How to Get Your Own Top Level Domain – Book Released

Posted on May 11, 2025 by Joe Alagna
How to get your own top level domain book, by Joe Alagna & Andrey Insarov
*First editions spiral-bound – Perfect bound copies coming soon.

Order your copy now!

UPDATE: July 2025: Version II has just been released!

This is the book we’ve just completed. I spent almost 13 years immersed in the process of helping new Top-Level Domains come into existence and grow, first, working for a growing domain registry between 2007 to 2012. This was the first time that ICANN opened the process to the public en masse. Almost 2,000 applications were received, and today’s result is that domain registrants now have around 600 new choices for endings to their domain names. I worked on about 60 successful applications.

In 2013, I began working for 101domain. They were the first to offer all Top-Level Domains, a comprehensive source for researching and buying almost any Top-Level domain in the world. Our philosophy was to work with all registries and be the one-stop shop for purchasing any top-level domain name. We released from one to ten new gTLDs each month from 2013 to 2017. Then I joined Afilias (now part of Identity Digital) and worked on country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs).

Well, ICANN is doing it again! In 2026, they will allow applicants to go for their own top-level domain once again. I decided to share what I learned from the last round and, together with Andrey Insarov, our CEO at it.com Domains, I’ve written, How to Get Your Own Top Level Domain.

Order your copy now!

To get a feel for how important this event is, consider the following:

Top-Level Domains: Rare Digital Infrastructure With Lasting Value

In the digital economy, domain names are no longer just technical identifiers; they’re assets. And like all assets, some are worth far more than others.

A 2021 study by Boston Consulting Group valued the secondary domain market, where investors buy and sell premium domain names, at nearly $2.1 billion, rivaling the size of the primary retail domain market. That market is built entirely on second-level domains (SLDs) like business.com, travel.net, and finance.org. These are registered beneath a Top-Level Domain (TLD).

As of Q1 2025, Verisign reports that there are roughly 386 million registered second-level domains across all TLDs. But remarkably, there are only about 1,500 top-level domains in total. That makes TLDs approximately 250,000 times rarer than the domains built beneath them.

Rarity Meets Function

Top-level domains aren’t just rarer, they’re more foundational. Every single domain registration, renewal, and transaction under a TLD generates value that is funneled back to the operator of that TLD. Unlike SLDs, which offer one-time sales or limited leasing potential, TLDs offer ongoing cash flow, asset equity, and strategic control over naming rights across entire industries, languages, or interest groups.

A top-level domain like .realty or .art isn’t just a string. It’s a platform – a naming ecosystem that can host millions of second-level domains beneath it, each potentially worth hundreds, thousands, or sometimes millions of dollars individually. The operator controls pricing, policy, partnerships, and access.

Let the Numbers Tell the Story

If 386 million SLDs can create a $2.1 billion aftermarket, and if just a few SLDs like voice.com or insurance.com have sold for over $30 million each, how much more valuable is the underlying infrastructure that enables infinite versions of those names under your own TLD?

Operators of TLDs like .xyz, .io, and .ai have built multi-million-dollar enterprises by monetizing naming rights across niches. Verisign, which operates the .com and .net domains, has become a $ 20 billion+ company doing exactly this.

A Business, Not Just a Name

Each top-level domain becomes its own business unit. It has customers (registrants), revenue (renewals), partners (registrars), and policies (managed through ICANN). It may be traded, invested in, or acquired, just like any valuable company.

Top-level domains are not speculative novelties. They’re digital infrastructure. Scarce, foundational, and capable of generating long-term value in a way that few digital assets can.

In a world where SLDs command millions, top-level domains may be the most underappreciated business assets on the Internet.

Owning a top-level domain is like owning the entire mall, not just a store inside it.

I have helped people apply successfully in the past, and I am eager to assist those who wish to do so this time. The book will contain my perspectives, the basics of how to apply, and my thoughts on what we might expect in the coming year. It also contains at least three interviews of people who applied in 2012.

Our Press Release: https://bit.ly/tldhowto

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How Much Can it Cost to Run a New TLD at 100k Domains Under Management?

Posted on March 12, 2026 by Joe Alagna

Now that ICANN has met again and we are getting closer to the 2026 application window for new Top-Level Domain Names, I thought I would share some rough figures on the cost of running a Registry with 100,000 Domains Under Management (DUM). The base ICANN cost to establish a TLD is about $232,000 (includes a $5k Rights Protection Mechanism Access Fee), and to maintain it at 100,000 domain-years is $51,500 per year, based on fees from the draft agreement and 2026-round materials. This includes:

  • Initial ICANN setup cost: $232,000 (extras not included).
  • Ongoing annual ICANN fees once the TLD is live
  • Draft RA: annual registry fee ($25,750) plus $0.2575 per transaction. At 100,000 transactions, the annual ICANN cost is about $51,500.

This assumes one transaction per domain per year at 100,000 domains, reflecting the typical steady-state registry size for ICANN fees. The per-transaction fee generally applies if over 50,000 transactions per year, which a 100,000-DUM registry will typically exceed.

Two key caveats should be kept in mind when budgeting using these figures. The draft agreement allows ICANN to raise fees in line with inflation, so $51,500 is only a current estimate based on draft figures. Other possible costs not included: conditional evaluation fees, auction or contention costs, objections, RSTEP fees for technical evaluations, RPM fees for Sunrise/Claims periods, or the Variable Registry-Level Fee if registrars disapprove variable accreditation fees. These are situational and should only be included for comprehensive modeling.

In summary: ICANN-only planning number Setup: $232,000 Annual run rate at 100k DUM: $51,500/year

That is the simplest version.

You’ll still need to consider the following variable costs:

  • Registrar and marketing needs – Registrars may require registry support for marketing and integration.
  • Fraud monitoring – as the registry grows, maintaining security and handling abuse incurs costs.
  • RSP and DNS fees – Estimate predictable technology management costs.
  • Data escrow, legal, and policy – Plan for these necessary, if modest, expenses.
  • Staff – Some registries run on minimal staff, but if you want to scale, you’ll likely need some help.

What Can a Registry Be Worth? Is it Worth it?

Below are the biggest examples. Very little data exists on what new gTLD registries have been sold for since 2012. But certainly, there is a market for them. A registry can be worth the risk if the TLD has real demand, strong renewals, and a solid distribution plan. These are some of the top industry players.

  • Verisign (.com / .net): about $1.56B in annual revenue and roughly $26B market value
  • Public Interest Registry (.org): about 11M domains and roughly $106M in annual revenue
  • Proposed .org / PIR sale: $1.135B (not completed, but a strong valuation signal)
  • Nominet (.uk): about 10.2M domains and £55.9M in revenue
  • .ai (Anguilla): became a major economic asset, generating tens of millions in revenue

Examples for some of the 2012 players:

  • Rightside sold to Donuts (2017): about $213M
  • Neustar registry business sold to GoDaddy (2020): $218M
  • MMX assets sold to GoDaddy (2021): about $120M

What makes a registry valuable:

  • Recurring renewal revenue
  • Pricing power
  • Premium domain inventory
  • Strong brand or category relevance
  • Good registrar/channel distribution
  • Low operating overhead once established

Bottom line:
A registry is not valuable just because it exists. It becomes valuable when it turns into a durable, recurring digital asset. A strong string can be worth millions or more. With a good team and a strong idea, a registry business can be very valuable.

Acronyms:

DUM – Domains Under Management
RPM – Rights Protection Mechanism
RSTEP – Registry Services Technical Evaluation Panel
RSP – Registry Service Provider
DNS – Domain Name System
RA – Registry Agreement

Sources:
Much of what I gleaned above comes from ICANN’s draft registry agreement. In many ways, this document is more important than the Applicant Guidebook.

Disclaimer: Nothing I state in this article or on my blog is meant to be investment or legal advice. Applicants must do their own due diligence and consult with an attorney or their own investment advisors.

Posted in ccTLDs, Country Code People, Domain Name News, Domain Names, New gTld Auctions, New Top Level Domains, Plain Interesting, Registrars, Registries | Comments Off on How Much Can it Cost to Run a New TLD at 100k Domains Under Management?

My Q&A with Thomson Reuters/Westlaw on New gTLDs in 2026

Posted on February 11, 2026 by Joe Alagna

When most people think about the internet, they think about websites, apps, and maybe AI. Very few think about the invisible “street addresses” that make all of that possible: domain names.

In 2012, ICANN opened the door for organizations to apply for their own top-level domains (TLDs) – everything to the right of the dot. That round created extensions such as .xyz, .berlin, and.BMW and many others. In April 2026, ICANN is scheduled to do it again, and the application window will be open for only about 90 days. If you miss it, you may be waiting more than a decade for another chance.

Because the process is complex, legal-heavy, and expensive to get wrong, Andrey Insarov and I wrote a book called How to Get Your Own Top-Level Domain: An Insider’s Guide to ICANN’s Application Process. We wanted to take something that’s usually buried in ICANN documents and make it understandable to entrepreneurs, brands, governments, and advisors who sense an opportunity but don’t know where to start.

Patrick H. J. Hughes of Thomson Reuters’ Westlaw Today team recently interviewed me about the book, the coming 2026 round, and bigger questions like:

  • Why new TLDs matter for the next billion internet users
  • How brands can use their own TLD to reduce cybersquatting and stop pouring ad dollars into promoting someone else’s extension
  • Why ICANN and its policies still sit at the core of a stable, global internet
  • And why, despite all the hype, AI is not going to replace domain names anytime soon.

The Q&A below is the full text of that conversation, originally published on Westlaw Today on August 7, 2025, and reposted here with permission. If you’re even a little bit curious about owning a piece of the internet’s “root,” this will give you a clear, practical starting point.

Posted in ccTLDs, Country Code People, Domain Name News, Domain Names, ICANN, INTA, New gTld Auctions, New Top Level Domains, Registrars, Registries, Tech News and Views | Comments Off on My Q&A with Thomson Reuters/Westlaw on New gTLDs in 2026

Craylor Media Interview at NamesCon 2025

Posted on February 9, 2026 by Joe Alagna

How do you start your own top-level domain (TLD)? A rare opportunity is coming up in 2026, and I spoke with Christian Taylor about it at NamesCon. Here’s what you need to know about next year’s unique opportunity.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7396586178696884224

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In the 2026 Round of gTLDs, Can There Be Refunds?

Posted on October 2, 2025 by Joe Alagna

Since publishing my book How to Get Your Own Top Level Domain, I’ve had a lot of conversations about ICANN’s upcoming 2026 round of new gTLDs. And one of the most common questions I hear is this: If you apply and then change your mind, can you get your money back?

The short answer is that the refund rules for 2026 are not yet final. However, if we examine what happened in 2012 and compare it to the draft rules for 2026, we can see where things are headed.

How Refunds Worked in 2012

Back in 2012, the application fee was 185,000. That included a $5,000 non-refundable deposit and a $180,000 evaluation fee. Some of that fee was refundable, but only depending on when you withdrew:

If you pulled out before ICANN published the list of all applied-for TLDs – what they called “the Reveal Date” – you could get almost the entire fee back. Remember that submissions are confidential until the Reveal Date, when ICANN announces all applied-for strings.

If you withdrew after the Reveal Date, but before evaluations began, you still could get part of it back, but a lesser amount. The later you waited – for example, after evaluations were underway – the refund dropped even further. And once you signed a Registry Agreement, there were no refunds at all.

I believe there were some cases that allowed some applicants to receive a full refund of the evaluation fee (minus the $5,000 deposit) if they withdrew before the Reveal. But those were outliers and not common. So the big lesson from 2012 was this: the earlier you withdrew, the more you got back. The later you waited, the less you saw. And once the deal was signed, the money was paid and gone. Of course, you got your TLD if you signed, and the string was delegated to the IANA root.

What About Refunds in 2026?

Now, let’s fast forward to today. ICANN hasn’t published the final refund rules yet, but the draft guidebook provides a fairly clear picture.

This time, the application fee is higher, $227,000. And refunds are much less generous. Instead of being able to get nearly all of it back if you withdraw early, the draft rules set up three refund windows:

First window: If you withdraw right after paying, up until 10 days after the “string confirmation day,” you receive 65% back.

Second window: If you withdraw later in the evaluation process, the refund drops to 35%.

Third window: If you wait longer, you can get only 20% back.

And once you’ve signed a Registry Agreement, there are no refunds (and again, you’ve received your TLD)

There may be a few exceptions where you might see more:

If ICANN makes a big rule change that impacts your application, they’ve built in a “material change” clause where you could qualify for a larger refund.

If your string gets flagged as a high-risk collision with existing internet names, you can withdraw and still get 65% back, even if you’re outside the first window.

And in rare cases – like if your string conflicts with a country code domain in another process – you might even qualify for a full refund.

But those are special situations. The reality is: refunds in 2026 are much stricter than they were in 2012. ICANN wants to discourage speculative applications. The expectation is that if you apply, you’re serious – and if you back out, you’ll only see part of your money come back.

Takeaway

So if you’re thinking about applying in 2026, remember this: the refund safety net isn’t what it used to be. In 2012, you had more breathing room to change your mind. In 2026, you’ll need to be much more confident up front, because once you commit, most of that fee is staying with ICANN.

Disclaimer
The information in this video is provided for general informational purposes only and reflects my personal views and opinions. I am not an attorney, and nothing presented here should be considered legal advice. The content does not represent the views of my company or any organization with which I am affiliated.

If you are considering applying for a new gTLD in ICANN’s 2026 round, you should conduct your own due diligence, carefully review ICANN’s official Applicant Guidebook and related documentation, and seek appropriate professional legal, financial, or business advice before making any decisions.

While I strive to provide accurate and up-to-date information, ICANN’s rules and policies are subject to change, and I make no guarantees regarding the completeness or accuracy of the content shared here.

Posted in ccTLDs, Country Code People, Domain Name News, Domain Names, ICANN, INTA, New gTld Auctions, New Top Level Domains, Tech News and Views | Comments Off on In the 2026 Round of gTLDs, Can There Be Refunds?