.river
Is .river a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
Nobody is chasing .river, as of 7 October 2026. One applicant claimed it and is out. We keep the entry on the record either way.
- Journey To The West
A pleasant nature word without a buyer category behind it; expect light vanity and campaign use, rarely a serious main web address.
outdoor and eco-lifestyle brands, river tourism and rafting outfitters, conservation nonprofits, and people or companies literally named River wanting a memorable vanity address
In Journey To The West's published portfolio of 323 strings submitted in the ICANN 2026 round. Their catalog line: “The lifeblood of civilization, always moving forward.”
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.
Same bet: an unowned nature noun with no industry or community behind it, sold purely on evocative meaning to whoever wants the word as a brand, so its success depends on registrar-driven mass appeal rather than a defined registrant class.
Also a plain geography noun that nobody's business category is named after, betting that a short concrete landscape word carries enough brandable and metaphorical pull to attract mixed hobby, local, and startup registrants.
Another generic evocative common noun whose value rests on double meaning and brand feel rather than serving any identifiable trade, the same open-namespace wager where the string must sell itself with no anchor tenant.
What a .river domain is
.river is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, filed under Places. Nobody is chasing .river today. The applicants that claimed it are out.
Is the .river domain extension real yet?
.river 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 .river domain?
You can’t yet. A .river 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 .river was .earth, delegated on 14 May 2015.
Is .river a real TLD?
Not yet. .river is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because an applicant claimed .river and is no longer in it. We keep the entry, and every entry on this page links to its source.
- Journey To The West · now abandonedICANN
- Journey To The West · first recordedJourney To The West Corporation
“.river · Nature & Geography · “The lifeblood of civilization, always moving forward.””Journey To The West Corporation
- I place .river in the 10-29 vanity/narrow band. It is not in the 30-49 band because 'river' is not a commercial category descriptor — few businesses self-identify as river businesses, so there is no volume or price-driven registration engine, and by analogy nature-noun TLDs such as .earth, .land, and .fish have (flagged as analogy) settled into small, low-visibility zones with thin aftermarkets rather than sustained primary-identity use. It is not in the 1-9 band because the word is common, evocative, and matches real brand and personal names (River as a given name, river-cruise and rafting operators, conservation groups), so shallow but real vanity and campaign demand should exist over the next 5 years. The applicant is a Beijing-based firm with a published portfolio of 323 submitted strings in the 2026 round, which reads as a broad catalog play rather than a community-anchored launch — neutral fact, but it gives no adoption tailwind. Main market uncertainty: whether eco/outdoor lifestyle branding swings toward dictionary-noun TLDs enough to make .river a fashionable identity choice rather than a redirect.