.make
Is .make a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
.make is contested: 3 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list, as of 7 October 2026. They are XServer, Automattic and Link Freedom Group. EchoStar named .make as a backup string for its .hello application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup. CamConnecting named .make as a backup string for its .uwu 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
One of the three already run TLDs, 390K names between them. Link Freedom Group and XServer run none.
Will names sell?
A catchy verb for makers and creators, but verb domains rarely anchor a serious project's main address; expect niche, campaign-style use.
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. .make’s closest 2012 strings hold .build 12K, .diy 8K and .work 363K.
The nearest 2012 strings, and how many names each holds today
The closest 2012 string, .build, held 11,620 names, June 2026. .diy held 8,159; .work held 363,488. Chosen by AI from every string in the 2012 round, without being told what happened to any of them.
Same bet exactly: a plain English creation verb sold as an open generic TLD where anyone who produces something fronts their identity on the act of producing it.
Different word type (initialism rather than verb) but the identical buyer thesis — the maker/hobbyist-creator population adopting a namespace that says what they do rather than who they are.
Same registry play of a one-syllable everyday verb-noun monetized as a broad open string whose value rests on ubiquity of the word, though it recruits professional-labor identity rather than creator identity.
Where they meet elsewhere
XServer and Link Freedom Group face each other in 8 contests this round, .make included.
- Link Freedom Group × XServer
- Link Freedom Group × Automattic
- Link Freedom Group × EchoStar
- Link Freedom Group × CamConnecting
- XServer × Automattic
maker-movement brands, DIY and craft communities, no-code and creator-tools startups, and marketers wanting a verb-forward campaign domain (something.make or make-prefixed brand hacks)
What a .make domain is
.make is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, in our Culture category. 3 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list.
Is the .make domain extension real yet?
.make 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 .make domain?
You can’t yet. A .make 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 .make was .build, delegated on 18 January 2014.
Is .make a real TLD?
Not yet. .make is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because .make is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list of applied-for strings. Every entry on this page links to its source.
- 2 applicants · first recordedICANN
- 2 applicants · first recordedICANN
- Link Freedom Group · now confirmedICANN
- Link Freedom Group · first recordedLink Freedom Group
The source’s 5 linesHide the lines
CCS2640T-T83292 · Cam Connecting SARL · replacement string of .uwu · Deactivated EDCL2689T-T42826 · ECHO Domain Co L.L.C. · replacement string of .hello · Deactivated KKWT2621T-T27867 · Knock Knock WHOIS There, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-143 LFGL2683T-T91961 · Link Freedom Group Ltd · primary · contention set 2026-143 XI2694T-T57023 · XRegistry Incorporated · primary · contention set 2026-143
“KKWT2621T-T27867 · Knock Knock WHOIS There, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-143 LFGL2683T-T91961 · Link Freedom Group Ltd · primary · contention set 2026-143 XI2694T-T57023 · XRegistry Incorporated · primary · contention set 2026-143”ICANN
“.make · Lifestyle · “Turn ideas into reality.””Link Freedom Group
- Band chosen: usable but limited (30-49), at 40. The string is a short, positive, universally understood English verb aligned with maker culture and the creator economy, which is a genuinely broad audience; the applicant's own catalog positions it as Lifestyle with the tagline 'Turn ideas into reality.'. By analogy (flagged as analogy), comparable verb and builder-adjacent strings such as .build, .works, and .design have mostly settled into niche or price-driven registration patterns rather than primary-identity defaults, and verb TLDs read awkwardly to the right of the dot for most brand names, which suppresses end-use utility. It is not in the band above (strong niche, 50-69) because there is no known sustained demand signal for this specific string and no clear community that treats a verb TLD as its default identity without explanation; adoption over the next 5 years would likely be campaign microsites, redirects, and defensive or speculative registrations rather than primary identities. It is not in the band below (10-29) because the maker/creator segment is real and durable, the word is brandable and versatile across crafts, hardware, software, and content creation, and a modest aftermarket for one-word left-side matches (we.make, things.make) is plausible. Applicant context, stated neutrally: the string was announced by Link Freedom Group, which filed more than 300 strings in the ICANN 2026 round and published its full list ahead of Reveal Day; a large-portfolio applicant suggests a volume registry model, which typically means broad availability and price-led adoption rather than curated category-building. Main market uncertainty: whether the maker/no-code creator segment will treat any verb TLD as a credible primary identity at all, or whether that demand stays permanently on .com and category nouns like .studio.