.act
Is .act a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
.act is not contested. One application for it is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list, as of 7 October 2026. It is GoDaddy Registry. Link Freedom Group named .act as a backup string for its .feed application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup.
Who is applying, and what they run today
One of the 2 is tied to a registry that runs TLDs today. Link Freedom Group and GoDaddy Registry filed 235 applications between them across the round.
Will names sell?
A catchy action-word ending suited to slogans and word tricks, but few serious projects would make it their main address.
Last round the AI scored the 2012 strings blind to their fate. Strings it scored 60 or more hold a median 27,168 names today; those under 30, a median of 30. .act’s closest 2012 strings hold .play 6, .run 140K and .live 672K.
The nearest 2012 strings, and how many names each holds today
The closest 2012 string, .play, held 6 names, June 2026. .run held 140,139; .live held 671,869. Chosen by AI from every string in the 2012 round, without being told what happened to any of them.
Same bet: a short, one-syllable English word that is simultaneously an imperative verb and a theatrical noun, sold as an open call-to-action namespace to many unrelated constituencies rather than to one industry, so its value rests on the word's punchiness in a phrase rather than on any defined registrant pool.
Same bet: a generic ultra-short verb with no natural owner, monetized on left-of-dot construction (verb + destination) across sport, software, campaigns and business, which requires marketers to buy the grammar rather than an identity.
Similar bet in structure — a short, semantically overloaded English word that only works if registrants adopt it for the phrase it completes — but its meaning skews hard to one commercial use case, giving it a narrower demand story than a pure open-ended verb.
campaigners, performing-arts groups, and brands chasing action-flavored names or domain hacks (re.act, inter.act, imp.act); secondarily anyone marketing around 'take action' calls.
What a .act domain is
.act is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, in our Culture category. One application for it is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list.
Is the .act domain extension real yet?
.act 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 .act domain?
You can’t yet. A .act 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 .act was .play, delegated on 20 June 2015.
Is .act a real TLD?
Not yet. .act is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because .act is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list of applied-for strings. Every entry on this page links to its source.
- Link Freedom Group · now deactivated backupICANN
- Link Freedom Group · now abandonedICANN
- GoDaddy Registry · first recordedICANN
- Link Freedom Group · first recordedLink Freedom Group
“LFGL2683T-T15033 · Link Freedom Group Ltd · replacement string of .feed · Deactivated NA2631T-T16799 · Registry Services, LLC · primary”ICANN
“.act · Lifestyle · “Make your move, take action.””Link Freedom Group
- Band 30-49 (usable but limited). The string is a short, common English verb with genuine surface appeal: it supports many clean domain hacks (re.act, inter.act, ex.act, imp.act, contr.act) and reads naturally in activism, theater, and self-improvement contexts, which fits the applicant's stated Lifestyle framing ('Make your move, take action.'). By analogy, suffix-hack TLDs and generic verb/word TLDs have historically produced clever registrations and campaign microsites more often than durable primary identities, and their aftermarkets have stayed thin outside a handful of hack names (analogy, not measured data; specific volumes unknown). That pattern keeps .act out of the 50-69 band: demand is plausible but episodic (campaigns, shows, launches) rather than sustained primary-identity use, and the TLD itself adds little credibility to a brand. It sits above the 10-29 band because the word is broadly meaningful across several buyer groups, the hack inventory is real, and 'act' also carries recognizable geo meaning (Australian Capital Territory) that could add a modest regional registration base. Main market uncertainty: whether domain-hack registrations convert into primary identities that renew, or remain redirect/vanity uses that churn after the campaign or event ends.