This is our detailed list of the most expensive domains globally.
Specifically, we're going to list:
- The top 25 most expensive domains
- The top 25 most expensive cash-only domain purchases
- The top 25 most expensive AI domains
Please be aware that we have removed explicit websites from our rankings.
What Is The #1 Most Expensive Domain?
Domain name sales have reached extraordinary prices over the years, reflecting the high value placed on digital real estate.
As of May 2025, the most expensive domain name is the 2019 sale of CarInsurance.com, which was auctioned off to QuinnStreet for $49.7 million.
The most expensive domain ever sold in a cash-only sale is Voice.com, which was purchased for $30 million in 2019 by Block.one, a blockchain company. The domain was intended to serve as the foundation for a social media platform leveraging blockchain technology.
Top 25 Most Expensive Domains
Among the top 25 domain name purchases, most occurred between the mid-2000s and the present day.
These purchases often feature short, generic, one-word domains that have broad appeal and strong commercial potential.
The majority are .com domains. The .com extension represents US commercial websites and carries the highest brand recognition.
Here are the top 25 most expensive domain name purchases of all time*:
| Rank | Domain | Purchase Price | Date of Sale |
| 1 | CarInsurance.com | $49.7 million | 2019 |
| 2 | Insurance.com | $35.6 million | 2020 |
| 3 | VacationRentals.com | $35 million | 2007 |
| 4 | PrivateJet.com | $30.18 million | 2012 |
| 5 | Voice.com | $30 million | 2019 |
| 6 | Internet.com | $18 million | 2009 |
| 7 | 360.com | $17 million | 2015 |
| 8 | Insure.com | $16 million | 2009 |
| 9 | Chat.com | $15.5 million | 2024 |
| 10 | NFTs.com | $15 million | 2022 |
| 11 | Rocket.com | $14 million | 2024 |
| 12 | Icon.com | $12 million | 2025 |
| =13 | AI.com | $11 million | 2023 |
| =13 | Tesla.com | $11 million | 2014 |
| =13 | Hotels.com | $11 million | 2001 |
| 16 | Connect.com | $10 million | 2022 |
| 17 | Shoes.com | $9 million | 2017 |
| 18 | Fb.com | $8.5 million | 2010 |
| 19 | HealthInsurance.com | $8.13 million | 2019 |
| 20 | We.com | $8 million | 2015 |
| =21 | Business.com | $7.5 million | 1999 |
| =21 | Diamond.com | $7.5 million | 2006 |
| 23 | Beer.com | $7 million | 2004 |
| 24 | Z.com | $6.8 million | 2014 |
| =25 | Slots.com | $5.5 million | 2010 |
| =25 | Casino.com | $5.5 million | 2003 |
For a long time, Fund.com was believed to rank highly in these lists, having previously been reported to have sold for $10 million in 2008. However, the Court of Chancery in Delaware ruled that this figure was fabricated as part of a fraudulent scheme. In 2018, the domain name sold for $1.5 million.
At $7.5 million, Business.com ranks joint-21st on our list, but the Wall Street Journal reported a figure closer to $350 million, 7x more than the current top domain name purchase. However, as the sale was in stock, the cash value was significantly lower – a reported $2 million at the time of redemption.
Sources: GoDaddy, Wix.com, Wikipedia, Domain Name Wire, Tech Crunch
Top 25 Most Expensive Cash-Only Domain Purchases
Below is a breakdown of the top 25 most expensive cash-only domain name purchases*:
| Rank | Domain | Purchase Price | Date of Sale |
| 1 | Voice.com | $30 million | 2019 |
| 2 | 360.com | $17 million | 2015 |
| 3 | Chat.com | $15.5 million | 2024 |
| 4 | NFTs.com | $15 million | 2022 |
| 5 | Rocket.com | $14 million | 2024 |
| 6 | Icon.com | $12 million | 2025 |
| =7 | AI.com | $11 million | 2023 |
| =7 | Tesla.com | $11 million | 2014 |
| =7 | Hotels.com | $11 million | 2001 |
| 10 | Connect.com | $10 million | 2022 |
| 11 | Fb.com | $8.5 million | 2010 |
| 12 | HealthInsurance.com | $8.13 million | 2019 |
| 13 | We.com | $8 million | 2015 |
| 14 | Diamond.com | $7.5 million | 2006 |
| 15 | Beer.com | $7 million | 2004 |
| 16 | Z.com | $6.8 million | 2014 |
| =17 | Slots.com | $5.5 million | 2010 |
| =17 | Casino.com | $5.5 million | 2003 |
| =19 | Toys.com | $5.1 million | 2009 |
| =19 | AsSeenOnTv.com | $5.1 million | 2000 |
| 21 | Korea.com | $5 million | 2000 |
| 22 | Clothes.com | $4.9 million | 2008 |
| 23 | Medicare.com | $4.8 million | 2014 |
| 24 | IG.com | $4.6 million | 2013 |
| 25 | iCloud.com | $4.5 million | 2011 |
Source: Wikipedia
Breakdown of Select Domain Name Purchases
The following section will explore some of the top domain name purchases in detail, highlighting key facts and figures.
1. Chat.com
Purchase Price – $15.5 million
Date of Sale – 2024
Having already purchased AI.com from Google for a reported $11 million a year earlier, OpenAI acquired the Chat.com domain in late 2024.
OpenAI acquired the domain name to strengthen its branding around ChatGPT, its flagship conversational AI product. The domain helps OpenAI consolidate its presence in the conversational AI space, ensuring users can easily find and access its services with a trusted and recognizable URL.
There are currently over 500 million searches for ChatGPT each month.
Semrush Data
Visits – 1.2M
Pages per visit – 1.18
Average visit duration – 10 minutes, 56 seconds
Bounce rate – 87.11%
2. Tesla.com
Purchase Price – $11 million
Date of Sale – 2014
Tesla Motors acquired Tesla.com in 2016 after years of operating under the longer domain TeslaMotors.com.
While the exact purchase price remains undisclosed, Elon Musk later revealed that it took over a decade of negotiation and cost him around $11 million.
The purchase aligned with Tesla's evolving identity from a car manufacturer to a broader energy company, and the simplified domain was key for brand clarity and global recognition.
Searches for Tesla have seen a steady rise over the past decade, most recently spiking in March.
Semrush Data
Visits – 27.8M
Pages per visit – 5.39
Average visit duration – 7 minutes, 55 seconds
Bounce rate – 38.73%
3. Fb.com
Purchase Price – $8.5 million
Date of Sale – 2010
Facebook purchased Fb.com in 2010 for $8.5 million, a move that became public through an SEC filing by the American Farm Bureau Federation, the previous owner of the domain.
The social media giant acquired the short URL to support its internal email system and to facilitate branded URL shortening for Facebook users.
The high price tag reflected both the prestige of owning a two-letter .com domain and its utility in reinforcing Facebook's brand identity, especially as it expanded mobile and communication features.
While interest in the social media platform has certainly peaked, there are still over 750 million monthly searches for Facebook.
Semrush Data
Visits – 30.2M
Pages per visit – 1.3
Average visit duration – 14 minutes, 43 seconds
Bounce rate – 84.87%
4. Beer.com
Purchase Price – $7 million
Date of Sale – 2004
Beer.com was sold in 2004 for $7 million, making it one of the earliest big-ticket domain sales. The domain was purchased by Interbrew (now Anheuser-Busch InBev), one of the world’s largest beer companies, reportedly from a pair of Canadian entrepreneurs who had bought it for just $80,000 two years earlier.
The domain name was auctioned off in 2021 (alongside 26 other beer-related domains in various languages) for a figure in the region of $1 million and $5 million.
As of 2025, the tagline “Own the name, own the industry” greets potential buyers on the beer.com landing page.
Search interest for beer has remained largely steady over the last 15 years.
Semrush Data
Visits – 1.7k
Pages per visit – 1.33
Average visit duration – 1 minute, 10 seconds
Bounce rate – 78.68%
5. iCloud.com
Purchase Price – $4.5 million
Date of Sale – 2011
Apple acquired iCloud.com in 2011 for $4.5 million from Swedish company Xcerion, which had originally used the name for a cloud-based storage service.
Apple rebranded and launched its own iCloud service shortly after the purchase, integrating cloud-based backup, storage, and synchronization across its product ecosystem.
The domain name was essential to Apple’s branding, making the cloud service instantly recognizable and aligned with the company’s clean, minimalist naming conventions. Xcerion rebranded its product to CloudMe after the sale.
There are over 13 million searches for Apple’s iCloud each month.
Semrush Data
Visits – 113.4M
Pages per visit – 6.1
Average visit duration – 12 minutes and 58 seconds
Bounce rate – 53.37%
*All figures accurate as of May 9th 2025.
Sources: TechCrunch, Bloomberg, TechCrunch (2), Smart Branding, Domain Sherpa, DN Journal, Beer.com, TechCrunch (3), Apple, The Next Web
Top 25 Most Expensive AI Domains
.com domains have long dominated high-value sales due to their global recognition and trust factor. However, expensive .ai domain sales are a recent phenomenon, gaining traction thanks to the explosive growth and investment in AI technologies.
The “.ai” extension originally represented Anguilla but has become globally associated with artificial intelligence. The tiny British overseas territory now brings in millions of dollars each month thanks to the AI boom.
While .ai still doesn’t have the universal cachet of .com, its relevance in the AI space makes it one of the few non-.com extensions commanding multi-million-dollar prices. This highlights the shift in how domain value is perceived in niche but fast-growing industries.
Here are the top 25 .ai domain name sales as of May 2025:
| Rank | Domain | Purchase Price | Date of Sale |
| 1 | (Unknown).ai | $1,500,000 | Jun 2024 |
| 2 | Fin.ai | $1,000,000 | Mar 2025 |
| 3 | X.ai | $X,XXX,XXX | 2024 (rumored sale to xAI) |
| 4 | BC.ai | $800,000 | 2024 (rumored sale to BlockDance) |
| 5 | You.ai | $700,000 | Oct 2023 |
| 6 | Qwen.ai | $500,000 | Feb 2025 |
| 7 | Z.ai | $360,000 | Jun 2024 |
| 8 | Stack.ai | $258,888 | Apr 2023 |
| 9 | Girlfriend.ai | $250,000 | Dec 2024 |
| 10 | NPC.ai | $250,000 | Aug 2023 |
| 11 | Sound.ai | $250,000 | Feb 2024 |
| 12 | Boyfriend.ai | $230,000 | Dec 2024 |
| 13 | Ace.ai | $205,000 | Feb 2025 |
| 14 | Zip.ai | $200,000 | Mar 2025 |
| 15 | Please.ai | $200,000 | Dec 2024 |
| 16 | Partner.ai | $170,000 | Mar 2024 |
| 17 | Turbo.ai | $165,000 | Mar 2025 |
| 18 | OS.ai | $150,000 | Mar 2025 |
| 19 | Easy.ai | $150,000 | Feb 2024 |
| 20 | Weather.ai | $150,000 | Feb 2025 |
| 21 | Golf.ai | $140,000 | Mar 2024 |
| 22 | Blueprint.ai | $130,000 | Aug 2024 |
| 23 | Cognition.ai | $110,000 | Mar 2024 |
| 24 | Precise.ai | $110,000 | Nov 2023 |
| 25 | Crew.ai | $105,000 | May 2024 |
These transactions illustrate the increasing value and strategic importance of .ai domains in the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence landscape.
The earliest listed purchase took place in 2023.
Sources: Forbes, cognitive.ai
Breakdown of Select .ai Domain Name Purchases
You.ai
Purchase Price – $700,000
Date of Sale – Oct 2023
In 2023, Dharmesh Shah, co-founder of HubSpot, acquired You.ai for $700,000. Shah intended to use the domain for a personal project focused on building AI chatbots based on user content.
At the time of purchase, it was the largest publicly reported .ai domain name sale in history.
There are over 1 million searches for HubSpot each month.
Girlfriend.AI
Purchase Price – $270,000
Date of Sale – Dec 2024
Purchased within a week of one another in December 2024, both Girlfriend.AI and Boyfriend.AI are targeting the rapidly developing industry of AI companions.
AI companions are digital entities that provide human-like interaction and virtual relationships.
The AI companion market is currently worth over $28 billion and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 30.8% over the next five years.
The number of searches for “AI companion” has increased by over 2,300% since 2020.
os.ai
Purchase Price – $150,000
Date of Sale – Mar 2025
As with You.ai, Dharmesh Shah is the man behind the purchase. In a LinkedIn post, the HubSpot co-founder explained his reasons behind the purchase but noted that he has “no current plans” for the domain.
Searches for Dharmesh Shah spiked in November 2024 when he sold the Chat.com domain to OpenAI.
Sources: DomainInvesting, DN, GVR, LinkedIn, CCN
Key Takeaways
That rounds off our look at the most expensive domain name sales.
Domain names continue to command staggering prices, with short, memorable .com domains dominating the top purchases.
Meanwhile, .ai domains are rapidly gaining value due to the AI boom.
This surge in digital real estate highlights the critical role of SEO and online presence. Take the next step and try Semrush SEO tools to maximize your domain’s visibility and performance today.