.merch
Is .merch a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
.merch is contested: 5 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list, as of 7 October 2026. They are Intercap, Identity Digital, Radix, Phoenix Domain Partners and Link Freedom Group. NameHash Labs named .merch as a backup string for its .sov application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup. Mux Registry named .merch as a backup string for its .ops 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
Three of the five already run TLDs, 25.24M names between them. Two run one of .merch's closest 2012 strings: Identity Digital .clothing and Identity Digital .promo. Link Freedom Group and Phoenix Domain Partners run none.
Will names sell?
A natural label for creator and band merch stores, but most merch selling lives on platforms, so demand should stay modest and niche.
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. .merch’s closest 2012 strings hold .shop 4.72M, .promo 7K and .clothing 10K.
The nearest 2012 strings, and how many names each holds today
The closest 2012 string, .shop, held 4,716,233 names, June 2026. .promo held 7,222; .clothing held 10,186. Chosen by AI from every string in the 2012 round, without being told what happened to any of them.
Same bet: a short generic commerce noun that a seller of any size hangs their direct-to-customer storefront identity on, winning only if enough sellers decide brand.shop reads better than a .com store subpath.
Same bet in the 2012 vocabulary for the same trade — a clipped, informal generic covering branded giveaway goods, sold to suppliers and brand teams who want a category-word address rather than a company one.
Same bet as a goods-category noun (not a venue or a brand) that the makers and sellers of the physical product put their primary identity on, and merch is overwhelmingly apparel.
Where they meet elsewhere
Identity Digital and Link Freedom Group face each other in 68 contests this round, .merch included.
- Identity Digital × Link Freedom Group
- Identity Digital × Radix
- Identity Digital × Intercap
- Link Freedom Group × Intercap
- Link Freedom Group × Radix
creators, musicians, streamers, sports clubs, and small brands selling merchandise, plus the print-on-demand and creator-commerce platforms that power their stores
What a .merch domain is
.merch is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, in our Commerce category. 5 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list.
Is the .merch domain extension real yet?
.merch 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 .merch domain?
You can’t yet. A .merch 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 .merch was .shop, delegated on 23 May 2016.
Is .merch a real TLD?
Not yet. .merch is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because .merch 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
- 3 applicants · now confirmedICANN
- Radix · first recordedRadix
- Phoenix Domain Partners · first recordedDomain Name Wire
- Link Freedom Group · first recordedLink Freedom Group
The source’s 5 linesHide the lines
BPL2623T-T20698 · Bird Pepper, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-152 IRI2679T-T88820 · Intercap Registry Inc. · primary · contention set 2026-152 LFGL2683T-T41556 · Link Freedom Group Ltd · primary · contention set 2026-152 MLG2688T-T45846 · 101130013 Saskatchewan Ltd. · primary · contention set 2026-152 RTIS2674T-T23464 · Radix Technologies Inc SEZC · primary · contention set 2026-152
The source’s 7 linesHide the lines
BPL2623T-T20698 · Bird Pepper, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-152 IRI2679T-T88820 · Intercap Registry Inc. · primary · contention set 2026-152 LFGL2683T-T41556 · Link Freedom Group Ltd · primary · contention set 2026-152 MLG2688T-T45846 · 101130013 Saskatchewan Ltd. · primary · contention set 2026-152 MRL2648T-T99642 · Mux Registry L.L.C-FZ · replacement string of .ops · Deactivated NPBC2572-T27351 · Namehash Public Benefit Corporation · replacement string of .sov · Deactivated RTIS2674T-T23464 · Radix Technologies Inc SEZC · primary · contention set 2026-152
“Radix has applied for these TLDs; we do not own or operate them today.”Radix
“Phoenix Domain Partners published 13 strings for which it says it has applied and paid the application fees.”Domain Name Wire
“.merch · Commerce · “What you want, when you want it.””Link Freedom Group
- Band chosen: 30-49, usable but limited. The word 'merch' is a genuine, widely used commercial term with an identifiable buyer group (creators, bands, teams, fan brands), so the string sits above the 10-29 vanity band: name.merch storefronts are plausible as real, if secondary, commercial identities over the next 5 years. It falls short of the 50-69 strong-niche band because the merch economy is heavily platform-mediated: by analogy with how creator storefronts tend to run on hosted commerce platforms and platform subdomains rather than standalone domains, sustained primary-identity use is unproven, and the slang register of 'merch' limits appeal for larger brands, which favor established commerce endings or .com (analogy, not measured). Analogous retail-semantic TLDs such as .store and .shop have achieved real registration volume but, by analogy, mostly as secondary or redirect identities with thin aftermarkets outside short generic keywords; .merch is narrower than either, which caps both end-use breadth and resale depth. Applicant facts are known only from the verified block: Link Freedom Group filed more than 300 strings in the 2026 round and lists this one under 'Commerce' with the tagline 'What you want, when you want it.'; a large-portfolio applicant profile says nothing negative but implies no category-specific channel commitments are yet known, so I do not credit any launch partnerships. Main market uncertainty: whether creator-commerce platforms and registrar channels push standalone merch-store domains at all, or whether creator selling continues to consolidate inside platform-hosted storefronts where a custom TLD adds little.