.ch Domain: Switzerland ccTLD Guide

Updated October 2026

.ch is the country-code top-level domain for Switzerland.

Overview

Extension.ch

Country or territory

Switzerland

RegionEurope

RegistrySWITCH (SWITCH Information Technology Services)

Who can registerOpen worldwide

TypeNational country code

Used by Swiss companies, organisations and individuals, and widely by foreign businesses wanting a Swiss-associated address.

The .ch domain was introduced on 20 May 1987. It is administered by SWITCH, a foundation based in Zurich that grew out of Swiss academic networking, under a mandate from the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM). The code comes from Confoederatio Helvetica, the Latin name for Switzerland, chosen to avoid favouring any of the four national languages.

In January 2015 SWITCH stopped selling directly to the public and moved to a registrar-only model. A revised Ordinance on Internet Domains took effect on 1 January 2021, under which personal data of registrants is generally withheld from the public WHOIS by default. Names are registered directly at the second level, such as example.ch, and DNSSEC is supported.

Internationalised domain names with accented characters have been accepted since March 2004, although some registrars do not support them. Disputes are handled through the registry's dispute-resolution proceedings, and a separate .swiss extension, run by OFCOM since 2015, has stricter requirements, including a registered place of business in Switzerland.

Published figures put .ch at 2,564,228 registered names on 15 January 2024. Because most names are in German, French or Italian, many English words remain available, and .ch is used for domain hacks, for example tcrn.ch for TechCrunch and scha.ch, a German word for chess.

Who can register

Anyone may register a .ch name through an accredited registrar, with no Swiss nationality, residency or local contact requirement according to the registry's published FAQ. Two-letter second-level names are reserved for Swiss cantons and ch.ch.

Rules and prices change. This summary is general information, not legal advice: confirm the current policy with the registry before you buy. The registry's website is www.nic.ch. The official record for .ch is in the IANA root zone database.

Before you buy a .ch name

Check the renewal price as well as the first-year price. Our cost calculator shows what a name really costs over time.
Make sure you meet the eligibility rules yourself, without relying on a trustee if you can avoid it.
Search for trademarks and for the same name in .com.
Say the name out loud: will people type it correctly?

Weighing up a specific .ch name? TLD.is gives an AI appraisal that explains a name's strengths and weaknesses.