.ma domain name: price, rules, and how to register it truly in your own name

The domain name is the one part of your website you keep for its whole life: the design will change, so will the provider, the address stays. The cardiology practice and the dental centre I launched in Casablanca are on .ma (cabinetcardiobenhaourech.ma, centredentairelanation.ma). Here is what to know before you register yours.

.ma or .com?

• A .ma says “business in Morocco” at once. For a practice, a shop or a local service it reassures, and Google ties it to Morocco for local searches.
• A .com is neutral. It suits a brand that also sells in France, Belgium or elsewhere.
• Both: if the budget allows, register the .ma and the .com and redirect one to the other. Nobody can take your name in the other extension.

Who can register a .ma

Individuals as well as companies, Moroccan or foreign. The condition: the holder must have an administrative contact established in Morocco. Registration has to go through a registrar accredited by the ANRT, which runs the extension. For an individual, registrars ask for an ID (national ID card or passport); for a company, its legal details.

Some names are reserved (cities, regions, public bodies, for example) and go through an ANRT review before being granted.

What it costs

At accredited registrars, a .ma costs around 150 MAD excl. VAT for the first year, and renewal is sometimes a little higher (for example 199 MAD excl. VAT at Hostino). Prices vary between registrars: compare the renewal price, not just the first year.

Beware of non-accredited middlemen charging several hundred dirhams more for nothing extra.

Registering it in your name, in five steps

1. Check availability on an accredited registrar’s site. Short, easy to say over the phone, no hyphen if possible.
2. Choose an ANRT-accredited registrar and compare renewal prices.
3. Put the holder in your name (or your company’s), with your email address. This is the point that matters most.
4. Turn on automatic renewal, or note the expiry date with a reminder a month before.
5. Point the domain to your site (the DNS settings), then create a professional email address on it.

The rule: the domain holder is you, never your provider. If they register it for you, ask to see your name in the registrar account.

The three most common traps

• The domain in the provider’s name. The day you switch provider, you have to negotiate to get your own address back. I cover it in who owns your website.
• A forgotten renewal. An expired domain takes the site and the email offline, and someone else can take the name.
• A personal email as the contact. Use an address you will keep, or renewal reminders get lost.

And after the domain?

A domain brings no clients on its own: you need a fast, clear site that Google finds. For the full budget (site, hosting, domain), see how much a website costs in Morocco.

Sources: registration terms and prices published by accredited .ma registrars (including Hostino), checked on 31 October 2026; overview of the .ma extension run by the ANRT. Check the current terms with your registrar before registering.

Hamza BenjaabaI design and launch websites for practices, shops and brands in Morocco, with the domain and every access in the client’s name.