.org (short for "organization") is one of the oldest TLDs aimed at non-profit, community, educational, and similar organizations. Created in 1985 alongside .com and .net. There are 10+ million .org domains worldwide. Wikipedia.org, Mozilla.org, IEEE.org are among the best-known examples.
Who .org is for
Traditional usage: non-profit organizations (NGOs, foundations), educational institutions, community and volunteer projects, open-source projects, professional associations. Examples: redcross.org (Red Cross), wikipedia.org, mozilla.org (Firefox).
Today there are no restrictions — anyone can register a .org. But using .org for commercial purposes can feel mismatched.
.org advantages
Trust and authority — visitors perceive .org sites as non-profit and transparent. A big plus for charity, education, and advocacy sites.
SEO — Google gives .org pages slightly more trust (especially for information sites). Wikipedia.org dominates Google.
30+ years of history — reliable and stable.
Community — .org is often used for open-source projects and volunteer communities.
Registering .org
Price: $10-15/year (Namecheap, GoDaddy). Via Sayt.uz 169,000 sum/year.
No documents required to register — you don't need to prove you're a non-profit.
Public Interest Registry (PIR) manages .org. In 2019 there was an attempted sale of PIR to a commercial company, but content and the non-profit community pushed back and stopped it. PIR remains independent.
When .org is the wrong choice
Using .org for a commercial business can confuse users. If you sell products and the site is .org, customers think "I thought this was non-profit but they're charging me" and become suspicious.
Clearly mismatched cases: e-commerce stores, SaaS startups, freelancer portfolios. For these, .com is a better fit.
.org vs others
.com — universal, for business. .org — non-profit, education, community. .net — technical. .edu — only US educational institutions. .gov — only US government.
For Uzbek non-profits: .org gives a global look, .uz gives a local look. Many organizations get both.
Sayt.uz practice
2% of Sayt.uz clients register .org — mostly NGOs, charity foundations, mosques, and educational institutions. Most of them also register .uz. Tip: if you run a non-profit, charity, or educational site, .org is a logical choice — it boosts user trust. For commercial use, stay with .com.