.links
Is .links a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
.links is not contested. One applicant has said publicly that it applied to run it, and nobody else has, as of 15 August 2026. It is Link Freedom Group.
A generic plural for link tools and golf sites; workable and easy to grasp, but the singular .link likely soaks up most serious demand.
link-in-bio and URL-shortener startups, creator-tool builders, plus golf courses and clubs (where 'links' is the native word); secondarily, directory and curation projects wanting a literal label.
In LFG's published list of 300+ strings submitted before the ICANN window closed on 2026-08-12. Their catalog tagline: “Ties that bind, connections that last.”
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.
The identical bet one letter shorter: a bare web-primitive noun sold as generic connective infrastructure to redirect/short-link services and anyone who wants the URL itself to describe the act of pointing somewhere, not a business category.
Same class of bet — a web-native action word with no industry vertical behind it, monetized as cheap utility real estate for redirects, campaign links and disposable short URLs rather than as a company's primary identity.
Another generic noun for a web object itself, betting that people will pay for a self-describing internet-plumbing word, though it aims at hosting/presence identity while .links aims at the pointer rather than the destination.
What a .links domain is
.links is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, filed under AI & tech. One applicant has said publicly that it applied for .links.
Is the .links domain extension real yet?
.links 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 .links domain?
You can’t yet. ICANN publishes every applied-for string on Reveal Day, 7 October 2026 at 18:00 UTC. A .links name can only be registered after that, once the string is delegated and its registry opens. Last round's closest parallel to .links was .link, delegated on .
Is .links a real TLD?
Not yet. .links is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because an applicant said publicly that it applied for .links in the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round. Every claim on this page links to its source.
- Link Freedom Group · first recordedLink Freedom Group
“.links · AI & Tech · “Ties that bind, connections that last.””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). It is not in the 50-69 band because plural dictionary strings sitting next to an established singular sibling tend to become the second-choice namespace: by analogy, plural/singular TLD pairs (e.g. .photo vs .photos, .review vs .reviews, .deal vs .deals) have historically split thin demand rather than doubling it, and .link already occupies the shortener/redirect mind-space, so a serious project reaching for a link-product identity would more naturally take the singular (analogy-based inference; specific registration figures for these TLDs are unknown). It is not in the 10-29 band because 'links' is a genuinely useful generic word with at least two real buyer pools: the link-in-bio/creator-tooling category, which is an active product space where a name like brand.links reads naturally as a product URL, and golf, where 'links' is the native term for a course, giving a small but durable end-use niche. The applicant's own catalog files it under AI & Tech, which fits the tooling use case, though the string itself carries no AI signal. Over the next 5 years I expect volume-and-price registrations with scattered genuine primary-identity use and a thin aftermarket. Main market uncertainty: whether the link-in-bio/creator-tools category keeps growing and standardizes on domain-based identities at all, versus staying inside platform handles, since that category is the only path to demand above hobby level.