ICANN Opens New Top-Level Domain Application Round for First Time Since 2012
For the first time since 2012, ICANN is inviting submissions for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs), with the application period ending on August 12, 2026. The 86th ICANN meeting (ICANN86) took place in Seville, Spain, in June. Established in 1998, ICANN transferred control of internet infrastructure from the United States, officially completing this transition on September 30, 2016. The cost to apply is $227,000 per string, and 56 applicants are eligible for financial assistance. Among the notable applicants are Nova Registry, seeking 200 TLDs, and the dotMeow Foundation, which is pursuing .meow after successfully raising $137,000 on Kickstarter. Other submissions include .agent, .doge, .salesforce, and .tree. The public list will be revealed on October 7.
Key facts
- ICANN's application window for new top-level domains closes August 12, 2026, the first round since 2012
- The application fee is $227,000 per string, with 56 applicants qualifying for financial aid this round versus one in 2012
- ICANN86 was held in Seville, Spain, in June, the last in-person meeting before the application deadline
- Nova Registry, backed by Yoni Belousov, announced plans for 200 TLDs under SuperNova200 and later applied for 316 strings including .fart
- The dotMeow Foundation raised about $137,000 on Kickstarter, 150 percent of its goal, with nearly 2,000 backers in 40 countries
- ICANN will release the public list of applications on Reveal Day, October 7
- The 2012 round produced over 1,200 new top-level domains, many of which flopped
- The US government officially ceded control of the Domain Name System on September 30, 2016
Entities
Artists
- Vaughn Liley
- Aeryn Van Daele
- Lauren Thomas
- TQ Hirsch
- Ron Jeremy
- Stormy Daniels
- Donald Trump
- Yoni Belousov
- Warren Buffett
- Ted Cruz
- Edward Snowden
- Esther Dyson
- Marika Konings
- Theresa Swinehart
- Becky Burr
Institutions
- ICANN
- Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
- Nova Registry
- Link Freedom Group
- dotMeow Foundation
- Amazon
- GoDaddy
- Porkbun
- Verisign
- Squarespace
- Google Domains
- World Intellectual Property Organization
- D3
- Salesforce
- Donuts
- Identity Digital
- Nu Dot Com
- US Department of Commerce
- Bluesky
- Kickstarter
- Queerocracy Now!
- Wired
Locations
- Seville
- Spain
- Singapore
- Mumbai
- India
- Bali
- Indonesia
- London
- United Kingdom
- Madrid
- Los Angeles
- California
- United States
- Belgium
- Russia
- Colombia
- Montenegro
- Anguilla
- Ethiopia
- Dublin
- Ireland
- Saudi Arabia
- New York City