ICANN's 2026 gTLD Round: What 1,615 Applications Mean

ICANN’s 2026 new gTLD round is real news, but it is not a threat to the .com you own or plan to buy. On October 7, ICANN published the applications. We have read the numbers, the timeline and the rules. Here is what they mean in practice.

What is the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round?

It is ICANN’s first chance in more than a decade for organizations to apply for new top-level domains, the part of a web address after the last dot. The last round ran in 2012. The 2026 round let applicants file between April 30 and August 12, 2026, according to ICANN’s New gTLD Program site.

Anyone can apply if they pass the checks. Most applicants are registry businesses that plan to sell names to the public. Some are brands that want a closed extension for their own use, called a dotBrand. The full program is described in our glossary under the new gTLD program.

How many applications were filed?

ICANN counted 1,663 submitted applications when the window closed. It then confirmed that 1,616 had paid the evaluation fee and would proceed. On Reveal Day, CircleID reported 1,615 active applications from 481 applicants. One application, .wdo, remains under administrative review.

That is fewer than the 1,930 applications ICANN received in 2012. The fee helps explain it. ICANN set the evaluation fee at $227,000 per application.

When will new extensions go live?

Not soon. As of Reveal Day, ICANN’s statistics showed no 2026 application contracted or delegated. After String Confirmation Day come community input and objections, string evaluation, contention resolution, applicant evaluation, contracting and technical onboarding.

The 2012 round gives a rough guide. Its window opened January 12, 2012. ICANN delegated the first new extensions in October 2013, about 21 months later. ICANN has not published a delegation date for 2026, so treat any date you hear as a guess.

What happens after String Confirmation Day?

ICANN’s Applicant Journey page lists the later stages. Each one can remove, merge or delay an application.

Each stage takes time, and ICANN has not set dates for the later ones. That is why we say the first new extensions from this round are not close.

What is a contention set?

A contention set is a group of applications for the same string or for strings that look too alike. Reveal Day made these visible. For example, .ace drew three active applications, from Fore Course LLC, ShortDot (Ireland) Limited and Registry Services LLC.

ICANN’s rules do not let applicants settle these deals privately. Resolution runs through Community Priority Evaluation or an ICANN auction. See string contention for the plain definition. Expect some strings to drop out, merge or be sold at auction before any go live.

Do new extensions lower the value of premium .com names?

No. The 2012 round added more than 1,200 extensions. The market still pays its highest prices for .com. In DNJournal’s 2026 year-to-date chart, the biggest non-.com gTLD sale is On.org at $145,000. The top .com sales run into the millions.

Our view is simple. A new extension adds choice. It does not copy decades of trust, type-in habit and email use that sit with .com. Our earlier post on why prices of premium domain names will continue to appreciate covers the scarcity argument in more depth.

Should a brand apply for its own .brand extension?

Only a brand with scale, a trademark and a legal team should consider it. ICANN’s fee is $227,000. Fitch Even, a law firm, also reports a $500 dotBrand evaluation fee and added costs for back-end registry services. A dotBrand must be tied to the applicant’s trademark rights.

For most small and mid-size companies, the money is better spent on the exact-match name. Compare options in our guide to .com vs .ai vs .io vs .co. If a brand does want a new extension later, it should still own its .com first.

What does this change for people buying a business name?

For most buyers, nothing yet. A company still needs a name customers can spell, say and trust. Three things stay true while the round plays out:

• Customers still type .com first. The new extensions will have no track record for years.
• Email and ad platforms treat unknown extensions with more caution.
• A new extension can be a good second name. It rarely replaces the main one.

If you are weighing a startup name, our guide on startup domain upgrades explains how companies move from a workaround extension to the exact-match .com once they can afford it.

What should .com owners and buyers do now?

Change nothing today, but keep watching two dates: October 21 and November 17. Then check whether a string that matches your brand or category appears in a contention set. If it does, talk to a trademark lawyer. This is not legal advice.

If you want a .com that someone else owns, the round does not change that. It is still a negotiation with the current owner. Our guide on how to buy a domain that is taken explains the steps.

Next step

Want a .com that is already registered? Our team runs a stealth acquisition service: a broker approaches the owner for you, without naming you, and every deal closes through a third-party escrow company. See buying domains or contact us.