.program
Is .program a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
.program is not contested. One application for it is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list, as of 7 October 2026. It is Identity Digital. XYZ Registry named .program as a backup string for its .pal application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup.
A generic descriptor word: handy for loyalty, training or software programs, but it reads as a label, not a brand.
organizations naming a specific initiative (loyalty, training, mentorship, grant, academic or software programs) who want a descriptive address, plus small software vendors buying on price
Named on the ICANN gTLD application list, 7 October 2026 as a replacement (backup) string of the applicant's .pal 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 as .program: an abstract, ownerless English noun whose dominant sense is broadcast content but which also reads as business/distribution jargon, so the registry is betting that a word everyone uses as a second word in a phrase can be sold as a destination to several unrelated industries at once.
The closest sibling in the media-content register — a plain generic noun that producers, broadcasters and podcasters could all plausibly put their primary identity on — but it names one concrete thing a buyer makes, where .program must straddle broadcast, education and software meanings to find demand.
Shares .program's structural weakness rather than its topic: a weakly-anchored abstract noun with no native constituency that in practice only works as the tail of someone else's brand name, so the bet rests on volume of suffix use rather than on any community claiming the word as its own.
What a .program domain is
.program is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, in our AI & tech category. One application for it is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list.
Is the .program domain extension real yet?
.program 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 .program domain?
You can’t yet. A .program 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 .program was .channel, delegated on 15 September 2014.
Is .program a real TLD?
Not yet. .program is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because .program is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list of applied-for strings. Every entry on this page links to its source.
- Band chosen: usable but limited (30-49). The string is a common English noun with several meanings (software program, loyalty or rewards program, training or academic program, broadcast program), which spreads demand thinly across categories rather than concentrating it in one. By analogy (inference, not a measured fact), the closest existing strings - .software, .solutions, .systems, .training, .academy - are portfolio generics that attract registrations at volume and on price, see mostly descriptive 'name.program'-style use, and carry a thin aftermarket; .program is likely to behave similarly over the next 5 years. It is not in the band above (strong niche, 50-69) because no single category treats a 'program' word as a primary identity: a software company names itself around the product or an app/dev-style address, and a loyalty or training program is normally a sub-brand living under the parent's main domain, so primary-identity use would be the exception and the brand signal is weak. It is not in the band below (vanity/narrow, 10-29) because the word is broad, serious and non-joke: there is a genuine recurring use case for descriptive addresses such as a mentorship or grant program site, and the verified record shows one confirmed standard application from Identity Digital (Tidal Case, LLC) plus a second application from XYZ.COM LLC recorded as deactivated (a replacement string for .pal), which indicates commercial interest from more than one party; these applicant facts are stated neutrally and inform adoption likelihood only. Registration counts, prices and renewal rates for the analogues are unknown here, so the comparison is qualitative. Main market uncertainty: whether the registry positions .program toward one vertical (for example software or education) strongly enough that a category forms around it, or whether it stays a scattered descriptor used mostly for sub-brand microsites, which would keep it near the bottom of this band.