FAQ's
You have arrived at this page seeking answers, and we are happy to provide. While we have done our best to address as many troublesome areas as possible, undoubtedly there will be those we have missed which will need clarification. No matter the question, if it is not answered below we encourage you to contact us, and we'll be happy to help.
How to become a .kiwi Registrar
.kiwi domains are available through select entities known as Registrars and Resellers, which include many of the world’s largest and most respected companies in the industry.
Whether you are looking to become a .kiwi Accredited Registrar or Reseller, or have already signed the .kiwi Registrar Agreement and are looking for additional support, you’ve come to the right place.
If you represent an ICANN Accredited Registrar and are hoping to sign the .kiwi Registrar Agreement, please refer to the “What’s Next?” and FAQs below;
If you represent a Reseller and you supply, or are thinking of supplying, .kiwi domains to your clients please contact us and we will be happy to provide you with any support we can.
Registrars – What’s Next?
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Contact us at registrars@hello.kiwi and let us know you are interested in becoming a .kiwi registrar.
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Sign the .kiwi Registrar Accreditation Agreement.
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Integrate with our back-end registry service provider, for which we will provide technical details and assistance as required.
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Let us know how we can help promote .kiwi to your customers!
How to contact us
For matters regarding abuse or malicious conduct within the .KIWI TLD,
please contact us at abuse@hello.kiwi or by mailing us at the postal address provided right.
For any other queries, email us at info@hello.kiwi.
Phone: +64 9 889 3987
Address:Kensington Swan (Attention: Nick Scott)
18 Viaduct Harbour Avenue
Auckland Central, Auckland, 1010 New Zealand
Yes, no and maybe. Let us explain that a little more.
Yes, you can apply for almost any name you can think of except:-
There are some domains we have restricted from being created as a result of possible sensitivities, regulatory requirements, or even for our own use. These domains will appear as "unavailable" when you attempt to register them.
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You are unable to register a domain that is already registered, or is 2 characters long (e.g. me.kiwi).
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If you’re talking about the small flightless birds, then no they’re not the only ones who can register. And if you’re talking specifically about Kiwis in New Zealand then also no. While we have brought the .kiwi domain to New Zealand specifically for Kiwis, our people are everywhere and it would be very challenging for us to prove who is or isn’t a genuine Kiwi. In fear of turning down genuine Kiwis with interest in owning a .kiwi domain, we have placed no restrictions on who can register.
Absolutely not, but we love those guys (.nz). We do lots of stuff together globally, but down here we also love to compete and show how different our domain names are.
The only risk is being found not having one! .kiwi is run by Kiwis for Kiwis. ICANN, the global regulator, set the bar incredibly high for us to prove our technical ability, and commitment to consumer protection. Being Kiwis, we thought we’d go the extra mile, so we’ve taken even more measures to make .kiwi a trusted domain for Kiwis to use and enjoy. You can read more about how we’ve gone the extra mile here.
No, we don’t make you just register a share in a domain name, we let you have the whole thing. So .kiwi domains will look like this: great.kiwi, rather than: shared.co.kiwi
You’re probably asking the wrong people here, and our answer is going to be obvious. That said, as objectively as we can, we’d say that it’s really your call. Lots of people will find it useful to have both a .nz and a .kiwi domain. If you’re a business then you can make that decision based on what makes sense for you commercially – considering marketing opportunities and brand protection. It probably comes down to whether you like what .kiwi stands for, how it makes you feel, and how well it represents you or your business.
A Top Level Domain is the section of a domain name that appears to the right of the last dot. For example, .nz is a Top Level Domain, so is .kiwi. A gTLD is a certain kind of Top Level Domain, it is known as a generic Top Level Domain (e.g. .com, .org etc), and is different from a ccTLD, which is a Country Code Top Level Domain (.nz, .au, .ca etc). So .kiwi is a gTLD not a ccTLD.
As the official Registry of the .kiwi Top-Level Domain, we are restricted from providing domain names directly to individuals and businesses. Special organisations, known as “Registrars”, act as the official distributors of .kiwi domain names, and are under contract with ICANN which enables them to do so. Domain Vault Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ours (Dot Kiwi Limited), has applied to become an official .kiwi Registrar and will be responsible for facilitating reservations of .kiwi domain names, as well as subsequent registrations when applicable, on our behalf.
Dot Kiwi Ltd is the wholesaler, the Registrars and Resellers including, but not limited to, those found here are the retailers. So, we can only suggest a recommended retail price. We expect .kiwi domain names to be selling within a range of $30 - $50 NZD, sometimes including bundled products such as email accounts.
Absolutely! In fact, through the use of a .kiwi domain name, it will be the first time a 100% Māori domain name will be possible. However, we do recommend buying both versions. If you choose to register a domain with macrons, it’s recommended that you also register a version of the domain name without macrons, to help users who cannot type them. This will require two separate domain name registrations. You should add one to your web host server and use the other as a primary. The reason is that most Māori writers will either instinctively add the macron or the software will do it for them. Non Māori writers and speakers will likely not use the macron, which could cause confusion or make it difficult for some users to access the website.
Between the 16th of January 2014 to 17th of March 2014, we opened our doors to just trademark holders who had also registered in the Trademark Clearinghouse. This limited time phase allowed trademark holders to get first right of refusal for their .kiwi domains. This period has now closed. You can still register your trademark as a .kiwi domain name, however you can no longer do so on a first right of refusal basis.
You’ll be able to buy our domains from the usual suspects, and by usual suspects we mean our esteemed partners. Our partners are listed on our website and make .kiwi domains easy to buy and use.