Domain Appraisal
A domain appraisal is an estimate of what a domain name would sell for, based on factors like comparable sales, keyword demand, length, TLD, and brandability. Unlike real-estate appraisals, domain appraisals have no licensed standard — they are opinions of value, whether produced by an automated model or a human expert.
What appraisals actually look at
- •Comps: recorded sales of similar names, the strongest single input.
- •Name mechanics: length, word count, pronounceability, and whether it is a real word or phrase.
- •Demand signals: search volume for the keywords and the number of businesses using similar names.
- •TLD: the same string is worth very different amounts in .com, .ai, or an obscure extension.
Why appraisals disagree
Domain sales are sparse and private — most transactions are never published — so every model extrapolates from thin data. Automated appraisals are useful for triaging a large portfolio and setting rough price tiers, but a name's real value is only established when a buyer pays it. Treat any single number as a starting point for pricing, not a fact.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are automated domain appraisals accurate?
They are rough by nature. Automated tools tend to be most useful for relative ranking — which of your names are stronger — and least reliable on brandable or niche names where comps are scarce. Two well-known tools can disagree by an order of magnitude on the same name.
How do I appraise my own domain?
Start with comps: search published sales databases for names of similar length, keywords, and TLD, then adjust for quality. Automated appraisal tools give a useful second opinion and help sanity-check pricing across a whole portfolio.