Some say .si is the new .ai, and the early numbers support their argument. According to Register.si, the registry behind .si, new .si registrations jumped from 3,515 in August to 46,066 in September.
Here at Openprovider, daily .si registrations rose from about 13 a day in August to over 300 in early October.
The surge was turbocharged after the UN General Assembly on 22 September 2026, when the US government said it would use “super intelligence”, or SI, in place of “artificial intelligence”. A week later, an executive order made the new term official in US federal agency communications. SI also happens to be the country code for Slovenia, and within days the whole domain industry was talking about it.
Domain investors have seen this story before. When Anguilla’s country code became the go-to address for AI companies, the people who registered short .ai names early paid standard prices for them, and some of those names now sell for seven figures. Many are now watching to see if history repeats itself with .si, while the best names are still available.
For resellers, .si is at that same early stage today. In this article, we look at:
- How the .si surge unfolded, and why the best names are going first
- Why .si may appeal to domain investors
- How .si compares to .ai, and whether it can become the new .ai
- Why .si fits a reseller portfolio, and what to tell your customers
- The .si offer, and how to sell .si with Openprovider
Daily .si registrations passed 12,000, and the rush created a new sales opportunity
Before September, Slovenia’s country domain grew at a steady, unremarkable pace.
Then the executive order landed on 29 September, and the daily numbers took off:
| Date | New .si domains that day |
|---|---|
| 29 September 2026 | 4,115 |
| 30 September 2026 | 11,331 |
| 1 October 2026 | 12,728 |
Source: Register.si data reported by TechRadar.
When you look at what people registered, most of the demand goes to short names, and those are always the first to go.
Short .si names are going fast, so the best picks go to early movers
Every domain rush follows the same pattern. The short, clear names go first, because one-word names, two- and three-letter names, and common words like build, cloud or shop are easy to remember and easy to brand.
The .ai story shows what happens next. Most short .ai names now have an owner, and a business that wants one today has to buy it from that owner, often at many times the registration price.
In .si, that same race started in September. Names like build.si already carry seven-figure asking prices, and AI company Recursive bought recursive.si for $20,000 months before the surge began, an early bet that now looks well timed.
Once someone registers a short name, nobody else can use it until it expires or the owner sells it. For your customers, the best time to secure the .si name they want is now, while short options are still on the table.
Domain investors understood this first, and they moved fast.
Domain investors are buying .si, and they need a reseller with bulk tools
Domain investors make their living by spotting the next big extension early. They register strong names at standard prices, hold them, and sell them later to the businesses that need them. The .ai market shows how far those names can go. These .ai domains all sold publicly in 2026:
| Domain | Sale price |
|---|---|
| Bot.ai | $1,200,000 |
| Genesis.ai | $400,000 |
| Lotus.ai | $400,000 |
| Free.ai | $350,000 |
| Neo.ai | $275,000 |
Source: DNJournal sales data reported by Strategic Revenue.
These sales sit at the top of the market, and most domains never sell for prices like these. Still, they explain why so many investors are watching .si. At Openprovider, a .si domain renews at €10.29 a year with a 1-year term (at the time of writing), so holding a name costs little, and the extension still has short names that .ai lost years ago. Whether those names gain value depends on whether “SI” catches on beyond US government use.
For you, these investors are customers. They want bulk search, bulk registration and API access, and you can give them all three with .si today. To pitch them well, start with how .si and .ai compare side by side.
.si vs .ai at a glance: lower entry cost and more names left
The two extensions share the same origin story, but they sit at different points in it. The table below covers the points your customers ask about.
| .si | .ai | |
|---|---|---|
| What the letters stand for | Slovenia, now also “super intelligence” | Anguilla, widely read as “artificial intelligence” |
| Registered domains | 241,000+ (1 Oct 2026) | 1 million+ (Jan 2026) |
| Minimum term | 1 year | 2 years |
| Cost to start with Openprovider | €8.39 (.si promo price) | $109 (2-year minimum) |
| Renewal | €10.29 per year | $134 for 1 year, $268 for 2 years |
| Short names left | Many | Most short names are taken |
| Who can register | Anyone, anywhere, no local contact needed | Anyone, anywhere |
| How Google treats it | As a Slovenian country domain (ccTLD) | As a generic domain, since 2023 |
A ccTLD is a country-code top-level domain, such as .si for Slovenia or .de for Germany. Google links most ccTLDs to their country, which matters for search results, and we cover what this means for your customers further down.
Price and availability make .si easy to sell today. The bigger story is whether it can follow the path .ai took, and the early signs help you decide how to position it.
Is .si the new .ai? Too early to say
The rise of .ai took years. AI startups around the world built their brands on it, registrations passed one million in January 2026, and in 2023 Google started treating .ai as a generic domain, so a .ai site can rank in any country, the same as a .com.
Right now, .si is at the start of that journey. Most new .si names sit with investors, few companies use .si as their main domain yet, and Google still links .si to Slovenia.
Our view: it is too early to call .si the next .ai, and that is what makes this moment interesting. Demand today is mostly investor-led, and the next chapter depends on whether “SI” spreads beyond US government use. A .si domain costs little to register and renew, so you can offer it now and grow with demand as the story develops.
That low cost is also what makes .si such an easy product to add to your portfolio.
Why .si fits a reseller portfolio: easy to add, easy to renew
Three things make .si an easy sell for your customers:
- A low entry price: many customers want an AI-linked domain but stop at the cost of .ai, as we explain in what makes .ai domains so expensive. With .si, you can offer a low-cost option next to every .com or .ai search.
- Predictable renewals: at €10.29 a year with Openprovider, the renewal price keeps year two predictable for your customers and for your margin.
- Brand protection demand: Register.si advised owners of brands to register their .si as soon as possible, which gives you a clear reason to call your agency and trademark clients this week.
With demand this strong, the next step is getting .si into your storefront.
Add .si to your storefront in bulk with the tools you already use
When thousands of new .si names are registered every day, speed matters. With Openprovider, you can register .si domains in bulk from the Reseller Control Panel or through the API, so your customers can lock in their names before someone else does.
These are the tools you can use from day one:
- Bulk check: search up to 500 .si names in one go and see which ones are free.
- Bulk registration: register multiple .si domains in a single order.
- DNS templates: apply one DNS setup to every new .si domain at once, so you do not set up each domain by hand.
- API and free sandbox: test your .si integration in a free test environment before you go live. See the API documentation.
- WHMCS module: sell .si through WHMCS, the billing and automation software many hosting providers already use.
Four points to share with customers before you sell .si
Customers who know what to expect stay longer and renew with fewer questions. Cover these four points with every customer who asks about .si.
Search results outside Slovenia. Google links .si sites to Slovenia, which can make it harder to rank elsewhere. Customers targeting the US or UK should keep their main site on .com and use .si for redirects or campaigns.
Renewal drop-off in year two. Some investors will let unsold names expire, so factor this into your renewal forecasts.
Trademark disputes. Register.si handles .si disputes under its own rules, separate from UDRP, so brand owners should start there.
Typo and lookalike domains. Because s and a sit side by side on the keyboard, brand owners with a .ai domain should register the matching .si to block lookalike sites.
With these points covered, your customers start on the right foot, and Openprovider’s .si offer makes it easy to get started.
The .si offer: your first year for €8.39 until 30 November
To help you move while the best names are still available, Openprovider customers can register .si for €8.39 for the first year until 30 November 2026. You do not need a promo code. After the first year, .si renews at €10.29 per year, so you and your customers know the cost from the start.
The offer has a few simple conditions:
- New customers can register up to 5 .si domains at the offer price.
- Existing customers can register 1 .si domain at the offer price.
- The €8.39 price covers the first year of a new registration only.
- The offer ends on 30 November 2026.
Openprovider Members pay cost price for every .si after the offer domains. Membership starts at €4.99 for the first year and includes cost-price access to every TLD we are accredited for.
See the .si offer and claim the names your customers want before someone else does.
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Can resellers outside Slovenia sell .si domains?
Yes. Register.si allows anyone, anywhere to register a .si domain, with no local contact or Slovenian company needed. This means hosting providers, agencies and MSPs in any country can sell .si to their customers. With Openprovider, you add .si to the same account and platform you use for your other domains.
Is .si cheaper than .ai?
Yes. A .si domain costs €8.39 for the first year with our current offer, and renews at €10.29 per year. A .ai domain needs a 2-year minimum registration and costs $109 to start with Openprovider. This makes .si a low-cost option for customers who want an AI-linked domain without the .ai price.
Does a .si domain rank outside Slovenia?
Google treats .si as a Slovenian country domain, so a .si site can find it harder to rank in other countries. This is different from .ai, which Google has treated as a generic domain since 2023. Customers who need to rank in the US or Europe should keep a generic domain as their main site.
Can I register .si domains in bulk through the API?
Yes. Openprovider lets you check up to 500 .si names at once and register multiple domains in one order from the Reseller Control Panel. You can also register .si through our API, test it first in a free sandbox, and sell it through our WHMCS module.
