Domain appraisal

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Domain appraisal, explained

Automated appraisals come from tools such as GoDaddy's GoValue and Estibot. They score a name on length, extension, keywords, search and advertising data and comparable sales; GoDaddy says GoValue uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to estimate value, and Afternic uses it to suggest listing prices. Human appraisals rely on judgment and hand-picked comparable sales from sources such as NameBio and DNJournal, and are typically used for expensive names, disputes, estates or accounting.

Treat any appraisal as a starting point. Automated tools often disagree with each other by a wide margin and can misjudge brandable, trademark-adjacent or non-English names, and none of them can tell whether a buyer exists. Sales are also skewed: Sedo's 2025 median sale price was $818 while its average was $2,753, according to the Global Domain Report 2026, because a few large sales lift the average.

Separate wholesale from retail. An appraisal that reads like a retail price is not what an investor will pay you, and a wholesale estimate is not what an end user should pay. Before pricing, pull recent sold comparables with the same structure, extension and industry, and ask who would actually buy the name. Beware of appraisal scams: a supposed buyer who insists you pay for a certified appraisal from a specific site before making an offer is almost never a buyer.

AI chatbots will produce a confident figure for any name. Unless the answer cites sold comparables you can check, treat it as a guess. AI is useful for gathering comparables, spotting trademark conflicts and listing likely end users; the price still comes from evidence of what similar names actually sold for.

Go deeper How to Value and Price a Domain Name