dynadot | $60 | $60 |
| .mu at EuroDNS | €80 | €80 |
| .mu at Gandi | €85 | €170 |
Two lessons. A .mu costs five to fifteen times more than a .com. And above all, look at the renewal price, not the first-year price: at some registrars it doubles, or even triples, from the second year. That is the price you will pay every year, for the whole life of your site.
Whose name should it be in? The most important question
A .mu is only sold through registrars accredited by the Mauritian registry, MU-NIC. Whoever registers it is the registrant, and the registrant controls it. If your provider registers it in their own name, the domain is theirs, not yours.
So insist on three things:
- you, or your company, are the domain's registrant;
- the registrar account is in your name, with your email address;
- you have the logins to that account, even if someone else manages it for you.
Three settings that stop you losing it
- Automatic renewal, with a valid bank card. When it expires, the domain can be switched off: your site and your emails stop. At Gandi, for example, a .mu is switched off as soon as it expires, with 45 days to renew it. Beyond that, you risk losing it.
- A contact email you actually read. That is where renewal reminders arrive. Not your provider's address, nor an old forgotten inbox.
- The transfer lock, if your registrar offers it. It prevents your domain from being moved without your consent.
Choosing the name
- Short and easy to say. Try the phone test: if you have to spell it out, it is too complicated.
- No hyphens, no ambiguous numbers. "4" or "four", "my-business" or "mybusiness": every doubt loses you visitors.
- Free elsewhere. Check that no other business uses it, and that the same name is available on Facebook and Instagram.
What if your provider registered it in their name?
Ask them to hand over ownership: either a change of registrant, or a transfer to your own account using the transfer code issued by the registrar. It is a routine request, and a trustworthy provider has no reason to refuse it.
And at Quartz?
The domain is in your name from delivery, on your own account. I help you choose the name and the extension, and you pay the registrar directly, with no margin for me. For the full budget of a website, also read how much a website costs in Mauritius.