.connect
Is .connect a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
.connect is contested: 7 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list, as of 7 October 2026. They are XYZ Registry, GoDaddy Registry, Identity Digital, Innovation Service, EchoStar, CamConnecting and Phoenix Domain Partners. Intercap named .connect as a backup string for its .crypto application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup. Link Freedom Group named .connect as a backup string for its .con 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
Six of the seven already run TLDs, 34.27M names between them. Two run one of .connect's closest 2012 strings: Identity Digital .contact and Identity Digital .network. Phoenix Domain Partners runs none.
Will names sell?
A friendly generic verb suited to social and community projects, but most serious brands will still choose .com; expect volume over prestige.
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. .connect’s closest 2012 strings hold .contact 12K, .link 310K and .network 80K.
The nearest 2012 strings, and how many names each holds today
The closest 2012 string, .contact, held 12,039 names, June 2026. .link held 310,085; .network held 80,112. Chosen by AI from every string in the 2012 round, without being told what happened to any of them.
Near-identical bet: an abstract relational English word with no industry literally named after it, sold as an open generic whose value is the phrase it completes (brand.contact / brand.connect) rather than any category of registrant that already self-identifies with the word.
Same bet on a short, ownerless connectivity word used as a utility suffix for any brand, org, or app wanting a meaningful second half to its name, with demand coming from broad generic appeal rather than a defined vertical.
Same open-generic play in the same connectivity semantic field and marketed to the same broad tech/community/comms buyer, but it is a category noun with an actual industry that names itself that way, giving it a concrete registrant base .connect has to manufacture.
Where they meet elsewhere
Identity Digital and XYZ Registry face each other in 77 contests this round, .connect included.
- Identity Digital × XYZ Registry
- Identity Digital × Link Freedom Group
- Identity Digital × GoDaddy Registry
- Link Freedom Group × XYZ Registry
- Identity Digital × Intercap
community platforms, social apps, networking and matchmaking services, telecom and IoT marketers, and event or dating projects wanting an action-word address
What a .connect domain is
.connect is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, in our Culture category. 7 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list.
Is the .connect domain extension real yet?
.connect 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 .connect domain?
You can’t yet. A .connect 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 .connect was .contact, delegated on 22 December 2015.
Is .connect a real TLD?
Not yet. .connect is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because .connect 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
- Intercap · first recordedICANN
- Link Freedom Group · now abandonedICANN
- 6 applicants · first recordedICANN
- Phoenix Domain Partners · now confirmedICANN
- Phoenix Domain Partners · first recordedDomain Name Wire
- Link Freedom Group · first recordedLink Freedom Group
The source’s 7 linesHide the lines
CCS2640T-T56644 · Cam Connecting SARL · primary · contention set 2026-48 EDCL2689T-T77393 · ECHO Domain Co L.L.C. · primary · contention set 2026-48 ISL2626T-T74869 · Innovation Service Limited · primary · contention set 2026-48 MLG2688T-T93360 · 101130013 Saskatchewan Ltd. · primary · contention set 2026-48 NA2631T-T87316 · Registry Services, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-48 TT2652T-T94606 · Toddler Logic, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-48 XL2625T-T79147 · XYZ.COM LLC · primary · contention set 2026-48
The source’s 9 linesHide the lines
CCS2640T-T56644 · Cam Connecting SARL · primary · contention set 2026-48 EDCL2689T-T77393 · ECHO Domain Co L.L.C. · primary · contention set 2026-48 IRI2679T-T61055 · Intercap Registry Inc. · replacement string of .crypto · Deactivated ISL2626T-T74869 · Innovation Service Limited · primary · contention set 2026-48 LFGL2683T-T50858 · Link Freedom Group Ltd · replacement string of .con · Deactivated MLG2688T-T93360 · 101130013 Saskatchewan Ltd. · primary · contention set 2026-48 NA2631T-T87316 · Registry Services, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-48 TT2652T-T94606 · Toddler Logic, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-48 XL2625T-T79147 · XYZ.COM LLC · primary · contention set 2026-48
“Phoenix Domain Partners published 13 strings for which it says it has applied and paid the application fees.”Domain Name Wire
“.connect · Lifestyle · “Start the conversation.””Link Freedom Group
- Band: usable but limited (30-49). The string is a common, positive English verb with broad semantic reach across social, telecom, networking, and community uses, which supports volume registrations and occasional clever call-to-action branding (name.connect reads naturally). It is not in the strong-niche band above because, by analogy, comparable generic verb/connector strings such as .link, .click, and .social have leaned toward budget and defensive registrations rather than sustained primary-identity use, and .connect has no single category that would treat it as its default namespace; its breadth dilutes rather than concentrates demand. It is not in the vanity band below because the word is genuinely useful, unembarrassing, and plausible as a primary identity for community and connectivity projects, and demand should be steady rather than event-driven. The applicant, Link Freedom Group, filed more than 300 strings in the ICANN 2026 round, the largest applicant of the round, and lists this string under a Lifestyle category with the tagline "Start the conversation."; a large-portfolio operator suggests a volume, registrar-channel go-to-market rather than a curated vertical push, which fits a mid-band outcome. Main market uncertainty: whether any social, telecom, or IoT segment coalesces around .connect as an identity convention, or whether it stays a generic call-to-action string competing with .link, .social, and .network on price.