A .eu can be held by any undertaking established in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway. The country is your choice, and the one that costs least to keep open is Estonia.
An Estonian company costs about €415 in state fees to start and €124 or more a year for the required local contact, plus a mandatory annual report. Over five years that is at least €1,100, against about €145 for our pick on the .eu trustees page. It pays off if the entity does real work for you in Europe, or if you also want .fr and .it.
What kind of entity counts
Article 3(c) of Regulation (EU) 2019/517 admits "an undertaking that is established in the Union", and EURid's terms extend it to Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Neither defines "established". A subsidiary, a separate company registered in an EEA state, clearly qualifies.
Watch out
A branch is less certain
The same subsidiary is also eligible for .fr and .it, whose rules accept organisations established anywhere in the EEA.
Estonia: an OÜ through e-Residency
Estonia lets non-residents form and run a private limited company (OÜ) online. The steps and official fees:
- e-Residency card: €150 state fee, valid five years. It rises to €165 in January 2027.
- Company registration: €265 state fee. The registry says review usually takes one business day.
- Share capital: as little as €0.01 per shareholder.
- Contact person: if no board member is in Estonia, the company must appoint a licensed contact person with an Estonian address. Published prices start at €124 a year. If the appointment lapses, the company can be deleted from the register.
- Annual report: required every year, including for a dormant company, within six months of the year end. Accounting services start at about €50 a month.
The Estonian government's own estimate for the first year is about €600 if you do the paperwork yourself, or about €1,300 with an accountant.
Ireland and the Netherlands
Ireland. Incorporation at the Companies Registration Office costs €50 online and the annual return €20. The obstacle is section 137 of the Companies Act 2014: at least one director must live in the EEA, or the company must lodge a €25,000 bond, or show a real and continuous economic link with Ireland. UK residents do not count. For a business with no one in the EEA, that rules it out.
Netherlands. The Chamber of Commerce fee is €85.15, and a notary, typically €500 to €1,500, is required to form a BV. A director holding 5% or more of the shares is expected to draw a salary of at least €58,000 in 2026, which makes a BV a poor choice for holding a domain.
Five years against a trustee
| Route | Set-up | Each year | Five years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trustee (united-domains) | None | €29, domain included | €145 |
| Estonian OÜ, own paperwork | €415 | About €135 (contact person and domain) | About €1,100 |
| Estonian OÜ, with accountant | €415 | About €735 (contact person, accounting, domain) | About €4,100 |
Estonian figures use the lowest published contact-person price (€124 a year), accounting at €50 a month, and a .eu renewal of about €9. They exclude VAT and any bank or payment account. The trustee figure is from the .eu trustees page.
When it is worth it
- You are selling into Europe and want a European entity anyway.
- You want several restricted domains: one EEA company covers .eu, .fr and .it, where trustees charge for each.
- You do not want to rely on a trustee arrangement that EURid's section 3(b) says it can revoke.
For a single .eu that redirects to your main site, a trustee is far cheaper. The decision in general terms is in trustee or a local company.
Keep reading on .eu
Sources
- Regulation (EU) 2019/517, article 3
- EURid, who can register a .eu domain name
- Police and Border Guard Board, e-resident digital ID state fee
- e-Residency, Estonian state fees
- e-Residency, contact person and legal address
- e-Residency, costs and fees
- Companies Registration Office, company fees
- Companies Registration Office, company officers (EEA-resident director)
- KVK, private limited company (BV)
- Address in Estonia, legal address one-year package
Last updated September 2026. This is not tax or legal advice, and an EEA company can create tax obligations in both countries. Check your case with an adviser before forming one.