.etc
Is .etc a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
.etc is contested: 5 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list, as of 7 October 2026. They are Identity Digital, XYZ Registry, Radix, Link Freedom Group and TLD1.
Who is applying, and what they run today
Three of the five already run TLDs, 37.19M names between them. One runs one of .etc's closest 2012 strings: XYZ Registry .xyz. Link Freedom Group and TLD1 run none.
Will names sell?
A playful catch-all ending creators may grab cheap, but 'etc' reads as an afterthought, so few serious projects will lead with it.
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. .etc’s closest 2012 strings hold .xyz 9.15M and .foo 5K.
The nearest 2012 strings, and how many names each holds today
The closest 2012 string, .xyz, held 9,153,912 names, June 2026. .foo held 4,650. Chosen by AI from every string in the 2012 round, without being told what happened to any of them.
Same bet as .etc: a deliberately meaning-light, category-free string nobody adopts for what it says, sold as a cheap universal slot anyone can put anything on, so it lives or dies on volume and price rather than owning a vertical.
- .and
Also a function-word particle rather than a noun anyone can be — its value is as connective filler inside a constructed phrase, which is exactly how .etc would have to earn its keep since no business's primary identity is 'and so on'.
A placeholder token standing in for 'some unspecified thing', selling recognizability of a filler word rather than a category, with no defensible registrant class behind it.
Where they meet elsewhere
Identity Digital and XYZ Registry face each other in 77 contests this round, .etc included.
- Identity Digital × XYZ Registry
- Identity Digital × Link Freedom Group
- XYZ Registry × Link Freedom Group
- Identity Digital × Radix
- Link Freedom Group × Radix
internet creators and hobbyists who want a cheap, wry catch-all address for side projects, link hubs, and personal grab-bag sites
What a .etc domain is
.etc is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, in our Culture category. 5 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list.
Is the .etc domain extension real yet?
.etc 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 .etc domain?
You can’t yet. A .etc 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 .etc was .xyz, delegated on 19 February 2014.
Is .etc a real TLD?
Not yet. .etc is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because .etc is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list of applied-for strings. Every entry on this page links to its source.
- 2 applicants · first recordedICANN
- 3 applicants · now confirmedICANN
- Radix · first recordedRadix
- Link Freedom Group · first recordedLink Freedom Group
- TLD1 · first recordedTLD1 LLC
The source’s 5 linesHide the lines
LFGL2683T-T73357 · Link Freedom Group Ltd · primary · contention set 2026-75 PTL2645T-T18307 · Pirin Tablet, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-75 RTIS2674T-T62680 · Radix Technologies Inc SEZC · primary · contention set 2026-75 TL2627T-T31766 · TLD1 LLC · primary · contention set 2026-75 XL2625T-T68337 · XYZ.COM LLC · primary · contention set 2026-75
“Radix has applied for these TLDs; we do not own or operate them today.”Radix
“In continuous English use since 1418. It says there is always more to discover, alongside endings like .xyz, .info, and .world.”TLD1 LLC
“.etc · Crypto & Web3 · “And more, always evolving.””Link Freedom Group
- Band 30-49 (usable but limited): 'etc' is a universally recognized word (the applicant cites continuous English use since 1418), and by analogy with generic catch-alls like .xyz, .info, and .world — the applicant's own comparison set — it could plausibly move registrations at volume or on price; but the word literally signals 'the leftovers,' which undercuts it as a primary identity and points to a thin aftermarket. It is not in 50-69 because there is no evidence of sustained demand or genuine primary-identity use — that projection is pure analogy, and the 'afterthought' semantics work against serious adoption over the next 5 years. It is not in 10-29 because the string is short, common, memorable, and playable for creator side-projects, which by analogy with other whimsical generic endings suggests broader than shallow event-driven demand. Registrant appeal beyond novelty is unknown; the main market uncertainty is whether creators embrace the wry 'always more to discover' framing as a badge or read a .etc address as marking the site itself as unimportant.