Quick answer
Who controls a .to domain, and what does it cost?
.to domain at PanamaRegistrar, as of October 2026: $86.49 a year, the same price to renew. .to is Tonga's country code, managed by the Government of the Kingdom of Tonga through its consulate in Burlingame, California, United States, with Tucows in Toronto, Canada, as technical operator.
.to registry facts
| Registry manager (IANA) | Government of the Kingdom of Tonga, c/o Consulate of Tonga |
|---|---|
| Registry location | Burlingame, California — Tonga (contact address in the United States) |
| Back-end operator | Tucows.com, Toronto (Canada) |
| Legal framework | National ccTLD policy (Tonga) |
| Dispute policy | Registry policy (not confirmed) |
| Who can register | Anyone; spam and some vulgar words are prohibited |
| WHOIS / RDAP | WHOIS whois.tonicregistry.to · RDAP rdap.tonicregistry.to/rdap/ |
| DNSSEC | No DS record in the root zone |
| Registration term | 1 to 10 years (a 2-year minimum is reported by some sources, not confirmed) |
| Price at PanamaRegistrar | $86.49/year; renewal $86.49/year; transfer $86.49 |
| IANA record last updated | 7 January 2026 |
Who runs the .to registry, and from which country?
IANA lists the Government of the Kingdom of Tonga, care of the Consulate of Tonga, 1350 Bayshore Highway, Burlingame, California, as manager of .to. The technical operator is Tucows.com, 96 Mowat Avenue, Toronto. The registry website is tonic.to. IANA updated the record on 7 January 2026. So the delegation belongs to Tonga, the contact address is in the United States and the database is run from Canada. .to follows Tonga's policy, not an ICANN registry agreement.
Can a court in Tonga or the United States take down or seize a .to domain?
The government of Tonga holds .to, so Tongan authorities decide at the level of the delegation. Its listed contact address is in California, which raises a question we could not settle: whether a US court would treat Burlingame as the registry's location under 15 U.S.C. §1125(d)(2). The operator, Tucows, answers to Canadian courts. We found no published registry procedure for foreign orders, so the outcome for a .to name in a US case is not confirmed.
What does PanamaRegistrar do with a complaint about a .to domain?
Nothing happens to a .to domain on a complaint alone. Copyright, defamation, political or competitor complaints need a decision from a Panamanian court; a foreign judgment must first be recognised in Panama by exequatur. Phishing, malware, botnets and fraud that takes money from victims are suspended within 24 hours of a well-documented report, child sexual abuse material immediately, and the URLs are reported to NCMEC. You are told before any action on your domain, unless the law or the court order forbids it; with Domain protection, every complaint is also read by a person before any action on the domain. This rule covers what PanamaRegistrar does, not the registry or our registrar partner. Steps and time limits: takedown procedure and how we handle complaints.
Who uses .to domains, and why?
Short links, domain hacks and emoji domains use .to, according to the dataset. Domain hacks read as a phrase that ends in "to", and short-link services value the two letters. Anyone can register. The registry prohibits spam and some vulgar words.
Which registry rules are specific to .to?
Two points are specific to .to. It is the only extension in our list without DNSSEC: IANA shows no DS record, and the dataset confirms it. Some sources state a 2-year minimum term; our dataset marks that as not confirmed, so we do not state it as a rule. PanamaRegistrar sells .to with Domain protection only.
What does the WHOIS show for a .to domain?
Our dataset records that the .to registry ran no public WHOIS database. The IANA record now lists a WHOIS host, whois.tonicregistry.to, and an RDAP service at rdap.tonicregistry.to, which suggests a change with the Tucows back end. What those services publish is not confirmed. With Domain protection, the holder the registry knows is our company.
Why is .to sold with Domain protection only?
.to is one of the 12 extensions sold with Domain protection only. Its registry needs a holder name and a postal address, and we collect one verified email, so the domain is registered in the name of DomaineGoat LLC. The price, $86.49, is $57.49 for the extension plus $29 for Domain protection. You stay the beneficial owner: full control, a free EPP code, and the domain put back in your own name on request, free. A UDRP complaint names the registrant of record, our company; we tell you, and you can answer it.
Which dispute policy applies to .to?
.to is not on WIPO's list of country codes with a dispute service. The registry runs its own policy, which we could not confirm. Its website is tonic.to. We apply decisions of that procedure and Panamanian court orders. Our steps for trademark cases: UDRP and URS.
How much does a .to domain cost, and how is it renewed?
At PanamaRegistrar, as of October 2026, .to costs $86.49/year; renewal is $86.49/year, and a transfer $86.49. Whether a transfer adds a year depends on the registry of the extension, and the checkout shows it before you pay. Term: 1 to 10 years (a 2-year minimum is reported by some sources, not confirmed). Payment is in crypto (BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL, LTC) from a prepaid balance, minimum top-up $25. Every extension: price list.
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.to questions
Is a .to domain under US jurisdiction?
Not confirmed. The manager is Tonga's government, but IANA lists its contact address at the Consulate of Tonga in Burlingame, California, and the operator is Tucows in Toronto. Whether a US court would treat that address as the registry's location is an open question.
Does .to support DNSSEC?
No. IANA shows no DS record for .to, and it is the only extension sold by PanamaRegistrar without DNSSEC at the root. DNS answers for a .to name cannot be validated with DNSSEC.
Is there a public WHOIS for .to?
Sources differ. Our dataset records that the registry ran no public WHOIS database, while IANA now lists whois.tonicregistry.to and an RDAP service. With Domain protection, any holder data shown would be our company's, never yours.
Can PanamaRegistrar stop the .to registry from acting on a court order?
No. The .to registry, Government of the Kingdom of Tonga, c/o Consulate of Tonga, keeps its own copy of the registration and applies the law of its own country. PanamaRegistrar decides only what its own service does: we act on Panamanian court orders, not on unverified complaints. Our registrar partner also keeps its own legal duties. We tell you when we learn of a registry-level action, unless the law or the order forbids it. See the registry jurisdiction index.
How do I pay for a .to domain?
In crypto only: BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL, LTC. Top up your balance (minimum $25), then register the .to domain from it at $86.49/year. Send the exact amount on the exact network; the top-up is credited after the network confirmations. No ID and no KYC: one verified email per domain, never published.
Sources (4)
- IANA Root Zone Database: .to delegation record — IANA (checked 2026-10-19)
- 15 U.S.C. § 1125 — in rem civil action against a domain name, subsection (d)(2) — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (checked 2026-10-19)
- ccTLD database: country code domains that use WIPO dispute resolution — WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (checked 2026-10-19)
- .to (encyclopedia entry) — Wikipedia (checked 2026-10-08)