March 2026 | Published by ABTdomain Intelligence | Last updated: April 2026
Every domain follows the same path: registration, active use, expiration, and deletion. This report covers March 2026 across all six stages of that lifecycle, drawing on ABTdomain’s daily tracking of 1,000+ gTLDs. The data below connects registration volume to active pool growth, expiration trends to pending delete queues, and premium domain movements to market pricing.
1. New Registrations
7,804,416 new domains were registered in March 2026, averaging 251,755 per day. The .com extension captured 52.88% of all registrations, followed by .top (5.29%) and .org (3.48%).
TLD Distribution
| TLD | Registrations | Share |
|---|---|---|
| .com | 4,127,007 | 52.88% |
| .top | 412,916 | 5.29% |
| .org | 271,690 | 3.48% |
| .lol | 263,308 | 3.37% |
| .xyz | 251,934 | 3.23% |
| .online | 234,133 | 3.00% |
| .info | 222,149 | 2.85% |
| .net | 218,518 | 2.80% |
| .store | 127,018 | 1.63% |
| .site | 123,344 | 1.58% |
2. Active Domain Pool
The active pool grew from 241.1 million to 243.2 million domains in March, a net gain of +2,073,371 (+0.86%). This means new registrations outpaced attrition by roughly 2 million names.
| TLD | Start | End | Change | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 241,112,311 | 243,185,682 | +2,073,371 | +0.86% |
| .com | 160,188,581 | 161,128,411 | +939,830 | +0.59% |
| .org | 11,665,002 | 11,745,061 | +80,059 | +0.69% |
| .app | 1,096,831 | 1,162,936 | +66,105 | +6.03% |
| .dev | 600,763 | 625,916 | +25,153 | +4.19% |
| .net | 12,178,585 | 12,192,059 | +13,474 | +0.11% |
| .bot | 19,647 | 20,453 | +806 | +4.10% |
| .now | 23,312 | 23,788 | +476 | +2.04% |
| .xyz | 8,124,582 | 8,085,395 | -39,187 | -0.48% |
Three developer-oriented TLDs stood out: .app grew +6.03%, .dev +4.19%, and .bot +4.10%, suggesting continued adoption in the tech sector. The .xyz extension was the only tracked TLD to contract (-0.48%). Explore active domain counts and TLD rankings on ABTdomain TLDs Reports.
3. Non-Active Domains
6.49 million domains were non-active in March. The .com TLD accounted for 54.6% of that total, broadly proportional to its active pool share. The .xyz non-active count of 297,152, combined with its shrinking active pool, points to elevated churn for that extension.
| TLD | Non-Active |
|---|---|
| Total | 6,493,543 |
| .com | 3,543,133 |
| .xyz | 297,152 |
| .net | 229,070 |
| .org | 212,946 |
| .app | 22,715 |
| .dev | 10,485 |
| .now | 501 |
| .bot | 456 |
4. Expired Domains
Above 4.7 million expired domains were observed in March, of which above 3.4 million (approximately 72%) entered redemption status. Legacy TLDs (.com, .net, .org) show full redemption coverage. For daily expired domain lists and analysis, visit ABTdomain Expired Domains. Redemption lasts at least 30 days per ICANN policy, during which the original registrant can reclaim the domain at an additional cost.
Redemption by TLD
| TLD | Redemption |
|---|---|
| .com | 2,627,046 |
| .net | 168,377 |
| .org | 157,243 |
5. Pending Delete
Above 4.6 million domains entered pending delete status in March, with .com accounting for 64.9% of the total. The pending delete volume (4.66M) relative to the non-active count (6.49M) suggests that a significant portion of non-active domains may ultimately be deleted, though some may still be renewed or redeemed by their owners before deletion. Track upcoming pending delete domains on DomainKits.
| Metric | Count |
|---|---|
| Pending Delete Total | 4,657,369 |
| .com Pending Delete | 3,024,585 |
6. Premium Domain Changes & Sales
ABTdomain monitors premium .com domains for status changes including expiration, nameserver changes, registrar transfers, renewals, and backorder captures. Below is the March 2026 summary.
Expired Premium Domains
13,793 monitored premium domains expired during March.
| Domain | Date | Created | Expires | Registrar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| cac.com | 2026-03-03 | 1988-12-23 | 2025-12-22 | GoDaddy.com, LLC |
| wscw.com | 2026-03-03 | 1994-02-24 | 2026-02-25 | GoDaddy.com, LLC |
| softlink.com | 2026-03-11 | 1994-01-26 | 2027-01-27 | Register.com |
Re-registered After Expiration
4,067 previously expired domains were re-registered or caught by backorder services.
| Domain | Date | Method | Old Registrar | New Registrar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| at1.com | 2026-03-09 | Backorder | Tucows Domains Inc. | Gname 500 Inc |
| azhr.com | 2026-03-01 | Backorder | Sea Wasp, LLC | DropCatch.com 764 LLC |
| simeva.com | 2026-03-01 | Backorder | Fenominal, LLC | Spaceship, Inc. |
3-Character .com Activity
2,774 unique 3-character .com domains showed 3,520 change events. Nameserver changes dominated (1,912), followed by renewals (1,072) and transfers (307).
| Event Type | Count |
|---|---|
| Nameserver Change | 1,912 |
| Renewed | 1,072 |
| Transfer | 307 |
| Status Change | 108 |
| Expired | 76 |
| Expiry Date Change | 40 |
| Backorder | 5 |
| Domain | Date | Event | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2fc.com | 2026-03-01 | Expired | |
| duz.com | 2026-03-01 | NS Change | domaincontrol.com → brandbucket.com |
| m23.com | 2026-03-01 | Transfer | GoDaddy → Squarespace |
4-Character .com Activity
39,174 unique 4-character .com domains showed 49,580 change events. Nameserver changes accounted for 67.6% of all events.
| Event Type | Count |
|---|---|
| Nameserver Change | 33,498 |
| Renewed | 11,218 |
| Transfer | 2,182 |
| Expired | 1,917 |
| Status Change | 695 |
| Backorder | 42 |
| Expiry Date Change | 28 |
| Domain | Date | Event | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| drrb.com | 2026-03-01 | Expired | |
| cozt.com | 2026-03-01 | NS Change | Spaceship → Afternic |
| vhiv.com | 2026-03-01 | Transfer | Juming → HiChina |
5+ Character Premium .com Activity
99,940 unique 5+ character premium .com domains showed 125,374 change events.
| Event Type | Count |
|---|---|
| Nameserver Change | 49,572 |
| Renewed | 37,189 |
| Status Change | 16,510 |
| Expired | 8,132 |
| Transfer | 5,686 |
| Backorder | 4,194 |
| Expiry Date Change | 4,091 |
| Domain | Date | Event | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| customerform.com | 2026-03-01 | Expired | |
| agentvault.com | 2026-03-01 | NS Change | Afternic → Dan.com |
| gamesteer.com | 2026-03-01 | Transfer | DreamHost → Unstoppable Domains |
Notable Domain Sales
Based on publicly reported transactions tracked by ABTdomain, we observed approximately 785 domain sales in March 2026, totaling an estimated $9.98 million in USD-denominated volume. The median observed sale price was $3,995.
| # | Domain | Price | Platform | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | bot.ai | $1,200,000 | Sedo | Mar 4 |
| 2 | openpay.com | $310,000 | DropCatch | Mar 27 |
| 3 | PrivateLLM.com | $250,000 | Afternic | Mar 2 |
| 4 | TeraFab.ai | $174,257 | Spaceship | Mar 23 |
| 5 | ocf.com | $170,000 | Atom.com | Mar 27 |
| 6 | ngbet.com | $158,000 | Sedo | Mar 15 |
| 7 | yal.com | $139,000 | Sedo | Mar 24 |
| 8 | durable.com | $125,000 | Lumis | Mar 4 |
| 9 | corgi.com | $118,000 | Private | Mar 27 |
| 10 | BCoin.com | $105,999 | GoDaddy Auctions | Mar 21 |
The headline transaction was bot.ai at $1.2M, with AI-related names featuring prominently: PrivateLLM.com ($250K) and TeraFab.ai ($174K) rounded out the top five. Afternic and Sedo led by transaction count with 208 and 202 observed sales respectively.
Key Takeaways
- Net pool growth remains positive. 7.8M new registrations against 6.5M non-active exits produced a net gain of 2.07M domains (+0.86%). Registration demand continues to outpace attrition.
- The expiration pipeline is large. Above 4.7M domains expired, of which 3.4M entered redemption. The 4.66M pending delete queue suggests a large volume may become available for re-registration, though some domains could still be redeemed before deletion.
- .xyz is the only contracting TLD. It posted -0.48% active pool change while generating 297K non-active domains, pointing to a churn rate that exceeds its registration inflow.
- .app, .dev, and .bot are accelerating. All three posted above 4% monthly growth. The .app extension led at +6.03%, consistent with broadening developer adoption.
- Premium market remains liquid. Nearly $10M in observed sales, led by bot.ai at $1.2M. Among monitored premium domains, 13,793 expired, 4,067 were re-registered, and 3-character .com names alone generated 3,520 change events.
Methodology: Data covers 1,000+ gTLDs. Registration, active pool, expiration, and pending delete figures are derived from ABTdomain’s daily data collection and verification processes. Premium domain changes from ABTdomain’s continuous monitoring system. Sales data compiled from publicly reported transactions on Afternic, Sedo, GoDaddy, and other platforms. All data is derived from publicly available sources and may differ from official registry figures. For complete daily data and tools, visit DomainKits.