.brand
Is .brand a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
.brand is contested: 10 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list, as of 7 October 2026. They are XYZ Registry, XServer, Squarespace, Identity Digital, GoDaddy Registry, M&A Entity LLC, Intercap, Internet DotTrademark Organisation and 2 more, listed below. XServer named .brand as a backup string for its .follow application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup. KNET named .brand as a backup string for its .官网 application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup.
A generic word that sounds like branding jargon; some marketers and DTC shops may register it, but few will make it their main address.
branding agencies, DTC and consumer-product companies, and marketing consultants who want a name that literally says 'brand'; secondarily domainers speculating on brandable one-word registrations.
In LFG's published list of 300+ strings submitted before the ICANN window closed on 2026-08-12. Their catalog tagline: “Stand out, be recognized.”
One of 46 ICANN 2026-round applications Radix announced on its own applications page. Radix states it intends to build and operate each TLD it wins.
Named on the ICANN gTLD application list, 7 October 2026 as a replacement (backup) string of the applicant's .xn--kbt444f application, shown as deactivated: another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup
Named on the ICANN gTLD application list, 7 October 2026 as a replacement (backup) string of the applicant's .follow application, shown as deactivated: another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup
The 2012 applications making the most similar bet. Chosen by AI from every string in that round, without being told what happened to any of them.
Same bet exactly: an abstract commercial-discipline noun sold as an open generic to the agencies, consultants and in-house teams who practice it, working only if practitioners will re-badge their primary identity onto the craft word instead of their own company name.
Also a creative-discipline noun whose registrant pool is studios and freelancers claiming a craft label, but it is a denser everyday word with a community that already self-identifies by it, so it needs less category education than an abstract asset word.
Targets the identical buyer (the branding/marketing shop) and rests on the same assumption that a firm will put its front door on a category word, though it names the entity type rather than the intangible that entity produces.
What a .brand domain is
.brand is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, in our Brand category. 10 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list.
Is the .brand domain extension real yet?
.brand is not yet a domain extension you can register: nothing resolves under it, and no registrar sells names in it. It is a string applicants have put forward in the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, the process that decides whether it becomes one.
When can you buy a .brand domain?
You can’t yet. A .brand name can only be registered once the string is delegated (added to the DNS root) and its registry opens. Last round's closest parallel to .brand was .marketing, delegated on 14 January 2014.
Is .brand a real TLD?
Not yet. .brand is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because .brand is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list of applied-for strings. Every entry on this page links to its source.
- XServer · first recordedICANN
- KNET · first recordedICANN
- XYZ Registry · first recordedICANN
- XServer · first recordedICANN
- Identity Digital · first recordedICANN
- Squarespace · first recordedICANN
- GoDaddy Registry · first recordedICANN
- M&A Entity LLC · first recordedICANN
- Intercap · first recordedICANN
- Internet DotTrademark Organisation · first recordedICANN
- Radix · now confirmedICANN
- Link Freedom Group · now confirmedICANN
- Radix · first recordedRadix
- Link Freedom Group · first recordedLink Freedom Group
“IDOL2621T-T20061 · Internet DotTrademark Organisation Limited · primary · contention set 2026-31 IRI2679T-T15412 · Intercap Registry Inc. · primary · contention set 2026-31 KCL2693T-T23960 · KNET Co., Ltd. · replacement string of .xn--kbt444f · Deactivated LFGL2683T-T94977 · Link Freedom Group Ltd · primary · contention set 2026-31 MEL2626T-T48733 · M&A Entity LLC · primary · contention set 2026-31 NA2631T-T69341 · Registry Services, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-31 RTIS2674T-T83546 · Radix Technologies Inc SEZC · primary · contention set 2026-31 SRL2616T-T86558 · Squarespace Registry LLC · primary · contention set 2026-31 VTL2632T-T88824 · Velvet Taupe, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-31 XCI2688T-T81155 · XServer Cloud Incorporated · primary · contention set 2026-31 XI2694T-T28363 · XRegistry Incorporated · replacement string of .follow · Deactivated XL2625T-T31633 · XYZ.COM LLC · primary · contention set 2026-31”ICANN
“IDOL2621T-T20061 · Internet DotTrademark Organisation Limited · primary · contention set 2026-31 IRI2679T-T15412 · Intercap Registry Inc. · primary · contention set 2026-31 LFGL2683T-T94977 · Link Freedom Group Ltd · primary · contention set 2026-31 MEL2626T-T48733 · M&A Entity LLC · primary · contention set 2026-31 NA2631T-T69341 · Registry Services, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-31 RTIS2674T-T83546 · Radix Technologies Inc SEZC · primary · contention set 2026-31 SRL2616T-T86558 · Squarespace Registry LLC · primary · contention set 2026-31 VTL2632T-T88824 · Velvet Taupe, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-31 XCI2688T-T81155 · XServer Cloud Incorporated · primary · contention set 2026-31 XL2625T-T31633 · XYZ.COM LLC · primary · contention set 2026-31”ICANN
“Radix has applied for these TLDs; we do not own or operate them today.”Radix
“.brand · Commerce · “Stand out, be recognized.””Link Freedom Group
- Band chosen: 30-49 (usable but limited). The string is a common English word with obvious relevance to marketing and consumer commerce, so registrations at volume are plausible, especially on promotional pricing, which keeps it above the 10-29 vanity band. It is not in the 50-69 strong-niche band because the word describes a function rather than naming a community or product category with its own identity: a serious company is more likely to protect or brand itself on a namespace than to adopt 'something.brand' as its primary identity, and the semantics are awkward ('acme.brand' reads like a label, not an address). A further drag, reasoned qualitatively: in the domain industry the phrase 'dot-brand' already conventionally refers to company-owned TLDs, so the open string invites category confusion among exactly the professional buyers who would otherwise be its best fit. By analogy (flagged as analogy), descriptor TLDs aimed at marketing functions have historically leaned on discounting and shown thin aftermarkets and low primary-identity use, and I expect similar dynamics here over the next 5 years. The applicant, Link Freedom Group, filed more than 300 strings in the ICANN 2026 round and lists this string under 'Commerce' with the tagline 'Stand out, be recognized.'; a large-portfolio applicant suggests standardized rather than category-specialist go-to-market, which I weigh mildly against deep vertical adoption. Main market uncertainty: whether branding/creative agencies treat '.brand' as a credible portfolio or client-showcase address (which could push it toward the top of this band) or whether the dot-brand terminology clash and defensive-registration framing cap it as a low-signal descriptor.