1,600+ New gTLD Applications — Which Ones Will People Actually Build On?

ICANN received more than 1,600 primary applications in the 2026 new gTLD round. Early disclosures span AI/tech, commerce, crypto and culture.

For site builders, the real test is not launch hype but whether people actually build on these extensions and keep renewing them.

If the exact .com is gone, which type of new gTLD would you actually use for a live project?

none, there are already enough, more is just useless and could be used maybe to come up with some clever names that are already long gone on main ones, however that will definitely not drive masses of people towards them

Maybe it's just me, but when I see a domain that doesn't end in .com, .org, or .edu, I immediately think some bloke on BHW is running a fly by night operation. I hated .ai with all of the popup AI wrappers, but that has grown on me. If I'm using any other extension it would be for development purposes.