.create
Is .create a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
.create is contested: 2 applicants have said publicly that they applied to run it, as of 16 August 2026. They are Suffix Inc. and Link Freedom Group.
A pleasant verb domain for creators and makers, but too broad to become the default address of any one profession or industry.
creator-economy individuals and small studios (designers, video makers, writers, indie builders) wanting an aspirational personal or portfolio address, plus brandable-name hunters
In LFG's published list of 300+ strings submitted before the ICANN window closed on 2026-08-12. Their catalog tagline: “Create what’s next.”
Listed in Suffix Inc.'s public catalog at suffix.domains. No first-party application statement is on the record yet; every string in the catalog overlaps Link Freedom Group's published list.
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: an open, unrestricted English creative-act word sold as primary identity to the creative-professional pool (studios, agencies, freelancers, tools), where value rests on that cohort self-identifying with the word rather than on any registry-imposed credential.
Same string type doing the same job — a plain imperative verb-of-making with no owner and no defined registrant class, betting that makers will hang identity on an action word that also reads as the tail of a phrase.
Chases the identical buyer (creative shops wanting a name that signals making things), but as an occupational place-noun it has a self-evident registrant class and never has to manufacture meaning out of an abstract verb the way .create does.
What a .create domain is
.create is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, filed under Culture. 2 applicants have said publicly that they applied for .create.
Is the .create domain extension real yet?
.create 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 .create domain?
You can’t yet. ICANN publishes every applied-for string on Reveal Day, 7 October 2026 at 18:00 UTC. A .create name can only be registered after that, once the string is delegated and its registry opens. Last round's closest parallel to .create was .design, delegated on .
Is .create a real TLD?
Not yet. .create is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because an applicant said publicly that it applied for .create in the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round. Every claim on this page links to its source.
- Suffix Inc. · now announced
- Suffix Inc. · first recordedSuffix Inc.
- Link Freedom Group · first recordedLink Freedom Group
“Catalog lists: .asap .create .future .lfg .mvp .out .pal .planet .research .share .tag .this .visit”Suffix Inc.
“.create · Lifestyle · “Create what’s next.””Link Freedom Group
“LFG voluntarily published its full list of submissions ahead of ICANN’s official Reveal Day.”PR Newswire (Link Freedom Group)
“Top level domain registry Link Freedom Group (LFG) has disclosed more than 300 strings submitted as part of the ICANN new top level domain name program.”Domain Name Wire (Andrew Allemann)
- Band chosen: 30-49 (usable but limited), at the upper edge. The word is universally positive and reads naturally before the dot ('studio.create', 'jane.create'), and the creator economy is a large, real buyer pool over the next 5 years, so registrations at volume are plausible. But it is not in the 50-69 band because verb-form TLDs, by analogy, tend to produce curiosity and campaign registrations rather than sustained primary-identity use: creators already have entrenched identity homes (portfolio platforms, social handles, and incumbent TLDs), and no single profession maps to 'create' the way designers map to a design-specific string, so adoption would need explaining and the aftermarket is likely thin outside short brandable left-sides. It is not in the 10-29 band because the term is not a joke or event-driven string; the demand base (creators, agencies, maker brands) is genuine and durable, and the string works as a call-to-action domain for product launches and creative-tool marketing. By analogy, noun TLDs tied to a concrete profession or artifact have outperformed abstract verb TLDs in primary-identity use; .create sits with the abstract verbs. The applicant, Link Freedom Group, filed more than 300 strings in the ICANN 2026 round and lists this string under category 'Lifestyle' with the tagline 'Create what's next.'; a broad-portfolio applicant strategy is stated neutrally here and mainly implies generalist rather than community-led go-to-market, which tempers the odds of deep vertical cultivation. Pricing, registrar distribution, and any launch partnerships are unknown. Main market uncertainty: whether the creator economy ever coalesces on any domain-based identity at all in the next 5 years, versus staying platform-native (handles and hosted pages), which caps every creator-aimed TLD regardless of string quality.