.nano

Is .nano a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?

Nobody has applied for .nano in its own right, as of 7 October 2026. Radix named .nano as a backup string for its .labs application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup. Link Freedom Group named .nano as a backup string for its .url application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup.

AI & tech · on the record since Aug 15, 2026, updated Oct 7, 2026
applicants
0 applications · 2 deactivated backups

Nobody has applied for .nano in its own right.

backups
  • Link Freedom GroupDeactivated backuplfg.link ↗Aug 13, 2026

    In LFG's published list of 300+ strings submitted before the ICANN window closed on 2026-08-12. Their catalog tagline: “One billionth at a time.”

    announced Aug 13, 2026 · abandoned Oct 7, 2026 · named as a backup for .url, deactivated by ICANN Oct 7, 2026

    Deactivated backup for .urlGenericICANN LFGL2683T-T45201Link Freedom Group ↗
  • RadixDeactivated backupradix.website ↗

    Named on the ICANN gTLD application list, 7 October 2026 as a replacement (backup) string of the applicant's .labs application, shown as deactivated: another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup

    Deactivated backup for .labsGenericICANN RTIS2674T-T67708ICANN ↗

Will names sell?

◈AI score
32/ 100
Usable but limited

A niche tech-flavored ending for nanotech and tiny-scale brands; usable, but most serious buyers will likely still pick a mainstream domain.

assessed by claude-fable-5 · Aug 15, 2026

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. .nano’s closest 2012 strings hold .bio 69K, .eco 10K and .solar 10K.

AI score 32 of 100. .com scores 96, .ai scores 84.

For comparison, .com scores 96 and .ai scores 84 on the same rubric.

How the AI’s blind 2012 read held up: its score of each 2012 string against the names it holds today808 2012-round TLDs. Scored 60 or more: median 27168 names. Scored under 30: median 30 names. .nano's closest 2012 strings: .bio scored 45, 69202 names; .eco scored 45, 9939 names; .solar scored 45, 10063 names.101001K10K100K1M020406080100scored 60+: median 27Kunder 30: median 30.bio · 45 · 69K.eco · 45 · 10K.solar · 45 · 10Kthe AI’s blind 2012 score of each string (its own scale) →names held today (log) →

a 2012-round TLD.nano’s closest 2012 strings: score · names

The 2012 read is a separate, time-locked score on its own scale, so .nano’s score above is not placed on it. Names: the registries’ reports to ICANN, 2026-10. Non-brand 2012 TLDs in the root.

closest 2012 strings
3 of 1,408

The nearest 2012 strings, and how many names each holds today

The closest 2012 string, .bio, held 69,202 names, June 2026. .eco held 9,939; .solar held 10,063. Chosen by AI from every string in the 2012 round, without being told what happened to any of them.

  1. .biostrong parallel69,202 names, June 2026live since 2014 · uncontested in 2012 · scored 45* in 2012 · STARTING DOT LIMITEDSee .bio in Stats

    Same bet exactly: a short scientific combining-form that names a whole deep-tech sector, offered as an open generic to labs, materials startups and suppliers who want the field's shorthand as their primary identity, with the same secondary adjectival use.

  2. .ecomoderate9,939 names, June 2026live since 2016 · 4 applications in 2012 · scored 45* in 2012 · Big Room Inc.See .eco in Stats

    Also a prefix-morpheme rather than a standalone category noun, betting that a technology-and-values movement is coherent enough that its member firms will re-root their identity on the movement's shorthand.

  3. .solarmoderate10,063 names, June 2026live since 2013 · uncontested in 2012 · scored 45* in 2012 · Ruby Town, LLCSee .solar in Stats

    The narrow deep-tech vertical version of the same bet: a real but modest industry whose own companies and suppliers are the entire addressable market, so it lives or dies on trade adoption rather than consumer volume.

Names are from the registries’ monthly reports to ICANN. Each name opens the TLD’s stats page: how it grew, who sells it, and the 2026 strings compared with it. * A separate 2012-only read, time-locked to what was public that year, on a different scale from this page’s score.

who it’s for

nanotechnology and materials-science companies, labs, and hardware startups branding around smallness; secondarily, the community around the Nano cryptocurrency and makers of 'nano'-named compact products.

What a .nano domain is

.nano is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, in our AI & tech category. Nobody has applied for .nano in its own right. It is named on ICANN’s list as part of an application for another string.

Is the .nano domain extension real yet?

.nano is not yet a domain extension you can register: nothing resolves under it, and no registrar sells names in it. Nobody has applied for it on the public record; the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round is the process that would decide whether it becomes one.

When can you buy a .nano domain?

You can’t yet. A .nano 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 .nano was .bio, delegated on 2 June 2014.

Is .nano a real TLD?

Not yet. .nano is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because ICANN’s list names .nano as part of an application for another string. Every entry on this page links to its source.

Considering a name on .nano?Appraise a name on this TLD →

This record is corrected in the open. See the changelog and methodology.