.virtual
Is .virtual a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
.virtual is contested: 2 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list, as of 7 October 2026. They are XYZ Registry and Link Freedom Group.
Who is applying, and what they run today
One of the two already run TLDs, 11.96M names between them. Link Freedom Group runs none.
Will names sell?
A broad tech-flavored word suited to VR, virtual-agent, and remote-service projects, but most buyers will still need to explain the choice.
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. .virtual’s closest 2012 strings hold .digital 419K, .cloud 552K and .online 3.96M.
The nearest 2012 strings, and how many names each holds today
The closest 2012 string, .digital, held 418,641 names, June 2026. .cloud held 551,867; .online held 3,963,748. Chosen by AI from every string in the 2012 round, without being told what happened to any of them.
Same bet: an abstract modality adjective that any company operating in a non-physical medium can adopt as its primary identity, with no defined community to defend it and value resting entirely on the word staying descriptively fashionable.
Same bet on naming an emergent computing modality that a whole vendor sector would want to brand itself around, where the registry is wagering that the concept word outlives its hype cycle rather than dating like a buzzword.
Same bet on a broad state-of-being adjective sold as an open, high-volume generic to anyone who wants the modifier in front of their name, though it leans more toward a .com substitute than to a specific industry's self-identification.
builders of VR/metaverse experiences, virtual-agent and AI-assistant startups, virtual-event platforms, and remote-first service businesses wanting a descriptive, on-theme address
What a .virtual domain is
.virtual is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, in our AI & tech category. 2 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list.
Is the .virtual domain extension real yet?
.virtual 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 .virtual domain?
You can’t yet. A .virtual 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 .virtual was .digital, delegated on 7 May 2014.
Is .virtual a real TLD?
Not yet. .virtual is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because .virtual is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list of applied-for strings. Every entry on this page links to its source.
- XYZ Registry · first recordedICANN
- Link Freedom Group · now confirmedICANN
- Link Freedom Group · first recordedLink Freedom Group
“LFGL2683T-T84796 · Link Freedom Group Ltd · primary · contention set 2026-244 XL2625T-T58156 · XYZ.COM LLC · primary · contention set 2026-244”ICANN
“.virtual · AI & Tech · “Born online, made for now.””Link Freedom Group
- Band chosen: 30-49, usable but limited. The string is a common English adjective with genuine semantic reach (virtual reality, virtual agents, virtual events, virtual offices), so registrations at volume are plausible, but it reads as a descriptor rather than a credibility signal. It is not in the 50-69 band because, judging by analogy to adjective gTLDs like .digital and .online, demand for such strings has tended to be price-driven and secondary-identity (project pages, campaigns) rather than sustained primary-identity use with a real aftermarket; that analogy suggests .virtual would follow the same pattern over the next 5 years. It is not in the 10-29 band because the word maps to several live commercial categories (VR, AI assistants, virtual events) rather than being a joke or single-event string, so serious niche primary-identity use is realistic even if uncommon. The metaverse wave that would have been this string's strongest tailwind appears to have cooled, while AI virtual-agent products are a rising adjacent use, which cuts both ways. Main market uncertainty: whether AI virtual-agent and VR categories converge on 'virtual' as their identity word over the next 5 years, or whether they brand around 'ai' and 'agent' instead, leaving .virtual as a generic descriptor competing on price. Applicant facts noted neutrally: the applicant filed a large portfolio of strings and lists this one under an AI & Tech category, which informs likely positioning but not the string's intrinsic market strength.