New gTLDs: Are They Worth Using in 2026?

ICANN's new gTLD program launched in 2012 and has since added over 1,200 new extensions to the internet. The promise was a less congested namespace where descriptive TLDs would carry their own meaning. The reality has been more complicated.

The Honest Tier List

Working Well

.app — Google Registry. HTTPS-enforced like .dev. Clear semantic match for mobile and web applications. Moderate to good availability for two-word compounds. Priced around $15–$20/year.

.dev — Covered in detail separately. Developer tools and technical products.

.tech — Broader signal than .dev. Works for tech companies that aren't specifically developer-facing. Decent availability, $25–$40/year depending on registrar.

.store — E-commerce vertical. Some brand legitimacy for DTC products. Better than .shop in terms of adoption.

.studio — Creative agencies, design studios, game studios. The match is obvious and users accept it.

Niche but Legitimate

.health and .clinic — Regulated verticals, so trust is important. These TLDs work when the registrant actually operates in the space.

.law and .legal — Limited to verified law firms at most registrars. The restriction is a feature — it signals authenticity.

.finance and .bank — Heavily restricted; .bank requires FDIC membership equivalent. Highly trusted where available.

Essentially Failed

.website, .online, .site — Generic, spam-associated, low trust. These were heavily marketed but never acquired credibility.

.click, .link, .live — Used heavily by spam and affiliate networks. Negative prior associations that haven't cleared.

.guru, .ninja, .expert — Dated branding, rarely used by credible organisations now.

The SEO Question

Google's official position is that new gTLDs receive no ranking penalty or bonus compared to .com. In practice, CTR data suggests users click .com results at higher rates in ambiguous contexts. For organic search, this manifests as a minor but real disadvantage in competitive SERPs.

For branded product searches (where the user already knows the brand), TLD has no measurable effect on CTR.

Bottom line: If the TLD is semantically appropriate and your audience is technical or brand-aware, new gTLDs are viable. For generic informational content competing on broad keywords, .com still has a marginal edge.

Availability Reality Check

Most single-word new gTLD registrations happened in waves during the first years of availability. For .app and .dev, short one-word names are largely gone. Two-word compounds still have real inventory.

The best way to assess availability for a specific niche is to batch-check your keyword matrix across your target new gTLD. A set of 50 stems × .app + .dev + .tech = 150 queries — under a minute in BatchDomain. The resulting CSV tells you exactly what is and isn't gone.