How a new domain ending is made
Buying a name like example.com happens at a registrar. Creating a new ending, like .example, is different. An organisation applies to ICANN, during an application round, to run the ending as its registry. Rounds are rare. Before 2026, the last one opened in 2012.
Applications accepted
Reveal Day: ICANN publishes every application
Applicants in a contest may switch to their backup string
String Confirmation Day: the final list of names
Anyone can comment on or object to an application
Draw that sets the order applications are processed in (first half of 2027, date not set)
String evaluation, expected to take 180 days
Contests resolved, contracts signed, first new domains go live. ICANN has not given dates.
The window to apply is closed. ICANN has not announced the next one.
ICANN has not given go-live dates. The last round is the best guide there is. Its applications were made public on 13 Jun 2012, and 1,245 of its endings went live.
- The first went live 16 months later.
- Half were live within 35 months.
- Nine in ten were live within 49 months.
At the same pace, the first 2026 endings would go live around Feb 2028, and half of them by around Sep 2029. This is the last round's pace, not a promise from ICANN. Endings that several organisations want usually take longer, because they have to be settled first.
Worked out from the go-live date of every generic ending in IANA's root zone database that went live from October 2013 on.
Prepare
Gather the documents, the business plan and a technical provider.
ICANN pageApply
Submit the application in ICANN's system while a round is open.
ICANN pageReveal
ICANN publishes every name and who applied for it.
ICANN pageComments and objections
Anyone can comment. Some groups can formally object.
ICANN pageName check
ICANN checks the name is technically safe and allowed.
Contest
If several applicants want the same name, ICANN settles it by a community priority review or an auction.
ICANN pageApplicant check
ICANN checks the organisation, its finances and its people.
Contract
The winner signs a registry agreement with ICANN.
ICANN pageGo live
Technical tests, then IANA adds the name to the internet's root.
The evaluation fee is USD 227,000 per application. Applicants who qualify for ICANN's Applicant Support Program pay 75 to 85 percent less. Some reviews cost extra, for example USD 52,936 for a community priority review.
Applicant Guidebook, module 3, feesnewgtldprogram.icann.org
newgtldprogram.icann.org
newgtldprogram-2026-agb.icann.org
newgtldprogram-aps.icann.org
www.icann.org
www.iana.org