A .co.ke address tells customers, suppliers and Google in one glance that this business is Kenyan, and without one you are giving up easy credibility. Here is how to register a .co.ke domain in Kenya in less than five minutes, what you can expect to pay, and the handful of KENIC rules worth knowing.

.co.ke explained

.co.ke is the commercial branch of Kenya's country-code top-level domain (ccTLD), much like .co.uk in Britain or .com.au in Australia. It is run by KENIC, the Kenya Network Information Centre, which looks after the entire .ke namespace.

The Kenyan extensions you are most likely to meet, and who each one is meant for:

.co.ke: companies, shops, agencies and freelancers; by far the most used
.ke: the shorter premium version, open to any registrant but pricier
.or.ke: NGOs, non-profits, charities and religious organisations
.ac.ke: accredited universities, colleges and other higher-education institutions
.sc.ke: primary and secondary schools
.go.ke: Kenyan government bodies
.ne.ke: network providers, rarely seen
.me.ke: personal websites

In 90 percent of business cases, .co.ke is the one to choose.

How much does .co.ke cost?

Across Kenyan registrars in 2025, yearly prices fall roughly in these bands:

.co.ke: KSh 800 to 1,200 a year
.ke (short form): KSh 2,500 to 4,000 a year
.or.ke: KSh 800 to 1,200 a year
.ac.ke: KSh 1,500 to 2,000 a year
.sc.ke: KSh 1,500 to 2,000 a year

For SiteBoma's own figure, see the live .co.ke price on our domains page.

Is a Kenyan ID required?

Not for .co.ke. Some country domains, Canada's .ca for example, limit who may register, but .co.ke is open to anyone in any country. All you need is:

A working email address
Your contact details: name, phone number and postal address
A way to pay; at SiteBoma that means M-Pesa or a Visa or Mastercard card

The picture changes for .ac.ke and .sc.ke, where KENIC checks accreditation documents. No such check applies to .co.ke.

Registering your .co.ke, step by step

1. Settle on a name

Draw up three to five candidates before you search. Some guidance:

Keep it brief. Aim for 6 to 14 characters; longer names get mistyped.
Make it easy to say. Imagine reading it out on a crackly phone line. If the caller would need it spelt out, simplify it.
Leave out hyphens. "mybiz-kenya.co.ke" slips from memory, while "mybizkenya.co.ke" sticks.
Steer clear of numbers where you can. Did you mean the digit 2 or the word "two"? People will not know.
Use your existing brand name exactly, if you have one, so customers are not asked to learn a new word.

2. Search for it

Open SiteBoma's domain search and type the name without any extension. You will see which extensions are free and what each one costs. If your first choice is taken, similar alternatives appear on the same results page.

3. Register and pay

Add the free name to your cart. At checkout you confirm your contact details, which become the WHOIS registrant record that KENIC requires, and you get a single bill. Payment happens on Paystack's secure checkout page and is charged in KES:

M-Pesa: a prompt arrives on your phone, you enter your PIN and the payment is done (usually the quickest option)
Visa or Mastercard card

KENIC normally activates a .co.ke registration within 15 minutes of payment.

4. Put the domain to work

Once the name is yours, there are three directions you can take:

Connect it to hosting: point it at a SiteBoma hosting plan, install WordPress or another CMS you like, and you have a working website.
Forward it: send visitors on to a site you already own, for example from yourbiz.co.ke to yourbiz.com.
Park it: hold the name and show a "Coming Soon" page. Every SiteBoma domain gets this free.

Most people pair the name with hosting. Our shared hosting plans start from KSh 80/month; the domain is registered and paid for separately.

How long can you register for?

Terms run from 1 to 10 years. Most businesses start with one year and renew when the renewal invoice arrives. A longer term lowers the cost per year and sends Google a small positive signal that the site is committed for the long run.

SiteBoma sends reminders 30 days, 14 days and 1 day ahead of expiry, and you can renew by M-Pesa with a single click in your client dashboard.

Keeping your details private (WHOIS)

Unless you act, the .co.ke WHOIS database shows your name, address, email and phone number to anyone who looks. Spammers and lead-harvesting bots trawl it all the time.

The answer is WHOIS privacy protection. It hides your details and passes incoming messages on to your real email address automatically. It typically costs KSh 500 a year, which the quieter inbox alone justifies.

Moving an existing .co.ke to SiteBoma

You can. The transfer works like this:

Ask your current registrar for the authorisation code, also called the EPP code.
Enter that code on SiteBoma's domain transfer page to begin.
Pay for one year of renewal (usually KSh 800 to 1,000); this adds 12 months to the registration.
Approve the confirmation email KENIC sends to the current registrant address.

Expect 1 to 5 days for the transfer to finish. Your website stays up throughout, because only the registration moves and the DNS is left alone.

Short answers to common questions

Is a home address acceptable for a .co.ke?

Yes. KENIC does not ask for a registered business address.

Will my .co.ke come with email?

Not on its own: email is provided by your hosting plan, not by the domain. Every SiteBoma hosting plan includes professional addresses on your domain, such as [email protected].

Why is the name I want marked "premium"?

A small number of short, generic .co.ke names (cars.co.ke or shop.co.ke, for instance) are reserved or already owned. A "premium" price of KSh 50,000 or more means the name is being held; choose another, or approach the current owner about buying it.

What if I register a name with a typo?

Once KENIC has activated a registration it is non-refundable, so check the spelling carefully before you pay.

Does .co.ke improve my Google ranking in Kenya?

A little. Google reads the ccTLD as a sign that your business is aimed at Kenya. It will not transform your rankings by itself, but it is one of several local SEO signals.