How to Register a .lk Domain in Sri Lanka: Steps and Prices
A domain name is your business’s address on the internet: the yourcompany.lk that customers type, and the part after the @ in your email. In Sri Lanka you can take a name ending in .lk, the country’s own ending, or one ending in .com.
This guide explains .lk domain registration from start to finish: who runs it, what each package costs in rupees, the steps in order, the names you cannot have, and what to do once the name is yours. The prices and rules are the LK Domain Registry’s own, as published on domains.lk on 12 October 2026.
Who handles .lk domain registration?
Every name ending in .lk is issued by one body, the LK Domain Registry. You apply on its website, or a web company applies for you as part of building your website.
Two things about a .lk name differ from a .com, and it is worth knowing them before you choose:
- You get the right to use the name, not to own it. The registry’s policy says a name may not be sold or offered for sale, and may not be transferred to another party.
- A .lk name has to be used lawfully in Sri Lanka, and some kinds of name are refused. They are listed further down.
.lk or .com: which should a Sri Lankan business choose?
| .lk | .com | |
|---|---|---|
| Says to a visitor | A business in Sri Lanka | A business anywhere |
| Issued by | The LK Domain Registry only | Many registrars worldwide |
| Good names still free | More likely | Less likely: far more names are already taken |
- Choose .lk if your customers are in Sri Lanka. The ending tells them so at a glance. Google also treats a country’s own ending as a sign that a site is meant for that country (Google’s guidance on sites for different countries).
- Choose .com if you sell to customers abroad as well, such as a hotel or an exporter, or if the name you want is free as a .com.
- You can hold both. Some businesses take the .lk and the .com of the same name, use one, and point the other to it, so that nobody else can take it.
Either ending works for a website and for business email.
What does .lk domain registration cost?
The registry sells .lk names in packages. These are its prices for .lk domain registration for one year, for applicants in Sri Lanka, inclusive of VAT:
| Package | What you get | Price a year |
|---|---|---|
| Budget | A second-level name only, such as yourcompany.com.lk or yourcompany.org.lk | LKR 1,000 |
| Economy | The top-level name only: yourcompany.lk | LKR 5,000 |
| Standard | yourcompany.lk together with the same name under com.lk, org.lk, edu.lk, web.lk and hotel.lk | LKR 8,000 |
| Desirable | Three-letter names and other names the registry classes as desirable | LKR 15,000 |
| Premium | Two-letter names and other names the registry classes as premium | LKR 40,000 |
- Most small businesses need Economy or Standard. Economy gives you the name people expect, yourcompany.lk. Standard also keeps the same name under .com.lk and the other endings, so that another business cannot register them.
- Budget is the cheapest way to a Sri Lankan address, but the address is longer: yourcompany.com.lk.
- You can register for 1, 2, 5 or 10 years at a time.
- Renewal costs the same as registration. A name you registered for LKR 5,000 costs LKR 5,000 to keep for each year after.
How to register a .lk domain, step by step
1. Open an account and check that the name is free
Register an account with the registry at domains.lk, then search for the name. Names are given on a first-come, first-served basis, counted from the moment the registry receives a complete application. If your first choice is taken, try a shorter form of your business name before you add words or hyphens.
2. Choose the package
Pick Budget, Economy or Standard from the table above, and the number of years.
3. Fill in the application online
The registry asks who the name is for (the organisation and its registrant), for a contact person’s name, address, phone number and email address, and for your reason for choosing the name and what the website will be about. It rejects incomplete applications without notice, so fill in every required field.
Put your own business as the registrant. If a web company or a friend applies for you, their details must not go in the registrant’s place: the registry’s procedure says so in capital letters. The registrant is the party with the right to use the name.
4. Confirm the request by email within 24 hours
The registry sends a link to the administrative contact’s email address. If nobody opens it within 24 hours, the request is removed and you start again. Use an address that someone reads every day.
5. Have your documents ready
The registry reviews each application and may ask for a document that shows who you are:
- a business: its Business Registration Certificate
- an individual: a National Identity Card, a driving licence or another valid ID
- a community organisation or an NGO: a letter from the organisation
- a school or a government body: the relevant official letter
Some kinds of name need more: a bank or an insurer must show its licence, and an association, a religious place, a university, a sports body or a political party needs a letter from its head or from the body that approves it.
6. Wait for approval, then pay within three working days
The registry says approval is generally given within one working day of a complete request. Its approval email carries the payment details, and you then have three working days to pay, or the application is cancelled.
Online, the registry takes Visa and Mastercard, and Dialog eZ Cash. Its payments page says it no longer accepts cash or any other deposit paid directly into its bank account. After payment, it may take up to 24 hours for the name to become active.
7. Point the name to your website and email
A registered name does nothing until it points somewhere. In your registry account, open the domain, choose “Edit Records”, and enter the name servers your hosting company gave you. From then on, your hosting decides where the website and the email for that name are delivered.
Names the registry will not register
The registry’s policy refuses, or restricts, these kinds of name:
- Another party’s trademark, or words that are not allowed in a business name
- Names of countries, towns and provinces, and their short forms
- Personal names, except for people who need their own name for their profession, such as artists and professionals
- Names that suggest a link to the government, unless you can show approval
- Names that suggest a licensed activity such as banking, insurance, liquor or gambling, unless you hold the licence
- Single-character names
If a registered name is later shown to infringe a trademark, the registry may cancel it or pass it to the trademark’s owner. Choose a name that is clearly your own.
After .lk domain registration: keeping the name
- Renew before the expiry date. The registry emails reminders to the billing contact, and a final notice on the day itself. A name that is not paid for is suspended, which takes your website and your email offline, and is later removed.
- Keep the contact emails up to date. Changes to a name’s records must come from the email address of its registrant, administrative or technical contact. If that address belonged to an employee who has left, you are locked out of your own name until the registry accepts an official letter.
- Write down where the name is registered and when it expires, and keep it with your business’s other records.
Getting a .lk domain with your website
If you are having a website built, the .lk domain registration is done for you. Every web design package from GIXEZ IT includes a .com or .lk domain name for the first year, together with hosting and a security certificate.
- A .lk name in a package is the registry’s Economy package: the top-level name, yourcompany.lk.
- Your business is the registrant. We apply for you, and the right to use the name is yours, as the registry requires.
- After the first year the name is renewed each year. Renewing a .lk name through GIXEZ IT starts at LKR 4,000 a year, exclusive of VAT.
See what each package includes on the packages page, or read our guide to web design prices in Sri Lanka.
Questions about .lk domain registration
How much is a .lk domain per year?
The LK Domain Registry lists yourcompany.lk at LKR 5,000 a year (Economy), or LKR 8,000 a year with the matching .com.lk, .org.lk and other second-level names (Standard). A second-level name alone, such as yourcompany.com.lk, is LKR 1,000 a year.
How long does .lk domain registration take?
The registry says approval is generally given within one working day of a complete request. You then have three working days to pay, and the name may take up to 24 hours to become active after payment.
Can an individual register a .lk domain?
Yes. The registry’s policy says names are generally registered to organisations, and that individuals may also register names. A personal name is only accepted from someone who needs it for their profession.
Can a foreign company register a .lk domain?
The registry publishes a separate price list in US dollars for .lk domain registration from abroad: USD 30 a year for yourcompany.lk alone, and USD 50 with the second-level names. Ask the registry what it requires from an applicant outside Sri Lanka before you apply.
Is .com.lk the same as .lk?
No. yourcompany.lk is a top-level name; yourcompany.com.lk is a second-level name under it. Both are Sri Lankan addresses and both work for a website and email. The second-level name costs less and is longer to type.
Can I use a .lk domain for business email?
Yes. Email at your own name, such as info@yourcompany.lk, works on a .lk domain exactly as on a .com. See our business email options.
What happens if I forget to renew my .lk domain?
The name is suspended on its expiry date, so your website and email stop working, and it is later removed from the registry. Renew before the date on the registry’s reminder.
Need a domain and a website together?
GIXEZ IT builds websites for businesses across Sri Lanka, with the domain name, hosting and business email included for the first year. Choose a package, or tell us about your business and we will suggest one.
