.scan
Is .scan a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
.scan is not contested. One application for it is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list, as of 8 October 2026. It is Starlight (Namecheap). Link Freedom Group named .scan as a backup string for its .iii 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
None of the 2 is tied to a registry that runs TLDs today. Link Freedom Group and Starlight (Namecheap) filed 198 applications between them across the round.
Will names sell?
A useful tech verb for scanning tools and blockchain explorers, but most serious projects will treat it as a side domain, not their main name.
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. .scan’s closest 2012 strings hold .search 1, .click 873K and .download 9K.
The nearest 2012 strings, and how many names each holds today
The closest 2012 string, .search, held 1 names, June 2026. .click held 873,213; .download held 8,808. Chosen by AI from every string in the 2012 round, without being told what happened to any of them.
Same bet: a plain English verb naming a machine-mediated action that many unrelated industries perform, so the registry is selling the action itself rather than a category of company.
Same bet on a short, universally understood action verb marketed as an open utility string, where nobody's core identity is the word so it lives or dies on cheap, broad second-level branding.
Also a technical-action verb that works as verb and noun, but its buyers cluster around one delivery mechanic, whereas .scan's would span medical imaging, document capture and security tooling who share only the word.
developers and product teams building scanning-adjacent tools: security and vulnerability scanners, QR and document-capture apps, computer-vision/AI products, and crypto block-explorer projects where 'scan' naming is an established convention.
What a .scan domain is
.scan is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, in our AI & tech category. One application for it is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list.
Is the .scan domain extension real yet?
.scan 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 .scan domain?
You can’t yet. A .scan 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 .scan was .search, delegated on 29 June 2017.
Is .scan a real TLD?
Not yet. .scan is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because .scan is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list of applied-for strings. Every entry on this page links to its source.
- Starlight (Namecheap) · noteDomain Name Wire
- Link Freedom Group · now deactivated backupICANN
- Link Freedom Group · now abandonedICANN
- Starlight (Namecheap) · first recordedICANN
- Link Freedom Group · first recordedLink Freedom Group
“LFGL2683T-T55257 · Link Freedom Group Ltd · replacement string of .iii · Deactivated PEI2617T-T31387 · Pollux Exploration, Inc. · primary”ICANN
“PEI2617T-T31387 · Pollux Exploration, Inc. · primary”ICANN
“For us, moving into the registry side is a natural extension of what we have been building.”Domain Name Wire
“.scan · AI & Tech · “Instant look, instant record.””Link Freedom Group
- Band chosen: usable but limited (30-49). The string is a common, unambiguous tech verb with several genuine product categories behind it: security scanning, QR/document capture, medical and 3D imaging, AI vision, and crypto block explorers, where 'scan'-suffixed names are a recognizable convention. That gives it real registration demand beyond pure vanity, which keeps it above the 10-29 band. It does not reach the 50-69 band because, by analogy with other single-verb keyword gTLDs, primary-identity use tends to be rare: teams building scanners typically brand on a coined name and use the keyword domain as a redirect or campaign address, so a .scan identity would need explaining and the aftermarket is likely thin outside a handful of premium one-word matches (eth.scan-style names, security.scan-style names). Verb TLDs as a class have historically leaned toward volume or promotional pricing rather than brand-signal strength; that is an inference from analogy, since no registration or pricing figures for comparable TLDs appear in the verified facts. The applicant, Link Freedom Group, filed more than 300 strings in the ICANN 2026 round and lists .scan under 'AI & Tech' with the tagline 'Instant look, instant record.', which signals a broad-portfolio strategy rather than a single-string flagship; that is stated neutrally and bears only on how concentrated marketing behind this one string may be. Main market uncertainty: whether the crypto block-explorer naming convention actually migrates onto the TLD (chainname.scan as a primary identity) or stays on legacy .com/.io names, since that one vertical is the most plausible source of premium, primary-identity demand.