.ship
Is .ship a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
.ship is contested: 3 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list, as of 8 October 2026. They are Starlight (Namecheap), GoDaddy Registry and Link Freedom Group. Radix named .ship as a backup string for its .flow 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
One of the three already run TLDs, 7.22M names between them. Link Freedom Group and Starlight (Namecheap) run none.
Will names sell?
A catchy 'ship it' address for dev tools, launches, and logistics; fun for domain hacks but rarely a serious primary identity.
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. .ship’s closest 2012 strings hold .delivery 14K, .express 9K and .build 12K.
The nearest 2012 strings, and how many names each holds today
The closest 2012 string, .delivery, held 14,125 names, June 2026. .express held 8,967; .build held 11,620. Chosen by AI from every string in the 2012 round, without being told what happened to any of them.
Same bet: an open generic English action-word for the movement of goods, where the primary identity holders are couriers, freight and fulfillment operators who need the word itself rather than a brand, and it only works if that industry will re-anchor its identity off .com.
Also a short, speed-and-logistics generic that courier/shipping businesses would put their name on, but it is heavily shadowed by incumbent brand usage, so the registry's job is reclaiming a word buyers already associate with specific companies rather than owning a clean verb.
Structurally the same kind of bet — a one-syllable English verb sold as an open generic that straddles a physical trade and developer culture ('ship it' / 'build it') — so its buyer is likewise split between an industry vertical and the tech crowd, with the same risk that neither side treats it as their primary home.
Where they meet elsewhere
Link Freedom Group and GoDaddy Registry face each other in 32 contests this round, .ship included.
- Link Freedom Group × GoDaddy Registry
- Link Freedom Group × Radix
- GoDaddy Registry × Radix
- Link Freedom Group × Starlight (Namecheap)
- GoDaddy Registry × Starlight (Namecheap)
developer-tools startups and indie hackers who want a launch-themed identity or verb hack (we.ship, just.ship), plus maritime and logistics businesses as a secondary noun-sense market
What a .ship domain is
.ship is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, in our AI & tech category. 3 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list.
Is the .ship domain extension real yet?
.ship 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 .ship domain?
You can’t yet. A .ship 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 .ship was .delivery, delegated on 1 November 2014.
Is .ship a real TLD?
Not yet. .ship is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because .ship 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
- Radix · first recordedICANN
- 2 applicants · first recordedICANN
- Link Freedom Group · now confirmedICANN
- Link Freedom Group · first recordedLink Freedom Group
The source’s 4 linesHide the lines
LFGL2683T-T74740 · Link Freedom Group Ltd · primary · contention set 2026-211 NA2631T-T26726 · Registry Services, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-211 PEI2685T-T63063 · Procyon Exploration, Inc. · primary · contention set 2026-211 RTIS2674T-T36032 · Radix Technologies Inc SEZC · replacement string of .flow · Deactivated
“LFGL2683T-T74740 · Link Freedom Group Ltd · primary · contention set 2026-211 NA2631T-T26726 · Registry Services, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-211 PEI2685T-T63063 · Procyon Exploration, Inc. · primary · contention set 2026-211”ICANN
“For us, moving into the registry side is a natural extension of what we have been building.”Domain Name Wire
“.ship · AI & Tech · “Ship it, send it, done.””Link Freedom Group
- Band chosen: 30-49, usable but limited. The string has two real senses: the verb from developer culture ('ship it' as shorthand for releasing software) and the noun for maritime/logistics. The verb sense gives it genuine memetic energy with builders, and the applicant's own catalog leans into that (category 'AI & Tech', tagline 'Ship it, send it, done.'). But by analogy with other verb and trade TLDs that lacked a major platform sponsor (.build, .codes, .live as analogies), such strings have tended to see hack-driven and price-driven registrations, defensive or redirect use, and thin aftermarkets rather than primary-identity adoption; that inference is from analogy, since this string is announced-only and has no market history. It is not in the 50-69 band because there is no observable sustained demand yet and no category where a .ship address would read as a default rather than a clever choice needing explanation; the conservative logistics industry, by analogy with other industry-vertical TLDs, has been slow to move off legacy namespaces. It is not in the 10-29 band because the dual verb/noun meaning, short memorable string, and clear buyer archetypes (devtools branding, launch pages, shipping companies) support more than vanity or event-driven demand. Applicant context, stated neutrally: Link Freedom Group filed more than 300 strings in the ICANN 2026 round before the window closed 2026-08-12, was the largest applicant of the round, and voluntarily published its full list ahead of ICANN Reveal Day (press-corroborated by Domain Name Wire, 2026-08-13); a portfolio-scale applicant suggests registry-channel distribution rather than a single-category evangelism push, which tempers expectations of category-standard adoption. Main market uncertainty: whether developer culture will actually use a verb TLD as a primary production identity, or treat .ship names as redirects and campaign pages while keeping .com/.dev as the real address.