What is .in?
.in has a second life online. Because of what the letters suggest, it's picked up a following for words ending in -in, like "login" or "plugin", beyond India's borders. Legally it remains India's ccTLD.
A little context on India: the capital is New Delhi, languages include English, Hindi and Tamil, the currency is the Indian rupee (INR) and the international dialing code is +91.
India shares land borders with 6 countries, so the ccTLDs next door are .bd (Bangladesh), .bt (Bhutan), .mm (Myanmar), .cn (China), .np (Nepal) and .pk (Pakistan).
IANA lists National Internet Exchange of India as the manager of .in, with an address in India. The registry's website is https://registry.in. ccTLD managers set their own policies — who can register, which second-level names exist, pricing to registrars — so those rules differ from country to country.
On the technical side, .in is served by 4 authoritative name servers, every one of them reachable over IPv6. It is also DNSSEC-signed: the root zone carries a DS record for .in, which lets validating resolvers check its answers cryptographically. Registration data is published over RDAP and WHOIS (the WHOIS server is whois.nixiregistry.in).
India also has other country-code domains in the root zone: .ಭಾರತ (Kannada), .ଭାରତ (Odia), .ভাৰত (Bangla), .ভারত (Bangla), .భారత్ (Telugu), .ભારત (Gujarati), .भारतम् (Devanagari), .भारत (Devanagari), .भारोत (Devanagari), .بارت (Arabic), .بھارت (Arabic), .ڀارت (Arabic), .ഭാരതം (Malayalam), .ਭਾਰਤ (Gurmukhi) and .இந்தியா (Tamil).
Same registry, other endings
7 other TLDs share this operator.
.in FAQ
What country is .in?
.in is the country-code top-level domain for India, in Southern Asia. Online it's also used for words ending in -in, like "login" or "plugin".
What does .in mean?
Officially, .in is simply the ISO 3166-1 code for India. Online, it's also used for words ending in -in, like "login" or "plugin" — a "domain hack" that uses the letters for what they spell.
What does .in mean in an email address?
Only that the sender's domain is registered under .in. Because .in is also used for words ending in -in, like "login" or "plugin", it doesn't necessarily mean the person is in India.
Who owns the .in domain?
IANA lists National Internet Exchange of India as the manager of .in: it runs the registry and sets the rules for India's ccTLD. Individual .in names belong to whoever registers them.
Can I register a .in domain from the US?
It depends on National Internet Exchange of India's policy. Some ccTLDs are open to anyone in the world, while others require a local address, company or trademark. Check the registry (https://registry.in) or an accredited registrar before you buy.
Is .in DNSSEC-signed?
Yes. The root zone has a DS record for .in, so DNSSEC validation works all the way down from the root.
How do I look up who owns a .in domain?
Query the registry's registration data service: the WHOIS server is whois.nixiregistry.in, and RDAP lookups go to https://rdap.nixiregistry.in/rdap/. Many registrants use privacy services, so personal details may be hidden.
Sources
Data from IANA root zone version 2026102000. Last changed October 12, 2026. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.