Best TLDs for Startups in 2026

## Best TLDs for Startups in 2026 Choosing a TLD (Top-Level Domain) for your startup is one of the first real decisions you'll make as a founder — and one of the few that's genuinely hard to reverse without cost. Your domain is your brand's address, your email identity, and the first TLD Trust Signal investors and customers evaluate before they read a single word of your pitch. In 2026, the startup TLD landscape has consolidated around a clear set of winners. Here's the definitive analysis. ## The Startup TLD Hierarchy in 2026 ### Tier 1: .com — Still King, If You Can Get It Let's acknowledge the obvious: if you can get brand.com for a reasonable price (under $30,000), you should. The Domain Memorability advantage, TLD Trust Signal strength, and type-in traffic that .com provides are genuinely valuable. "Reasonable price" is doing a lot of work in that sentence. For most startups, the .com is either taken, parked at $50,000+, or owned by a squatter demanding six figures. In those cases, the alternatives below are not consolation prizes — they're legitimate choices used by successful companies. Use TLD Finder to check .com availability first. If it's available at standard registration price (~$10-15/year), register it immediately. ### Tier 2: The Startup Five These five gTLD (Generic Top-Level Domain) and ccTLD (Country-Code Top-Level Domain) options have emerged as the legitimate alternatives that sophisticated investors and customers recognize: **1. .io — The Developer Default** .io is the British Indian Ocean Territory's ccTLD (Country-Code Top-Level Domain), but its tech adoption has made it functionally generic. GitHub Pages uses github.io. Dozens of YC-backed startups launched on .io including Notion (originally notion.so), Linear (linear.app formerly linear.io), and hundreds more. Current pricing: $25-60/year at major Domain Registrar services. Strengths: - Strong TLD Trust Signal in tech community - Investor familiarity (VCs see .io daily) - Memorable — two letters, easy to say Weaknesses: - Geopolitically complex (BIOT territory dispute with Mauritius) - Higher price than .com - Less trusted with non-tech audiences Best for: Dev tools, APIs, technical SaaS, developer-facing products **2. .co — The Clean Alternative** Colombia's ccTLD (Country-Code Top-Level Domain) has been deliberately marketed as a global startup alternative. Google, Twitter, and AngelList all use .co links (t.co, goo.co). The extension reads as shorthand for "company" or "Colorado" or "commercial" depending on context. Current pricing: $25-35/year. Strengths: - Looks like a typo of .com (which helps and hurts) - Clean, professional appearance - Strong brand precedent Weaknesses: - Users often mistype as .com — you need to own brand.com defensively or accept losing that traffic - Lower recall accuracy than .com in studies Best for: Consumer startups, marketplaces, fintech, general SaaS **3. .app — Google's Security-First Extension** .app is a New gTLD controlled by Google and operated with mandatory HTTPS (HSTS preloaded). Every .app domain automatically forces secure connections — there's no way to serve http:// content on a .app domain. This is a feature, not a bug. Current pricing: $14-20/year. Notable users: Framer (framer.app), Linear (linear.app), many productivity tools. Strengths: - HTTPS requirement signals security seriousness - Low pricing compared to .io and .co - Immediately communicates "this is an application" - Google registry = stability Weaknesses: - Requires SSL certificate from day one (minor operational consideration) - Less name availability as adoption grows - Less recognizable to non-tech users Best for: Web applications, mobile app landing pages, productivity tools, B2B SaaS **4. .dev — For Developer-Focused Products** Also Google-controlled and HSTS preloaded. .dev signals "this is for developers" more explicitly than any other extension. Used by web.dev (Google's developer resource), Flutter (flutter.dev), and many open-source projects. Current pricing: $12-18/year. Strengths: - Crystal clear positioning — no ambiguity about audience - HTTPS required (same as .app) - Low pricing - Growing legitimacy in developer community Weaknesses: - Niche positioning (dev tools only) - Public perception outside tech is zero — most people have never seen .dev Best for: Developer tools, SDKs, frameworks, open-source projects, API products **5. .ai — The AI Era's Defining Extension** Anguilla's ccTLD (Country-Code Top-Level Domain) has become the gold standard for AI companies. OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral, Cohere, Hugging Face, and hundreds of funded AI startups use .ai. In the AI sector specifically, .ai carries stronger TLD Trust Signal than even .com. Current pricing: $60-100/year (Anguilla government controls pricing; no competitive market). Strengths: - Immediate category recognition — .ai = AI company - Investor expectation in the AI space - Premium pricing limits squatting (fewer garbage domains) Weaknesses: - Expensive - Geopolitically dependent on Anguilla's infrastructure - Arguably limiting if you expand beyond AI Best for: AI companies, ML tools, LLM products, AI-adjacent software ## Real Examples: What Successful Startups Chose | Startup | Domain | Valuation | TLD Choice | |---------|--------|-----------|------------| | Linear | linear.app | $400M | .app | | Vercel | vercel.com | $2.5B | .com | | Notion | notion.so | $10B | .so (Somalia!) | | Figma | figma.com | $12.5B | .com | | Loom | loom.com | $975M | .com | | Pitch | pitch.com | $85M | .com | | Retool | retool.com | $3.2B | .com | | Runway | runwayml.com | $1.5B | .com | | Replicate | replicate.com | $350M | .com | | Hugging Face | huggingface.co | $4.5B | .co | Notable: The billion-dollar companies predominantly have .com. Hugging Face at $4.5B uses .co. This correlates but doesn't establish causation — they got .com or .co because they were well-funded, not the other way around. ## The Domain Valuation Question When considering your startup TLD, factor in resale value and fundraising optics. A brand.io domain is worth roughly 5-10% of an equivalent brand.com in secondary markets. This matters when: - Raising a Series A and wanting to clean up brand assets - Acquiring the .com later when you have capital - Eventual M&A where acquirers value brand consistency Many successful startups launch on .io or .co and then purchase the .com at Series B or later. This is a reasonable strategy: conserve capital early, professionalize the brand stack later. ## Pricing Comparison Table | Extension | Standard/Year | Renewal | WHOIS Privacy | Notes | |-----------|--------------|---------|---------------|-------| | .com | $10-15 | Same | Included (most registrars) | Price-controlled by Verisign | | .io | $25-60 | Same | Included | Wide price variance by registrar | | .co | $25-35 | Same | Included | GoDaddy often runs .co promos | | .app | $14-20 | Same | Included | Google-controlled, consistent | | .dev | $12-18 | Same | Included | Google-controlled, consistent | | .ai | $60-100 | Same | Varies | Anguilla gov; less competitive market | Use Domain Cost Calculator to see total 3-year cost of ownership for your shortlisted options. ## The Investor Reality Check Having spoken with dozens of startup founders post-fundraise, the consensus on TLD and investor perception is nuanced: - **Pre-seed/seed**: TLD almost never mentioned. Investors at this stage are betting on founders. - **Series A**: A .io or .co is completely fine. Investors recognize the domain landscape. - **Series B+**: Enterprise-facing companies often get nudged toward .com by investors who've seen deals die at procurement due to vendor IT policies. - **.ai specifically**: In AI-focused rounds, .ai can be a positive signal. The one TLD that raises flags across all stages: obviously spam-associated extensions. See TLD Red Flags: Extensions That Hurt Your Credibility ## How to Decide Use TLD Knowledge Quiz for a personalized recommendation, or follow this quick filter: 1. **Is brand.com available at under $20?** → Register it now. Stop reading. 2. **Is brand.com available at $1,000-$30,000?** → Consider your runway. If you can afford it, buy it. If not, proceed. 3. **Are you building an AI product?** → .ai is the right choice. 4. **Are you building a dev tool?** → .dev or .io, leaning .dev if it's very technical. 5. **Are you building a consumer app?** → .app or .co. 6. **Are you building general SaaS?** → .io or .co, then buy .com later. For the systematic approach to this decision, see TLD Decision Framework: A Step-by-Step Guide. For head-to-head comparisons of the developer-focused options, see .io vs .dev vs .app: The Developer TLD Showdown.