.ace
Is .ace a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
.ace is contested: 4 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list, as of 7 October 2026. They are XYZ Registry, GoDaddy Registry, Identity Digital and ShortDot.
A niche TLD for personal-brand and small-startup buyers wanting a short positive suffix, plus domain-hack hunters chasing words ending in "-ace" (space, place, trace, grace, race).
Who is applying, and how much each already runs
Four of the 4 are tied to a registry that runs TLDs today. Identity Digital, XYZ Registry and GoDaddy Registry filed 432 applications between them across the round.
The nearest 2012 strings, and how many names each holds today
The closest 2012 string, .best, held 54,475 names, June 2026. .top held 7,433,320; .cool held 23,197. Chosen by AI from every string in the 2012 round, without being told what happened to any of them.
Same bet: a short, category-free English compliment word sold open to anyone, where the whole value proposition is the flattering connotation the registrant borrows rather than any industry, community, or company it describes.
Also a three-letter superlative with no vertical attached — an open registry betting that people will pay for a word that asserts excellence about whatever sits to the left of the dot, plus the same short-string memorability play.
Another open, connotation-only approval adjective aimed at broad self-expression rather than a defined buyer segment, though it sells attitude where .ace sells demonstrated skill, so the pitch skews personal/social rather than credentialing.
personal-brand and small-startup buyers wanting a short positive suffix, plus domain-hack hunters chasing words ending in "-ace" (space, place, trace, grace, race)
What a .ace domain is
.ace is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, in our Brand category. 4 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list.
Is the .ace domain extension real yet?
.ace 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 .ace domain?
You can’t yet. A .ace 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 .ace was .best, delegated on 27 February 2014.
Is .ace a real TLD?
Not yet. .ace is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because .ace is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list of applied-for strings. Every entry on this page links to its source.
- 3 applicants · first recordedICANN
- ShortDot · now confirmedICANN
- ShortDot · now announced
- ShortDot · first recordedShortDot (Ireland) Limited
The source’s 4 linesHide the lines
FCL2632T-T97622 · Fore Course, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-1 NA2626T-T30508 · ShortDot (Ireland) Limited · primary · contention set 2026-1 NA2631T-T83042 · Registry Services, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-1 XL2625T-T26980 · XYZ.COM LLC · primary · contention set 2026-1
“ShortDot (Ireland) Limited has submitted 40 applications to ICANN's 2026 New gTLD Program. The 80 strings shown include applied-for and designated replacement strings across ShortDot's 40 ICANN applications, presented without revealing their status or pairing.”ShortDot (Ireland) Limited
- Band chosen: 30-49 (usable but limited). The string is a real, positive, three-letter English word with two distinct draws: a 'top performer' connotation usable as a vanity suffix, and a genuine domain-hack tail (sp.ace, pl.ace, tr.ace, gr.ace, r.ace, surf.ace), which by analogy to hack-driven TLDs like .ly, .io and .ing produces a memorable but narrow, event-shaped demand curve rather than a sustained primary-identity market. It is not in the 50-69 band because no category (gaming, sports, cards, aviation) treats 'ace' as its namespace, so a serious project choosing .ace would still need to explain the choice and the aftermarket would be thin; by analogy to generic superlative strings such as .best, .top, .vip and .win, these fill mainly on promotional pricing and see little brand equity accrue to the suffix. It is not in the 10-29 band because the word is short, pronounceable, globally understood and positively coded, and the operator profile (a registry whose portfolio includes .icu, .cyou, .bond, .cfd and .sbs) suggests, by analogy to those TLDs, that it would be marketed through low-price channels and reach registration volume, which is more than a joke or single-event string achieves. Main market uncertainty: whether the hack-tail and vanity demand converts into any renewing, primary-use base, or whether registrations churn on price the way volume-priced generic strings typically have (analogy).