.root

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

AI & tech
applicants
  • ShortDotIn a catalog
on the record since Sep 8, 2026 · updated Sep 8, 2026
AI score
34/ 100
Usable but limited

A niche TLD for developers, security and sysadmin projects trading on the "root access" connotation, plus natural-products, ancestry and plant-based brands wanting a roots-and-origins name.

assessed by claude-fable-5-1 · Sep 8, 2026
AI score 34 of 100. .com scores 96, .ai scores 84.
who it’s for

developers, security and sysadmin projects trading on the "root access" connotation, plus natural-products, ancestry and plant-based brands wanting a roots-and-origins name

techBrandCultureCommerce
applicants
1 on file
ShortDotIn a catalog

One of the 80 strings ShortDot published for the ICANN 2026 round. ShortDot states it has submitted 40 applications, but publishes the 80 strings without revealing which 40 are applications and which 40 are designated replacements. The submission claim is therefore applicant-level, not string-level: nothing in the source says ShortDot applied for THIS string. Catalogued, not announced.

closest 2012 bets
3 of 1,408

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.

.zonestrong parallel
delegated 2014 · live55,381 domains · May 2026

Same bet exactly: a DNS-native infrastructure term that is also a plain, meaning-rich English noun, sold as an open short generic whose value comes from the word working in several unrelated contexts at once rather than from owning one industry.

uncontested · scored 35* in 2012 · run by Outer Falls, LLC

.linkmoderate
delegated 2014 · live308,011 domains · May 2026

Another everyday internet-plumbing noun taken to market as a broad, self-explanatory generic — the buyer is anyone who wants a technical-sounding common word as their primary identity, not members of a defined vertical.

uncontested · scored 58* in 2012 · run by Uniregistry, Corp.

.spacemoderate
delegated 2014 · live626,727 domains · May 2026

Same shape of bet — a short, polysemous, evocative English noun with a tech-culture pull and no single owning industry, betting that ambiguity attracts volume across dev, lifestyle and brand buyers alike.

uncontested · scored 55* in 2012 · run by DotSpace Inc.

* A separate 2012-only read, time-locked to what was public that year. Different scale from this page’s score, so the two are not comparable.

history
  1. ShortDot · first recordedSep 8, 2026
    ShortDot (Ireland) Limited
news & sources
CatalogShortDot's 80 strings for the ICANN 2026 round
Sep 8, 2026
ShortDot (Ireland) Limited has submitted 40 applications to ICANN's 2026 New gTLD Program. The 80 strings shown include applied-for and designated replacement strings across ShortDot's 40 ICANN applications, presented without revealing their status or pairing.
ShortDot (Ireland) Limited
about ShortDot
NewsShortDot applies for 40 top level domains
Sep 8, 2026
The company just disclosed its 40 applications and 40 replacement strings.
Domain Name Wire
Considering a name on .root?Appraise a name on this TLD →

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