For years, .io gave technology companies access to short names that were difficult or expensive to secure on .com. Its association with “input/output” made the extension feel native to software, despite .io being the country-code domain for the British Indian Ocean Territory.
Its status has attracted more attention since the UK and Mauritius agreed on the transfer of sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago. The agreement was signed in May 2025 but, as of September 2026, remains unratified, with the UK government confirming that discussions with the US and Mauritius are still ongoing. Nothing changes immediately for .io holders: IO remains in the ISO 3166-1 standard and the extension continues to operate normally. The longer-term question remains because eligibility for country-code domains ultimately depends on that standard.
SmartBranding covered the mechanics and possible outcomes in Is .io on Borrowed Time? What Businesses Need to Know.
The geopolitical question is relatively new; companies were moving from .io toward their Exact Brand Match (EBM) domain names long before it emerged. Valur, YouForm, Pendo and Close show four different reasons why.
Valur.io to Valur.com: when the market changes the calculation
Valur moved from Valur.io to Valur.com as it built its business around tax and financial planning. The company helps entrepreneurs and investors make decisions involving tax, assets and long-term wealth, placing greater weight on the trust signals surrounding the brand.
The name did not need to change. Valur.com gave the company direct ownership of the domain matching the identity it was already building, while removing an extension associated more strongly with technology startups than financial services.
For founders, the useful question is whether the domain chosen at launch still fits the customers buying from the company today. Moving into finance, enterprise or another trust-sensitive market can change that calculation even when the original domain continues to function perfectly well.
YouForm.io to YouForm.com: putting a number on the upgrade
YouForm makes the economics unusually clear. The form-building platform had been operating on YouForm.io when cofounder Davis Baer negotiated the acquisition of YouForm.com.
Baer was pragmatic about the existing extension, saying “The .io TLD is fine, and I’m sure Youform would have been fine…”, while describing the .com as giving the company “a ton more credibility.”
For a company already committed to the YouForm name, the decision could be assessed against a real number rather than an abstract branding argument. The founders knew the acquisition cost, negotiated substantially below the asking price and secured the domain early.
The move from YouForm.io to YouForm.com is a useful reminder that founders should compare the purchase price with the expected life of the name and the amount the business will spend building recognition around it.
Pendo.io and Pendo.com: buy first, migrate later
Pendo is the outlier because acquiring the .com did not lead to an immediate migration.
The product experience company secured Pendo.com while continuing to operate on Pendo.io. As of September 2026, Pendo.com still redirects to the company’s .io site.
The distinction is important for software businesses. Buying a domain settles ownership; migrating a mature platform can affect authentication, email, integrations, customer environments and years of existing links.
Pendo therefore shows another option for founders who know which domain they ultimately want. The company can secure the Exact Brand Match .com while it is obtainable, then make the technical migration decision separately.
Close.io to Close.com: “We Outgrew the .io”
Close provides the clearest first-hand account.
The CRM company launched on Close.io in 2013 because Close.com was being used by another startup. .io was common among SaaS businesses, and the immediate priority was proving that Close itself could become a viable company.
Five and a half years later, the situation looked different. Customers increasingly referred to the company as “Close”, while its team still had to say “Close-dot-I-O” publicly so people knew where to find it.
When Close announced the move to Close.com, the company gave the problem its own heading: “We Outgrew the .io.”
The .com had been the preferred domain from the beginning, but acquiring it required more than five years of follow-ups and multiple offers. By the time the deal was completed in 2019, Close had thousands of customers and far more certainty about the business it was building.
The Close.io to Close.com upgrade is particularly useful for founders who already know which domain they eventually want. An acquisition that does not make sense today can still be worth understanding early, because seller expectations, ownership and the buyer’s negotiating position can all change over time.
What founders can take from these moves
No single reason explains the four cases.
Valur’s market placed greater weight on trust. YouForm found a price that made ownership attractive early. Pendo secured the .com without taking on an immediate migration. Close knew the domain it wanted and spent years getting there.
The uncertainty surrounding .io adds another consideration, but founders do not need to predict the extension’s future before reviewing their position. If the company expects to keep the same name, it is worth knowing who owns the EBM, whether acquisition is realistic and what waiting could change.
For companies already operating on .io, the Grails Domain Strategy Quiz helps assess the current setup across credibility, recall and growth readiness, while the Extension Risk Report looks specifically at the political, policy, security and operational exposure attached to country-code extensions.
The useful question is simple: if you were choosing a domain for the company you have today, would you still choose the one you started with?