ICANN confirms 1,616 gTLD applications proceed to reveal

ICANN has finalized the number of valid applications in the 2026 generic top-level domain (gTLD) expansion round. Of the 1,663 submissions received by the August deadline, 1,616 met payment requirements and will advance to public disclosure. The remaining 47 either withdrew or failed to complete fee transactions in time.

The announcement ends weeks of industry speculation about the scale of this round. While smaller than the 2012 cohort of 1,930 applications, the current field still represents a significant expansion of the domain namespace. Payment confirmation also triggers the countdown to Reveal Day, when ICANN will publish the full list of applied-for strings and initial contention sets.

Timeline and process

ICANN has committed to publishing the applications no later than October 14, a date derived from the Applicant Guidebook’s nine-week deadline following the submission window closure. The organization plans to announce the exact Reveal Day date during the week of September 28, along with subsequent milestones for the String Replacement Period and String Confirmation Day.

The process includes a 14-day window after Reveal Day during which applicants can elect to use a pre-designated replacement string. This decision is irreversible and subject to strict rules: replacements cannot match any other applicant’s original or replacement string, even if those applicants later withdraw. ICANN has also prohibited private contention resolution deals, a change from the 2012 round that shifts financial risk to applicants.

Industry implications

The 1,616 applications do not equate to 1,616 new TLDs. Many strings face competition from multiple applicants, and the final count will depend on contention resolution. In 2012, 234 contention sets emerged from 1,930 applications, with only 16 resolved through ICANN auctions. The rest cleared via withdrawals, community priority evaluations, or private auctions—an option now banned.

For hosting providers and registrars, the reveal will clarify which strings will enter the market as commercial products. Some applications target closed .Brand namespaces, which will not appear in registrar price lists. Others may not survive the evaluation process: of the 1,930 applications in 2012, 653 were later withdrawn, and 1,241 ultimately delegated.

Several hosting and domain companies have already disclosed portions of their portfolios. Namecheap’s registry arm, Starlight, submitted 40 applications, while Italian host Aruba disclosed 39 strings. Overlaps exist: 17 of Starlight’s strings appear on Aruba’s published list. One high-profile dispute involves the string .easy, with three applicants—easyGroup, Link Freedom Group, and Aruba—currently in contention. Link Freedom Group filed a federal lawsuit on September 21 seeking to resolve the dispute outside ICANN’s process.

What to watch

The coming weeks will bring clarity on three fronts. First, the exact Reveal Day date will determine how quickly applicants must prepare for the String Replacement Period. Second, the public disclosure will reveal the full scope of contention, including strings with multiple applicants. Third, the ban on private auctions means losing applicants will recover only partial fees, increasing the stakes for early-stage decisions like string replacement.

Hosting providers and registrars should monitor the Application Publication and Statistics site ICANN will launch on Reveal Day. The platform will provide real-time data on applied-for strings, contention sets, and program statistics, offering the first comprehensive view of the 2026 round’s landscape.