.story
Is .story a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
.story is contested: 3 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list, as of 7 October 2026. They are Automattic, XServer and Identity Digital. XYZ named .story as a backup string for its .apparel application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string. Squarespace named .story as a backup string for its .pod application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string. GoDaddy Registry named .story as a backup string for its .act application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string. Intercap named .story as a backup string for its .share application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string.
A warm, readable word for writers, publishers and brand narratives, but most owners will treat it as a side address, not their main one.
writers, independent publishers, storytelling and media platforms, and brands wanting a memorable "our story" or campaign address alongside their main domain
Named on the ICANN gTLD application list, 7 October 2026 as a replacement (backup) string of the applicant's .share application, shown as deactivated: another applicant applied for the same string
Named on the ICANN gTLD application list, 7 October 2026 as a replacement (backup) string of the applicant's .act application, shown as deactivated: another applicant applied for the same string
Named on the ICANN gTLD application list, 7 October 2026 as a replacement (backup) string of the applicant's .pod application, shown as deactivated: another applicant applied for the same string
Named on the ICANN gTLD application list, 7 October 2026 as a replacement (backup) string of the applicant's .apparel application, shown as deactivated: another applicant applied for the same string
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.
Both are singular, abstract nouns naming a unit of creative content rather than an industry or product category, so the bet is identical: no incumbent vertical to convert, and the registry has to create demand among creators and brands who want an expressive word for the thing they make.
Same bet on a content-publishing word that individual creators would put their primary identity on, with no corporate vertical behind it — the difference is that "blog" already described an installed base of millions of publishers in 2012, while "story" relies on a looser, more figurative pull ("our story").
Also a generic noun for narrative work aimed at writers and publishers, but it is a concrete medium with an actual trade behind it, so the registrant is a defined industry rather than the open, metaphor-driven field "story" has to sell into.
What a .story domain is
.story is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, filed under Culture. 3 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list.
Is the .story domain extension real yet?
.story 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 .story domain?
You can’t yet. ICANN publishes every applied-for string on Reveal Day, 7 October 2026 at 18:00 UTC. A .story name can only be registered after that, once the string is delegated and its registry opens. Last round's closest parallel to .story was .song, delegated on 24 February 2016.
Is .story a real TLD?
Not yet. .story is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because .story is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list of applied-for strings. Every entry on this page links to its source.
“FCL2632T-T91840 · Fore Course, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-225 KKWT2621T-T51624 · Knock Knock WHOIS There, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-225 XI2694T-T86949 · XRegistry Incorporated · primary · contention set 2026-225”ICANN
“FCL2632T-T91840 · Fore Course, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-225 IRI2679T-T75119 · Intercap Registry Inc. · replacement string of .share · Deactivated KKWT2621T-T51624 · Knock Knock WHOIS There, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-225 NA2631T-T16799 · Registry Services, LLC · replacement string of .act · Deactivated SRL2616T-T83667 · Squarespace Registry LLC · replacement string of .pod · Deactivated XI2694T-T86949 · XRegistry Incorporated · primary · contention set 2026-225 XL2625T-T74119 · XYZ.COM LLC · replacement string of .apparel · Deactivated”ICANN
- Band chosen: usable but limited (30-49). The string is a clear, globally understood English word with an obvious use (storytelling, publishing, brand narrative pages), so it is above vanity/joke territory: real projects can plausibly register it and a serious campaign or memoir site could live on it. It is not in the strong-niche band (50-69) because the word describes a format rather than a market or product category, so there is no natural buyer group for whom a .story address is the expected primary identity; most buyers would use it as a secondary or campaign address next to a .com or country code. By analogy (flagged as analogy), word-of-format strings such as .blog, .news, .media and .press found genuine registrations but did not become primary-identity defaults inside a category and developed only thin aftermarkets; .story is likely to track that pattern. The verified record shows three confirmed applicants in a contention set (Identity Digital, XServer and Automattic); Automattic's presence is relevant only because a publishing-platform operator can distribute a TLD through its own product, which by analogy with earlier platform-bundled TLDs tends to lift registration volume more than brand strength. Main market uncertainty: whether the eventual operator bundles .story into a large writing or publishing product so that users receive it by default, which would raise sustained use toward the niche band, versus selling it purely through the registrar channel, where it would sit near the bottom of this band on renewals.