How Many TLDs Exist?

The Current TLD Count and Growth

As of 2024, there are over 1,500 top-level domains (TLDs) in existence. This number continues to grow as ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) approves new TLD applications regularly.

The growth has been dramatic. In 2000, approximately 250 TLDs existed, growing slowly to around 280 TLDs by 2010. The landscape changed dramatically when ICANN expanded TLD applications beyond traditional geographic and institutional TLDs, resulting in approximately 800 TLDs by 2015, growing to 1,400 TLDs by 2020, and exceeding 1,500 TLDs by 2024. The jump around 2015 marks the inflection point when new generic TLDs began proliferating rapidly.

Types of TLDs

TLDs fall into several distinct categories, each serving different purposes.

Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) are the traditional TLDs available for general use. The most prominent is .com (commercial) with over 160 million registered domains, followed by .net (networks), .org (organizations), .info (information), and .biz (business). These TLDs are unrestricted, meaning anyone can register without special qualifications.

Country Code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs) are assigned to specific countries and territories. Examples include .uk (United Kingdom), .de (Germany), .jp (Japan), .au (Australia), and .ca (Canada). Approximately 250 country codes exist in total. Registration requirements vary by country—some require local presence or citizenship while others are open to global registration.

Sponsored Top-Level Domains (sTLDs) serve specific communities with restricted eligibility. These include .edu for accredited educational institutions, .gov for US government entities, .mil for the US military, .museum for accredited museums, and .coop for cooperative organizations. Registration typically requires verification of community membership.

Infrastructure TLDs support technical operations. The primary example is .arpa, reserved for technical infrastructure purposes including reverse DNS lookups. These TLDs aren't intended for general registration.

New Generic TLDs (ngTLDs) have been approved since 2013 and now number approximately 1,200. These include popular options like .app, .cloud, .dev, .io, .blog, .shop, and .tech. New gTLDs can represent trademarked words, geographic terms, generic industry terms, or virtually any string that passes ICANN's review process.

New TLD Applications and ICANN

ICANN has approved new TLDs in waves since opening the application process. The first major round in 2013-2014 approved approximately 500 new TLDs, followed by a second round in 2015-2016 that added roughly 200 more. Regular approvals continue on an ongoing basis as new applications complete the review process.

The application process is rigorous and expensive. Organizations submit applications accompanied by a $185,000 fee that covers evaluation costs. ICANN then reviews each application for potential conflicts with existing TLDs or trademarks, security implications, and technical requirements for operating a registry. The approval process typically takes 12-18 months from application to final approval. Upon approval, the applicant becomes responsible for operating the TLD registry, managing registrations, and maintaining the technical infrastructure.

TLD Breakdown by Type (Approximate)

Country Code TLDs:     ~250
Generic TLDs (.com, .net, etc.): ~20
New Generic TLDs:     ~1,200
Sponsored TLDs:       ~15
Special Purpose:      ~5
Total:               ~1,500

The specific count varies slightly depending on how you categorize some TLDs.

Distribution of Domains by TLD

Not all TLDs have equal adoption. Domain registrations concentrate heavily in a small number of popular TLDs.

The .com TLD dominates the landscape with approximately 40% of all registered domains worldwide. Country code TLDs collectively represent significant registration volume, with China's .cn, Germany's .de, and the UK's .uk among the largest.

Why So Many New TLDs?

Several factors drive the proliferation of new TLDs.

Desired names unavailable in traditional TLDs motivated much of the expansion. With .com heavily saturated, most simple, memorable domain names were registered long ago. New TLDs provide alternatives—a company wanting a "tech" domain might find tech.com unavailable but mytechcompany.tech readily available, or startups can use the trendy .io extension favored by technology companies.

Marketing and branding opportunities attract businesses to industry-relevant TLDs. Cloud service providers gravitate toward .cloud, technology companies use .tech, and e-commerce sites choose .shop. These extensions communicate business focus immediately in the domain name itself.

Geographic identity drives demand for city and regional TLDs. Berlin-based businesses can register .berlin domains, New York companies can use .nyc, and London organizations can choose .london. These TLDs signal local presence and can improve local search visibility.

Community identity motivates specialized TLDs serving specific groups. The .cat extension serves Catalan speakers, .gay serves the LGBTQ+ community, and restricted TLDs like .bank serve verified financial institutions with enhanced trust signals.

Investment and revenue potential motivates registry operators. Registry operators earn fees from every domain registration under their TLD, creating ongoing revenue streams. Organizations apply to create new TLDs specifically as business ventures, expecting registration fees to exceed operational costs.

Emerging TLD Trends

Several trends shape the evolving TLD landscape.

Brand TLDs allow major companies to operate their brand name as a complete TLD. Companies like Amazon, Google, and Apple have secured their brand names as TLDs, giving them complete control over domains under their brand. Restricted registries like .bank and .insurance provide verified trust signals for entire industries, requiring registration verification to ensure only legitimate institutions can use these extensions.

Geographic TLDs continue expanding as more cities seek their own domain extensions. Major cities now operating TLDs include Tokyo with .tokyo, Sydney with .sydney, Berlin with .berlin, Paris with .paris, and London with .london. These city TLDs allow local businesses and organizations to signal geographic identity directly in their domain name.

Longer TLDs are becoming more common as descriptive industry terms receive approval. While there's a technical limit of 63 characters, TLDs like .international (13 characters) and .construction (12 characters) demonstrate that length is no barrier to approval when the TLD serves a clear purpose.

IDN TLDs (Internationalized Domain Names)

Internationalized Domain Name TLDs use non-Latin scripts, allowing domain names entirely in local languages. Examples include .中国 (China in Chinese characters), .한국 (Korea in Korean script), and .روسیا (Russia in Arabic script). Over 100 IDN TLDs now exist.

IDN TLDs enable native-language domain registration for users who don't primarily use Latin characters, representing an important step toward a more globally accessible internet. These TLDs are growing rapidly as internet adoption increases in regions using non-Latin scripts.

TLD Structure in DNS

The TLD system is hierarchical in DNS:

Root (.)
├─ .com
├─ .org
├─ .net
├─ .uk (country code)
│  ├─ .co.uk (second-level under .uk)
│  └─ .ac.uk
├─ .io
└─ ... 1,500+ others

Each TLD has a registry (organization managing it) and registrars (organizations selling domains under that TLD).

Challenges with TLD Proliferation

The expansion of TLDs creates several challenges.

Phishing and security concerns increase with more TLDs available for malicious actors. More TLDs mean more opportunities for convincing phishing domains—while amazon.com is the legitimate site, amazon.cloud or amazon.shop might deceive users into thinking they're visiting the real Amazon. Registries try to implement security policies and abuse prevention, but responsibility largely falls to users learning to verify domains and registrars enforcing acceptable use policies.

User confusion grows as the TLD landscape becomes more complex. Users face questions about which TLD to choose for their own sites, whether visitors will expect .com specifically and might not find them otherwise, and whether new TLDs carry the same trust as established options. Unfamiliar TLDs may appear suspicious to users accustomed to traditional options.

Memorability suffers with non-traditional TLDs. Traditional .com domains benefit from decades of user familiarity, making them easier to remember and type correctly. Novel TLDs, while potentially more descriptive, may be harder for users to recall or type without errors.

TLD Registries and Registrars

Understanding the distinction between registries and registrars clarifies how the domain system works.

Registries are organizations that operate the TLD infrastructure itself. VeriSign operates .com and .net, maintaining the authoritative database of all registered domains under those TLDs. Nominet operates .uk for the United Kingdom. Each TLD has exactly one designated registry responsible for maintaining the zone files and ensuring the TLD functions correctly.

Registrars are organizations that sell domains to end users. Familiar names include GoDaddy, Namecheap, and Cloudflare Registrar. Registrars work with registries to record new domain registrations and manage existing ones on behalf of domain owners.

The practical implication: you purchase domains from registrars, who coordinate with registries to complete the registration. Registrars compete on price and features, while registries operate as infrastructure providers behind the scenes.

Reserved and Special TLDs

Some TLDs are reserved for special purposes and cannot be registered by the public. The .test TLD is reserved for testing purposes in software development. The .localhost TLD references the local machine in network contexts. The .invalid TLD explicitly indicates invalid domains. The .example TLD is reserved for use in documentation and examples.

These reserved TLDs don't have registries, don't appear in the public DNS, and aren't meant for real-world registration. They exist to prevent conflicts when these strings are used in documentation, testing, or technical contexts.

Future TLD Trends

Several trends will likely shape the TLD landscape going forward.

Increasing diversity will continue as new applications are approved. Expect more specialized TLDs for specific industries that don't yet have dedicated extensions, more geographic TLDs as additional cities and regions seek their own domain identity, and more IDN TLDs as internet adoption grows in non-Latin-language regions.

Security improvements will address concerns created by TLD proliferation. DNSSEC adoption will continue to grow, providing cryptographic verification of DNS responses. Registry-level abuse prevention will become more sophisticated as registries implement proactive measures to prevent malicious registrations. Brand protection mechanisms will evolve to help trademark holders defend against domain abuse across the expanding TLD landscape.

Market consolidation will reshape the new TLD ecosystem. Some new TLDs will fail to attract sufficient registrations to remain economically viable, and unsuccessful TLDs will eventually cease operations as registry operators abandon unprofitable extensions. Throughout this consolidation, established TLDs like .com and .net will remain dominant due to their name recognition and user familiarity.

Using TLD Enumerator

The TLD Enumerator tool helps explore domain availability across the expanding TLD landscape. You can find all variations of a domain name across different TLDs, check availability across multiple extensions simultaneously, and monitor domain registrations for brand protection purposes.

For example, searching "mycompany" reveals availability across TLDs: mycompany.com is likely already registered given .com's popularity, but mycompany.app, mycompany.io, or mycompany.cloud might be available alternatives. This systematic approach helps identify registration opportunities without manually checking each TLD individually.

Best Practices for TLD Selection

Choosing the right TLD requires balancing several considerations. Prioritize .com if available and within budget, since it remains the most recognized and trusted extension. Consider your audience when geographic or demographic relevance matters—a Berlin business might benefit from .berlin while a global company needs broader recognition. Pursue brand consistency by registering multiple TLDs to protect your brand from competitors or bad actors registering similar domains. Match industry relevance where appropriate, using .tech for technology companies or .shop for retail. Prioritize memorability by avoiding obscure TLDs that users won't recognize or remember—the perfect domain name loses value if visitors can't recall or type the extension correctly.

Conclusion: A Diverse and Growing TLD Ecosystem

The TLD ecosystem has grown from ~250 options to 1,500+, providing more choice but also more complexity. While .com remains dominant, new TLDs serve specific communities, geographies, and industries. Understanding TLD categories and trends helps you make informed decisions about domain registration and strategy. Tools like TLD Enumerator make exploring TLD availability straightforward, helping you find the perfect domain for your project across the expanding landscape of options.