The True Cost of Owning a Domain Name

There's always a bit of a discussion that crops up in chat as to which domain registrar to use.
I wanted to break down the average cost of buying and owning a .com domain from the web's biggest registrars for one year and over the course of five years.
These are current, non-promotional prices.
Before you buy a domain, definitely do your research and see if you can get coupon codes or if there are other promotions you can take advantage of. Nearly every registrar offers a discount on first-time domain name purchases. Do your research!

1AND1

First Year Registration: $10.99
Yearly Renewal Cost: $10.99
First Year Private Registration: Free!
Private Registration Renewal: Free!
Five year total cost with private registration at 1AND1: $54.95

Namecheap

First Year Registration: $10.69
Yearly Renewal Cost: $10.69
First Year Private Registration: Free!
Private Registration Renewal: $2.88
Five year total cost with private registration at NameCheap: $64.97

Name.com

First Year Registration: $10.99
Yearly Renewal Cost: $10.99
First Year Private Registration: $3.99
Private Registration Renewal: $3.99
Five year total cost with private registration at Name.com: $74.90

GoDaddy

First Year Registration: $9.99
Yearly Renewal Cost: $14.99
First Year Private Registration: $9.99
Private Registration Renewal: $9.99
Five year total cost with private registration at GoDaddy: $119.90

Register.com

First Year Registration: $0.99
Yearly Renewal Cost: $38.00
First Year Private Registration: $11.00
Private Registration Renewal: $11.00
Five year total cost with private registration at Register.com: $207.99

Network Solutions

First Year Registration: $11.99
Yearly Renewal Cost: $39.00
First Year Private Registration: $9.00
Private Registration Renewal: $9.00
Five year total cost with private registration at Network Solutions: $212.99

Domain name prices vary wildly depending on the registrar. While they are all more or less providing you with the same service (a .com for 5 years) there can be a $150 discrepancy depending on which site you're purchasing from.
Personally, my favorite registrar is NameCheap. No shady upsells, consistent, fair pricing, and phenomenal customer support. I moved all of my sites there from GoDaddy a few years ago and I haven't looked back since.
One final piece of advice:
Be wary of ridiculous promotions and advertising.
Sites like GoDaddy and Register.com lure you in with cheaper prices, then absolutely kill you with hidden renewal costs. Always do the math and rely on the "if it sounds too good to be true" mantra.
-Steve