.wild
Is .wild a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
.wild is not contested. One application for it is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list, as of 7 October 2026. It is GoDaddy Registry. Endpoint Domains named .wild as a backup string for its .ftw application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup. ShortDot named .wild as a backup string for its .eye application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup. Link Freedom Group named .wild as a backup string for its .cast 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
Two of the 4 are tied to a registry that runs TLDs today. Link Freedom Group, GoDaddy Registry and ShortDot filed 275 applications between them across the round.
Will names sell?
A playful ending for outdoor, wildlife, and adventure brands; memorable, but few serious projects would make it their main 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. .wild’s closest 2012 strings hold .cool 23K, .hot 1K and .green 9K.
The nearest 2012 strings, and how many names each holds today
The closest 2012 string, .cool, held 23,197 names, June 2026. .hot held 1,185; .green held 9,228. Chosen by AI from every string in the 2012 round, without being told what happened to any of them.
Same bet: a short evocative English adjective with no defined vertical, sold on connotation and brandability rather than category intent, so it has to win identity buyers who choose it for the feeling it projects.
Also a one-syllable attitude adjective whose registry pitch is expressive positioning across unrelated industries, betting that the word's charge outweighs the absence of any obvious anchor customer.
An adjective that doubles as a values flag — usable both as an expressive brand modifier and as an identity marker for a cause constituency — which is the same dual bet .wild makes across adventure brands and conservation, though .green's sustainability constituency was far more organized than any 'wild' one.
Where they meet elsewhere
Link Freedom Group and GoDaddy Registry face each other in 32 contests this round, .wild included.
- Link Freedom Group × GoDaddy Registry
- Link Freedom Group × ShortDot
- GoDaddy Registry × ShortDot
- Link Freedom Group × Endpoint Domains
- ShortDot × Endpoint Domains
outdoor and adventure brands, wildlife and conservation organizations, travel and experience companies, and creators who want an expressive, energetic web identity
What a .wild domain is
.wild is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, in our Culture category. One application for it is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list.
Is the .wild domain extension real yet?
.wild 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 .wild domain?
You can’t yet. A .wild 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 .wild was .cool, delegated on 23 January 2014.
Is .wild a real TLD?
Not yet. .wild is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because .wild is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list of applied-for strings. Every entry on this page links to its source.
- ShortDot · now deactivated backupICANN
- Link Freedom Group · now deactivated backupICANN
- Endpoint Domains · first recordedICANN
- ShortDot · now abandonedICANN
- Link Freedom Group · now abandonedICANN
- GoDaddy Registry · first recordedICANN
- ShortDot · now announced
- ShortDot · first recordedShortDot (Ireland) Limited
- Link Freedom Group · first recordedLink Freedom Group
The source’s 4 linesHide the lines
EDI2665T-T12533 · Endpoint Domains, Inc. · replacement string of .ftw · Deactivated LFGL2683T-T36653 · Link Freedom Group Ltd · replacement string of .cast · Deactivated NA2626T-T62184 · ShortDot (Ireland) Limited · replacement string of .eye · Deactivated NA2631T-T71853 · Registry Services, LLC · primary
“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
“.wild · Culture · “For moments indescribable.””Link Freedom Group
- Band chosen: 30-49 (usable but limited). The string is a common English adjective with genuine semantic pull toward a few real verticals: wildlife and conservation, outdoor and adventure travel, and expressive lifestyle branding, and 'brand.wild' or 'get.wild' style names can work as campaign or secondary identities. By analogy (flagged as analogy) with other evocative adjective and lifestyle TLDs such as .cool, .fun, and .live, this class of string tends to attract volume- and price-driven registrations plus event or campaign use, while primary-identity adoption by serious companies stays uncommon and aftermarket demand stays thin. It is not in the 50-69 band because there is no single category where .wild reads as a default primary identity; the semantic fit is real but diffuse across hobbyist, campaign, and vanity use, and adoption would need explaining everywhere. It is not in the 10-29 band because the word is broadly positive, brandable, and maps to identifiable buyer groups with recurring (not merely event-driven) registration motives, which by analogy sustains an ongoing if modest base. The applicant, Link Freedom Group, filed more than 300 strings in the ICANN 2026 round and lists this string under category 'Culture' with the tagline 'For moments indescribable.', consistent with an expressive-identity positioning rather than a vertical registry; portfolio breadth of that kind says little either way about per-string marketing investment, so I treat adoption support as unknown. Registration volumes, pricing, and premium-tier strategy for this string are unknown. Main market uncertainty over the next 5 years: whether the outdoor/wildlife semantic niche converts into visible primary-identity anchor adoptions, or whether .wild settles into campaign and vanity use like most adjective TLDs.