New gTLD Market Statistics 2026

## The State of the New gTLD Market in 2026 More than a decade after the first new gTLDs were delegated, the market has matured significantly from its early chaotic growth phase. The registration figures, market share trends, and industry structure of 2026 tell a story of consolidation, divergence between winners and losers, and the beginning of a second major growth phase driven by the upcoming application round. All statistics in this guide are drawn from publicly available sources: Verisign's Domain Name Industry Briefs, ICANN's registry data portal, and registrar-reported figures. Use TLD Comparison Tool to access current data for specific extensions. ## Total Registration Overview **Total new gTLD registrations (early 2026)**: Approximately 30–35 million second-level domain registrations across all active new gTLDs. This figure has remained relatively stable over the past two years after a period of volatile growth driven by promotional pricing, large-scale defensive registrations, and speculative buying. **Comparison to legacy TLDs**: - .com: approximately 165–170 million registrations - .net: approximately 13 million - .org: approximately 10 million - All new gTLDs combined: approximately 30–35 million - New gTLD market share of total gTLD registrations: approximately 13–15% New gTLDs have captured a meaningful but minority share of the global domain market. The .com dominance persists. ## Concentration Among Top Extensions Registration is highly concentrated. Approximate figures for leading extensions: | Extension | Approx. Registrations | |-----------|----------------------| | .online | 5M+ | | .shop | 4M+ | | .app | 3M+ | | .site | 3M+ | | .store | 2M+ | | .cloud | 2M+ | | .blog | 1.5M+ | | .dev | 1M+ | | .tech | 800K+ | | All others | ~15M combined | The top 10 extensions account for approximately half of all new gTLD registrations. The remaining 1,200+ extensions share the other half — meaning the median new gTLD has well under 10,000 registrations. ## Registration Quality: Active Use vs. Parking Raw registration counts overstate genuine new gTLD adoption. A meaningful fraction of registrations fall into categories that do not represent active websites: **Defensive registrations**: Major brands register their names across multiple extensions to prevent cybersquatting. These domains resolve nowhere or redirect to the brand's primary .com. **Speculative/parked domains**: Investors and speculators acquire common dictionary terms hoping to sell them later. These domains typically display parked pages or simple redirect links. **Promotional inflation**: Some registries offer very low first-year pricing, generating registrations that do not renew — temporarily inflating counts. Studies estimating active use rates (domains with real websites) for new gTLDs suggest only 30–50% of registrations correspond to genuinely active sites. The industry uses "renewal rate" as a proxy: extensions with renewal rates above 65–70% are considered to have stronger genuine-use adoption. ## Geographic Distribution New gTLD adoption is not uniform globally: **Asia-Pacific** (particularly China) has driven significant growth in several extensions. Chinese registrants have historically been large-scale buyers in new gTLD markets, particularly in extensions like .club, .online, and .site that don't have obvious Chinese-language competitors. **United States and Europe** dominate high-value extensions like .app, .dev, and .tech — driven by technology startup adoption. **Emerging markets** show growing adoption as internet penetration increases and alternatives to .com become more visible in digital commerce. ## Industry Consolidation Statistics The registry operator landscape has consolidated dramatically: - **Identity Digital** (formerly Donuts + Afilias): Operates 300+ extensions; the single largest portfolio operator - **Radix Registry**: Portfolio of approximately 10 extensions including .online, .store, .site, .space, .fun - **CentralNic**: Back-end provider and registry operator for dozens of extensions - **GMO Registry**: Japanese operator of .shop and others - **Google Registry**: .app, .dev, .page, .foo, .esq, and others Approximately 50% of all new gTLD registrations are managed by back-end systems operated by Identity Digital or CentralNic — a dramatic consolidation from the early days when hundreds of independent operators each ran their own infrastructure. ## 2026 Application Round Expectations The upcoming ICANN new gTLD application round is expected to generate 500–1,500 applications. Categories likely to see significant interest: - **Technology/AI strings**: .ai extensions remain constrained (Anguilla controls the ccTLD); applicants will seek generic equivalents - **Sustainability/climate**: Growing interest in environmental identity strings - **Health/wellness**: Continued interest in healthcare and wellness strings - **Regional applications**: International interest from regions underrepresented in 2012 - **Brand TLDs**: Large corporations seeking their own extensions See The Future of New gTLDs for analysis of how the next round will reshape the market.