.branch
Is .branch a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
Nobody has applied for .branch in its own right, as of 8 October 2026. Identity Digital named .branch as the replacement string of its .creations application. Identity Digital named .branch as the replacement string of its .resort application. Identity Digital named .branch as the replacement string of its .port application.
A dictionary word with scattered meanings; a few developer and multi-site brands may use it, but most buyers will not need it.
developer-tool startups playing on the git-branch metaphor, plus multi-location businesses and franchises wanting a "find your branch" address
No applications recorded for this TLD yet.
The 2012 applications making the most similar bet. Chosen by AI from every string in that round, without being told what happened to any of them.
Same bet as .branch: an abstract, mid-frequency English noun with no shopping demand behind it and no single industry that owns it, applied for as an open generic that any registrant can bend to a meaning, so revenue has to come from breadth of invention rather than from a category of buyers who already identify as "branch".
Also a structural place/unit noun rather than a product or profession - the thing an organization calls one of its nodes - so it wins only if operators of local or departmental units adopt it as their primary identity instead of staying on the parent brand's subdomain, which is exactly the leap .branch needs.
Closest 2012 bet on corporate-structure vocabulary bought by companies for their own org naming, but it sits at the parent end of the hierarchy (a holding identity a firm is proud to claim) whereas .branch sits at the subordinate end, which is a materially weaker claim on anyone's primary identity.
What a .branch domain is
.branch is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, filed under AI & tech. Nobody has applied for .branch in its own right. It is named on ICANN’s list as part of an application for another string.
Is the .branch domain extension real yet?
.branch is not yet a domain extension you can register: nothing resolves under it, and no registrar sells names in it. Nobody has applied for it on the public record; the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round is the process that would decide whether it becomes one.
When can you buy a .branch domain?
You can’t yet. ICANN publishes every applied-for string on Reveal Day, 7 October 2026 at 18:00 UTC. A .branch name can only be registered after that, once the string is delegated and its registry opens. Last round's closest parallel to .branch was .zone, delegated on 14 January 2014.
Is .branch a real TLD?
Not yet. .branch is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because ICANN’s list names .branch as part of an application for another string. Every entry on this page links to its source.
“OD2692T-T47846 · Oyster Dream, LLC · replacement string of .port OD2692T-T87441 · Oyster Dream, LLC · replacement string of .resort OD2692T-T90332 · Oyster Dream, LLC · replacement string of .creations”ICANN
“OD2692T-T87441 · Oyster Dream, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-201 XL2625T-T79776 · XYZ.COM LLC · primary · contention set 2026-201”ICANN
- Band chosen: vanity/joke/narrow (10-29), at its upper edge. The string carries four unrelated meanings (tree, bank or office branch, git branch, franchise location), which dilutes the brand signal: a .branch address does not tell a visitor what kind of project sits behind it, so it rarely functions as a serious primary identity. It is not in the band above (usable but limited, 30-49) because I do not see a buyer group that would register at volume: developer tooling already has an established home on developer-flavoured TLDs by analogy, and multi-location businesses tend to keep locations under their main brand domain rather than on a separate suffix. It is not in the band below (no realistic market, 1-9) because the word is short, clean, English, and has a credible playful use for dev tools and version-control products, and a portfolio registry with broad registrar distribution (the application on the record is from Identity Digital, filed as a standard application and recorded as a replacement string for its .port application) usually gets such a string onto shelves, by analogy with other dictionary-word TLDs in similar portfolios, which have historically gathered speculative and price-driven registrations rather than durable brand use (analogy, not a measured figure). Expect shallow, event-driven and defensive demand with a thin aftermarket over the next 5 years; verified contention on the record is zero, which says nothing about market demand either way. Main market uncertainty: whether a visible developer product adopts a .branch address as its primary identity and makes the git metaphor feel native, which would pull the string into the usable-but-limited band.