.tap
Is .tap a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
.tap is contested: 5 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list, as of 7 October 2026. They are XYZ Registry, TapTap, GoDaddy Registry, ShortDot and Link Freedom Group.
Who is applying, and what they run today
Three of the five already run TLDs, 23.72M names between them. Link Freedom Group and TapTap run none.
Will names sell?
A catchy word for taprooms, tap-to-pay apps, and mobile gimmicks, but few serious projects would pick it as their main web address.
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. .tap’s closest 2012 strings hold .click 873K, .play 6 and .run 140K.
The nearest 2012 strings, and how many names each holds today
The closest 2012 string, .click, held 873,213 names, June 2026. .play held 6; .run held 140,139. Chosen by AI from every string in the 2012 round, without being told what happened to any of them.
Same bet exactly: a one-syllable interaction-gesture verb with no vertical of its own, sold on brevity and call-to-action energy to any brand wanting a short imperative domain rather than to an industry that would claim it as its category name.
A short universal English action verb whose value comes from connotation and flexibility across several unrelated meanings rather than from owning a defined market, so its registry has to win on evocative brevity to a broad open buyer base — the same job .tap has to do.
Another generic multi-meaning verb with no natural constituency to anchor it: nobody's primary identity is 'run', so the bet is that a short punchy word attracts scattered brand and hack usage, which is the same open-ended demand thesis as .tap.
Where they meet elsewhere
XYZ Registry and Link Freedom Group face each other in 49 contests this round, .tap included.
- Link Freedom Group × XYZ Registry
- Link Freedom Group × GoDaddy Registry
- XYZ Registry × GoDaddy Registry
- Link Freedom Group × ShortDot
- GoDaddy Registry × ShortDot
craft breweries and taprooms wanting a themed web address, plus contactless-payment and mobile-app startups playing on the 'tap' gesture; secondarily, marketers using it for short campaign links.
What a .tap domain is
.tap is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, in our Commerce category. 5 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list.
Is the .tap domain extension real yet?
.tap 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 .tap domain?
You can’t yet. A .tap 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 .tap was .click, delegated on 16 August 2014.
Is .tap a real TLD?
Not yet. .tap is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because .tap is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list of applied-for strings. Every entry on this page links to its source.
- 3 applicants · first recordedICANN
- 2 applicants · now confirmedICANN
- ShortDot · now announced
- ShortDot · first recordedShortDot (Ireland) Limited
- Link Freedom Group · first recordedLink Freedom Group
The source’s 5 linesHide the lines
LFGL2683T-T63930 · Link Freedom Group Ltd · primary · contention set 2026-229 NA2626T-T64063 · ShortDot (Ireland) Limited · primary · contention set 2026-229 NA2631T-T47721 · Registry Services, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-229 TPL2697T-T31121 · TAPTAP PTE. LTD. · primary · contention set 2026-229 XL2625T-T61047 · XYZ.COM LLC · primary · contention set 2026-229
“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
“.tap · Lifestyle · “Just a tap away.””Link Freedom Group
- Placed at the bottom of the 30-49 'usable but limited' band. It clears the 10-29 band because 'tap' maps to at least two identifiable buyer groups with plausible primary-identity use over the next 5 years: taprooms/breweries (a themed hospitality identity, by analogy with beverage-themed TLDs, which have generally sustained small but real registration bases) and fintech/mobile products built around the tap gesture (tap-to-pay, one-tap actions). It stays out of the 50-69 band because neither group treats any tap-adjacent TLD as an expected identity today, and by analogy with other short-verb and beverage TLDs, adoption would need explaining, aftermarket demand would likely be thin, and most registrations would be defensive or campaign-driven rather than primary identities. The applicant, Link Freedom Group, filed more than 300 strings in the ICANN 2026 round and lists this string under 'Lifestyle' with the tagline 'Just a tap away.' — a broad-portfolio positioning that, stated neutrally, suggests generic lifestyle marketing rather than a cultivated vertical community, which by analogy with earlier large-portfolio generic TLDs tends toward price-driven volume rather than category-standard status. Registration volumes, pricing, and any anchor-tenant commitments are unknown. Main market uncertainty: whether the tap-to-pay/fintech naming angle produces real brand adoption, or whether the string stays a hospitality-and-gimmick novelty.