.nu Domain
Niue's Domain with Swedish Appeal
Register your .nu domain from just £29.49/yr. Free DNS management, email forwarding, and 10GB mailbox included with every domain.
This domain has registration restrictions
Anyone may register a .nu, but the Swedish Internet Foundation verifies who the holder is and blocks several categories of name outright. Read the full eligibility rules.
What is a .nu domain?
The .nu domain is the country code for Niue, a small Pacific island nation. But its real popularity comes from Sweden and Scandinavia, where "nu" means "now" in Swedish. The Swedish Internet Foundation (Internetstiftelsen) manages .nu registrations, and the extension is widely used by Swedish businesses and individuals. It's become one of the most popular domains in Sweden alongside .se, with hundreds of thousands of active registrations.
Who should register .nu?
Swedish businesses, Scandinavian brands, tech companies wanting a short modern domain, and anyone attracted to the "now" meaning.
Why choose .nu?
- "Nu" means "now" in Swedish, giving it natural marketing appeal
- Hugely popular in Sweden and Scandinavia
- Managed by the Swedish Internet Foundation
- Short two-letter extension for memorable branding
Who runs .nu, and since when
Registry data from the .nu delegation record held by IANA, which maintains the internet's root zone. Eligibility comes from the registry's own policy, and the prices are ours.
- Extension type
- Country-code (ccTLD)
- Registry operator
- The IUSN Foundation
- The organisation that runs the extension
- In the root zone since
- 1997
- Delegated 20 June 1997
- Who can register
- Open to anyone, subject to identity verification and the registry block list
- Checked against the registry's own policy
- Our price
- £29.49 a year
- Ex VAT. Renews at the same price
Why Google reads .nu as generic, not Swedish
Here is the fact that changes the case for .nu, and almost nobody selling it publishes it. Google keeps a list of country-code extensions it treats as generic rather than country-targeted, on the grounds that users and site owners read them that way, and .nu sits on that list alongside .co, .io, .me and .tv. So the extension Sweden uses as a second national domain sends Google no Swedish signal at all. If Swedish search visibility is the objective, .se does that job and .nu does not.
The operational picture is split in a way that surprises people. IANA records the manager as The IUSN Foundation in Alofi, Niue, while the technical contact and the registration service on the same record are the Swedish Internet Foundation in Stockholm. Registrations run on the same terms as .se, first come first served, with no prior test of who you are.
No prior test is not the same as no test. The foundation verifies domain holders using electronic identification, supporting documents, or email and telephone checks, may hold a domain out of the DNS until the details are right, and keeps checking registry data against the Swedish company and population registers afterwards.
Who is allowed to register .nu?
Anyone may register a .nu, but the Swedish Internet Foundation verifies who the holder is and blocks several categories of name outright.
- Who qualifies
- Anyone. The foundation says a .se or .nu may be registered by anybody, provided the name is available and does not appear on its block list, and that the registration happens immediately.
- Identity verification
- You must be able to prove your identity, through electronic identification such as BankID, through supporting documents like an ID card or registration certificate, or through email and telephone verification. Several of these are often combined.
- Held out of DNS until it is right
- A verification check may run before the domain is activated in the DNS. The domain only goes live once any problem with the holder details has been resolved and the registrar has updated the record with correct details.
- Names that are blocked
- Strings shaped like a Swedish personal identity number are blocked to protect privacy. So are names with two letters followed by two hyphens, a pattern reserved for internationalised names. Protected designations under Swedish law are held for the organisations entitled to them.
- If your details are wrong
- Verification does not stop at activation. The foundation analyses registry data continuously against the Swedish Companies Registration Office and the population register, and says plainly that incorrect information puts your domain at risk even though it has been paid for.
Rules taken from the Swedish Internet Foundation on verification of domain holders. Registry policy can change, so check before you buy if the answer matters to you.
Not sure whether you qualify? Ask us before you order and we will check the registry rules with you. We would rather answer the question than take an order the registry will refuse.
Is .nu the right choice for you?
We would rather sell you the right extension once than the wrong one twice.
.nu works well if
- Your name reads as a phrase. In Swedish, nu means now, so an address like boka.nu is a call to action rather than a label.
- You trade in Sweden and the .se you wanted has gone. .nu is the established second choice there and Swedes recognise it on sight.
- A short, unusual two-letter ending suits an international product, and you have no need of a country signal anyway.
Look elsewhere if
- Swedish search visibility is the goal. Google lists .nu among the country codes it treats as generic, so it carries no Sweden signal where .se does.
- You expect to register anonymously. The foundation verifies holders by electronic identification or documents and keeps checking against Swedish public registers afterwards.
- It costs more each year than a .co.uk, for an extension most British customers will mishear as dot new the first time you say it.
If the aim is Swedish customers finding you in Google, .se is the extension that actually carries the country signal. See .se pricing.
.nu vs .com: which should you register?
Against a .com, .nu wins on one thing and loses on the rest. It wins on the availability of short names that read as a phrase, because the Swedish meaning of nu turns the extension into the last word of a sentence. Everything else, recognition, resale value, the odds of a customer typing it correctly from memory, belongs to the .com.
The tie-breaker for a British buyer is what Google does with each. It classifies both as generic: the .com because it is one, and the .nu because it has decided people read it that way. So the choice carries no ranking consequence in either direction, and comes down to whether the phrase in the name is worth the unfamiliarity at the end of it.
.nu domain questions, answered
What people ask us before registering a .nu domain.
Can't find what you're looking for?
Ask us directlyIt gives you no Swedish geographic signal. Google publishes a list of country-code extensions it treats as generic because users read them that way, and .nu is on it, next to .co, .io, .me and .tv. So a .se is read as a Swedish site and a .nu is read as a generic one. That does not make .nu bad, it makes it neutral, and if Swedish rankings are the goal the .se is the extension to buy.
Both, in different roles. IANA records The IUSN Foundation in Alofi, Niue as the manager of the country code, while the technical contact and the registration service on the same record are the Swedish Internet Foundation in Stockholm. In practice you register a .nu through the same system, the same registrars and the same terms as a .se. Niue holds the delegation; Sweden runs the namespace day to day.
Several things, and the block list is more interesting than most. Strings shaped like a Swedish personal identity number are blocked to protect privacy. Names with two letters followed by two hyphens are reserved because that pattern marks an internationalised name. Protected designations under Swedish humanitarian and official-name legislation are held for the bodies entitled to them. A name also cannot start or end with a hyphen or carry hyphens in the third and fourth positions at once, and a German sharp s must be rewritten as ss.
Included with Your .nu Domain
DNS Management
Full DNS zone editor to manage A, CNAME, MX, TXT, and all record types.
Email Forwarding
Set up professional email addresses and forward to any inbox.
Auto-Renewal
Never lose your domain with automatic renewal protection.
Free 10GB Mailbox
One 10GB mailbox (POP3/IMAP) included with every domain, on any TLD.
Other Geographic Domains Extensions
Register your .nu domain today
Secure your .nu domain from just £29.49/yr. Free DNS management, email forwarding, and 10GB mailbox included.
