Period: September 24, 2025 – March 23, 2026 | 1,121 gTLDs tracked (524 with sufficient registration volume reported) | Published by ABTdomain Intelligence
Part 1: Active Domain Landscape
Market Overview
As of March 23, 2026, the gTLDs we track hold a combined 242.53 million active domains, up from 229.83 million six months ago, reflecting a net increase of 12.70 million (+5.53%). Across this period, 16 gTLDs have crossed the one-million active domain threshold, and 63 gTLDs recorded active domain growth exceeding 10%.
The Million Club
16 gTLDs currently hold more than one million active domains. Four gTLDs (.sbs, .app, .bond, and .pro) crossed this milestone within the past 180 days.
| TLD | Active Domains |
|---|---|
| .com | 160.85M |
| .net | 12.19M |
| .org | 11.72M |
| .xyz | 8.14M |
| .top | 6.04M |
| .info | 5.20M |
| .shop | 3.84M |
| .online | 3.27M |
| .store | 2.07M |
| .site | 1.73M |
| .vip | 1.60M |
| .sbs | 1.38M |
| .biz | 1.21M |
| .app | 1.14M |
| .bond | 1.14M |
| .pro | 1.05M |
Part 2: New Registration Analysis
Active domain totals tell us where the market stands. To understand where it is heading, we turn to newly registered domains. We analyzed new registrations across all gTLDs with over 10% active growth, filtering for registration quality, registrar diversity, and infrastructure adoption. Five gTLDs stood out.
For each extension below, we include a registration tempo table. The ratio compares registration volume in the more recent half of a time window against the full window. Above 50% means registrations are accelerating; below 50% means they are slowing down. NS adoption is measured against 14 major building providers (Cloudflare, AWS, Vercel, Netlify, Squarespace, Shopify, Bluehost, Wix, WordPress, Hostinger, Siteground, Weebly, Dreamhost, and WP.com Staging) and three selling platforms (Sedo, Afternic, Atom).
.app | 1.14M Active, +28.3%
349K new registrations. Average prefix length of 8.6 characters, 85.9% all-alphabetical, 14.1% containing digits, 5.3% containing hyphens. The registration profile closely mirrors .com (86.0% all-alphabetical, avg length 12.6), but with shorter, more product-oriented naming. Top registrar is GoDaddy at 16.1%, the most diversified distribution in this group and comparable to .com itself (17.6%). 34.9% of new domains point to building infrastructure, 1.5% to selling platforms. .app crossed the one-million active milestone during this window, growing from 891K to 1.14M.
| Window | Ratio | Signal |
|---|---|---|
| 14d / 28d | 53.9% | Accelerating |
| 28d / 56d | 57.0% | Accelerating |
| 56d / 112d | 56.5% | Accelerating |
.dev | 618K Active, +19.3%
132K new registrations. At 94.8% all-alphabetical and just 5.2% containing digits, .dev delivers one of the cleanest registration profiles across all gTLDs. Average prefix length of 8.6 characters. Top registrar is Cloudflare at 17.7%, reflecting the extension’s developer-native distribution channel. Nearly half (47.6%) of new domains already point to building infrastructure, the second-highest rate in this group, while only 1.0% sit on selling platforms. With 618K active domains, .dev is the largest extension here by installed base, which makes sustaining a 19.3% growth rate at this scale a meaningful signal.
| Window | Ratio | Signal |
|---|---|---|
| 14d / 28d | 51.8% | Accelerating |
| 28d / 56d | 54.5% | Accelerating |
| 56d / 112d | 57.2% | Accelerating |
.studio | 170K Active, +20.4%
47K new registrations. .studio carries the highest all-alphabetical ratio in this group at 96.1%, with only 3.9% containing digits and 3.0% containing hyphens. Average prefix length is 8.7 characters. Top registrar is Squarespace Domains at 21.1%, a distribution pattern distinct from the other four gTLDs and consistent with a creative-professional user base. 16.6% of new domains point to building infrastructure, 1.2% to selling platforms.
| Window | Ratio | Signal |
|---|---|---|
| 14d / 28d | 50.4% | Slight acceleration |
| 28d / 56d | 53.2% | Accelerating |
| 56d / 112d | 55.7% | Accelerating |
.trade | 24K Active, +14.2%
5.8K new registrations. 94.3% all-alphabetical, 5.7% containing digits, 7.0% containing hyphens. Average prefix length is 7.9 characters. Top registrar is Dynadot at 18.6%, making .trade the second-most diversified in this group after .app. 41.0% of new domains point to building infrastructure, the third-highest rate here, while 4.6% sit on selling platforms. The combination of short prefixes, high alphabetical purity, broad registrar distribution, and strong build rate paints a picture of functional, commercially-oriented registrations.
| Window | Ratio | Signal |
|---|---|---|
| 14d / 28d | 33.4% | Decelerating |
| 28d / 56d | 62.7% | Strong acceleration |
| 56d / 112d | 59.8% | Accelerating |
.bot | 20K Active, +24.7%
6.2K new registrations, the smallest volume in this group. Average prefix length of 6.9 characters is the shortest among the five, reflecting the concise naming conventions typical of bot and agent projects. 94.6% all-alphabetical, 5.4% containing digits, 1.5% containing hyphens. Top registrar is NameCheap at 25.8%. 20.9% of new domains point to building infrastructure, while 7.6% sit on selling platforms, the highest selling ratio among the featured five, suggesting a degree of speculative interest alongside genuine deployment. The registration surge concentrated in the 56–112 day window, with the more recent 28 days showing a clear moderation in pace.
| Window | Ratio | Signal |
|---|---|---|
| 14d / 28d | 45.8% | Slight deceleration |
| 28d / 56d | 39.1% | Decelerating |
| 56d / 112d | 69.8% | Strong earlier acceleration |
Looking Ahead
The past 180 days have been a period of significant expansion for the gTLD ecosystem. .com surpassed 160 million active domains, adding over 4 million in six months. But the more compelling story may be what is happening beyond .com. Four new gTLDs crossed the one-million mark, the total gTLD base grew by 12.7 million domains, and we are seeing a diversification of the gTLDs that goes well beyond speculative registration.
TLDs like .app, .dev, and .bot reflect the naming demands of an industry increasingly shaped by AI, cloud infrastructure, and autonomous agents. .studio speaks to the continued growth of the independent creative economy. .trade, though smaller in absolute terms, demonstrates that even niche commercial gTLD can attract high-quality, organic registrations when the use case is clear.
What distinguishes this cycle from previous waves of gTLD enthusiasm is measurability. Registration composition, registrar concentration, nameserver deployment, and tempo data now allow us to separate signal from noise with greater precision than ever before. As ICANN prepares to open its 2026 new gTLD application window, this kind of granular visibility into how gTLDs are actually being used will become increasingly valuable for registries, registrars, and domain professionals alike.
Data Sources: Active domain counts and registration trends: DomainKits Trends. NS usage analysis based on daily zone file snapshots. TLD data pipeline: ABTdomain.
Methodology: 1,121 gTLDs monitored over 180 days (524 with sufficient registration volume reported; 597 brand or restricted-access TLDs excluded from rankings). Period: Sep 24, 2025 to Mar 23, 2026. Part 1 uses active domain counts to measure growth. Part 2 analyzes newly registered domains for composition, registrar diversity, NS adoption, and registration tempo. Featured TLD selection criteria: over 10% active growth, over 80% all-alphabetical registrations, no single registrar exceeding 50% share. NS classification based on 14 building providers and three selling platforms. Registration tempo measured by comparing recent-half registration volume against full-window volume across 14d/28d, 28d/56d, and 56d/112d windows.
Disclaimer: For reference only. This report does not constitute investment advice.