.nz vs .co.nz: which domain should you register?

Since 2014, New Zealanders have been able to register names directly at the second level: example.nz as well as example.co.nz. A decade on, both live side by side, and the question of which to choose still comes up constantly, including for people deciding which version of an expiring name to catch.

The case for .co.nz

.co.nz is the incumbent. It has been the default commercial address in New Zealand since the beginning, and that history brings advantages:

Familiarity. Kiwis type .co.nz on autopilot. For an older or broader audience, it is the version they will guess when they cannot remember your exact address.
Established trust. Decades of legitimate use mean a .co.nz reads as an ordinary, credible business address.
Availability through history. Because most established NZ businesses registered .co.nz names, the expired-domain market is deepest here. When a business closes, it is usually a .co.nz that eventually drops.

The case for .nz

The shorter form has its own advantages:

Brevity. Three characters shorter, cleaner on signage, easier to say aloud. “example dot en-zed” beats “example dot co dot en-zed.”
Modern signal. Newer brands often prefer the shorter form for the same reason they prefer shorter names generally.
Defensive value. If you hold only one form, someone else can register the other. That is not hypothetical; confusingly similar registrations are a routine source of grief.

What about SEO?

For ranking in New Zealand search results, both .nz and .co.nz are treated as New Zealand country-code domains. Neither form carries an inherent ranking advantage over the other. What matters far more is the usual list: content, links, and the age and history of the domain itself.

This last point is why expired domains attract attention. A domain that hosted a real website for years may carry existing links and residual traffic. If you are choosing between catching an aged .co.nz and registering a fresh .nz, the aged name is often the more valuable asset. More on that in why expired domains are worth catching.

The pragmatic answer: secure both

For anything you are building a brand on, the strong play is to hold both forms and redirect one to the other. It costs a few dollars a year and permanently closes the door on the most common form of name confusion.

This logic extends to catching. When the name you want drops, both forms rarely drop together; typically one is expiring while the other is either free or held. A sensible order of operations:

Catch or register the form that is available or expiring.
Check the other form immediately. If it is free, register it the same day.
If it is held by someone else, place a catch order so you are first in line if it ever lapses.

Our bulk order form makes it easy to check and order several variants at once.

Quick decision guide

New brand, both forms free: register both, use .nz or .co.nz as the primary according to taste.
One form taken, one free: register the free one now, backorder the taken one.
Your target is expiring: place a catch order for it, then sweep up the sibling.

Whichever you choose, the .nz namespace is all we do, and every open extension ends up at the same flat pricing: $32.99 all-up on a successful catch, nothing if we miss.