Nic.af Review. Was nic.af good or bad on providing Domain Registration services?

📄 Editorial Review

(3*) 🔧 Services: Domain Registration | 🔘 Official NIC authority for .af🔃 Selling only to resellers
NIC.AF / Afghanistan Network Information Center (AFGNIC) is the official registry responsible for Afghanistan’s .af country-code top-level domain. The .af namespace was originally delegated on October 16, 1997, while the present Afghan registry structure dates to January 2003, when administration was redelegated and AFGNIC was established under the national telecommunications and IT administration. The current ccTLD manager is Afghanistan’s Ministry of Communications and IT, with AFGNIC handling the operational registry functions.

NIC.AF is a domain registry rather than a conventional web hosting company. Its responsibilities include administration of the .af namespace, domain registration records, authoritative DNS operation, WHOIS services, registrar and reseller coordination, and enforcement of domain-registration policies. Its role also connects with Afghanistan’s broader Internet infrastructure and national IP-resource administration.

Available domain choices include direct second-level .af registrations together with .com.af, .gov.af, .org.af, .edu.af, .net.af, .tv.af and .media.af. Several namespaces have specific intended uses: .gov.af is reserved for government institutions, .com.af targets commercial organizations, .org.af is intended for non-commercial organizations, .net.af is suitable for network providers and .edu.af is intended for educational institutions. Direct names such as example.af can also be registered.

Registrations can be handled directly through AFGNIC or through authorized registrars and resellers. NIC.AF does not operate conventional hosting services such as web space, email hosting, VPS or dedicated servers, so those services must be obtained separately from a hosting provider or registrar.

The registration process requires registrant and organization details, administrative and technical contacts, billing information and authoritative nameservers. At least a primary nameserver must be operational before delegation, while using two independent nameservers located on different networks or in separate physical locations remains the recommended configuration. Registrations, renewals and deletions are handled through the registry process.

The NIC.AF website is available in English, Dari and Pashto, which is appropriate for both local Afghan users and international customers. The interface remains relatively simple and administrative compared with modern fully automated retail registrar platforms.

The .AF namespace has exceeded 10,000 registered domain names. This figure represents a useful indication of the registry’s scale, although it should not be treated as a live September 2026 registration count.

💰 Price & Cost

Direct registry pricing is straightforward and denominated in USD. A standard .af domain costs $25 per year, with multi-year pricing increasing proportionally, including $50 for two years and $125 for five years.

The .com.af, .gov.af, .org.af, .edu.af and .net.af namespaces cost $20 per year, while .media.af and .tv.af cost $40 per year.

International customers can use USD bank-transfer arrangements for direct registry transactions. Because some administrative and banking instructions use older institutional terminology, confirming beneficiary and payment details with AFGNIC before an international transfer is sensible.

🏢 Data Center

NIC.AF’s infrastructure is focused on operation of the national .AF DNS rather than commercial hosting. The authoritative DNS system is distributed across several nameservers, including ns.anycast.nic.af, ns1.anycastdns.cz and ns2.anycastdns.cz.

The .AF delegation supports both IPv4 and IPv6, while DNSSEC is enabled through a DS record published in the root zone. WHOIS service is available through whois.nic.af.

The registry infrastructure uses geographically distributed anycast DNS. The ns.anycast.nic.af service is associated with AS42, while the external anycastdns.cz infrastructure is associated with AS60592 and Gransy (gransy.com). This arrangement gives the .AF namespace additional network and geographic resilience outside Afghanistan.

AFGNIC is responsible for maintaining continuous operation of the .AF authoritative DNS infrastructure. A percentage-based public uptime SLA such as 99.9% or 99.99% is not part of the registry service.

✍️ Customer Support

Registry assistance is available from Kabul through telephone and email. The primary registry contact is Registry@nic.af, with Registry.nic93@gmail.com also available.

Support is mainly administrative and registry-oriented. Customers using an authorized registrar normally manage renewals, DNS settings and related services through that registrar, while AFGNIC remains responsible for the central .AF registry and namespace operation.

🔨 Control Panel

NIC.AF does not use a conventional cPanel, Plesk or hosting control panel, because it does not provide hosting accounts. Domain availability can be checked through its domain-search and WHOIS facilities, while direct registrations and changes are handled through the registry registration process.

Authorized registrars and resellers may provide their own automated customer panels, which can be more convenient for customers who want domain registration combined with DNS management, email or hosting services.

🎯 Conclusion

NIC.AF is an essential part of Afghanistan’s Internet infrastructure rather than a conventional commercial hosting provider. Its primary strength is its authoritative role in managing the national .AF namespace, including the registry database, WHOIS, authoritative DNS, DNSSEC support and the different second- and third-level domain categories used by businesses, institutions, educational organizations, government entities and network providers.

Pricing is simple and transparent, while support for English, Dari and Pashto makes the service accessible to both Afghan and international users.

The direct registration process remains more administrative than the automated checkout systems used by major international registrars. Customers who want combined domain registration, DNS management, email and hosting services will generally find an authorized registrar or reseller more convenient, while NIC.AF remains the authoritative registry behind every .AF registration.

📢 Special pages

• About us: https://www.nic.af/afgnic