2026 Round Applicant Guidebook

The 2026 Round Applicant Guidebook is the guide to ICANN's New gTLD Program: Next Round, providing interested parties the information they need to apply for new gTLDs. It consists of seven modules and 12 appendices, laying out the requirements to lead readers through application submission and evaluation processes.

The 2026 Round Applicant Guidebook is based on over 300 outputs (Affirmations, Affirmations with Modification, Recommendations, and Implementation Guidance) from the Final Report on the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Process (SubPro Final Report) as well as the outputs of the Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) on Internationalized Domain Names, Policy Development Process (PDP) Review of All Rights Protection Mechanisms in All gTLDs, PDP IGO-INGO Access to Curative Rights Protection Mechanisms, and PDP Protection of IGO and INGO Identifiers in All gTLDs.

Content

Applicant Journey

Pre-Submission Information

Only legal entities such as corporations, organizations, and institutions as well as governmental, non-governmental, and inter-governmental entities may apply for a new gTLD.

In this stage, applicants confirm eligibility, understand applicable fees, agree to program terms and conditions. ICANN will not accept or advance an application unless the applicant is legally eligible, has paid all required fees on time, and can demonstrate the financial and operational capability to run a stable and secure registry. Also, applications must be submitted with a bona fide intent to operate the gTLD.

The applicant must create an ICANN account, gather required documentation, and prepare the technical, operational, and financial information needed for the application. The application than must be submitted electronically through the TLD Application Management System (TAMS). TAMS is a secure online system used by applicants, ICANN, and evaluation panels to submit and manage niche utility applications, monitor application progress, track payment information, communicate about a specific application, provide clarifications, request changes to application content, and receive critical notifications related to applications.

Fees

Applicants are required to pay the full gTLD evaluation fee of USD 227,000 for each application, and there may be additional conditional evaluation fees, depending on the application type. There are exceptions for those that qualify for the Applicant Support Program (ASP) and applicants for variant applications that meet the criteria below:

In the case of qualified ASP applicants, we have that they will receive a 75-85% reduction of the gTLD evaluation fee. Therefore, the discounted gTLD evaluation fee for a qualified ASP applicant will range between USD 34,500 and USD 56,750 (including the USD 2,500 deposit submitted to confirm ASP financial viability). The exact amount will depend on the final number of qualified ASP applicants.

Considering variant applications, we have that:

• The gTLD evaluation fee covers one application for a primary gTLD and up to four variant strings. If an applicant wants to apply for more than four variant strings under one primary string, the applicant must pay the USD 227,000 evaluation fee for each additional allocatable variant.
• A gTLD registry operator from the 2012 Round may apply for up to four variant strings of its existing gTLD with its application fee waived as a one-time exception. If applying for more than four variant strings, it will pay the full gTLD evaluation fee for each additional allocatable variant.

In addition to the required evaluations covered by the gTLD evaluation fee, there are a number of conditional evaluations that applicants may elect or are required to undergo to obtain a specific status or exemption.

Application Stages

The application submission period is expected to open no later than 23:59 UTC on 30 April 30, 2026 and remain open for 105 days, closing on August 12, 2026 at 23:59 UTC.

The application will consist of the following sections to be completed upon user registration:

• Organization Information
• Financial Information
• gTLD Application Information

The organization and financial sections include users, stakeholders, and financial details. The gTLD application section covers string details, operational plans, and RSP information. It also covers supporting documentation to qualify for certain types of applications or strings, such as proof of support for Geographic or Community strings, proof of entity for a Reserved Name, among others.

To complete the application, users must answer a series of questions and provide supporting documents.

Before submission, TAMS validates all required fields.

Strings

The different types of applications include the following: General, Community, Geographic Name, Reserved Name, .Brand TLD, Internationalized Domain Name (IDN), Variant of Existing gTLD, Primary IDN TLD including one or more Variants, Category 1 Safeguard, and applications from governments, IGOs, and supported applicants (Government/IGO Applicant and Applicant Support application types).

Each application is for one gTLD string. In order to potentially reduce the instances for contention, applicants can designate a replacement string alongside their original choice. The replacement string may contain different characteristics than the original string. For IDN strings, an application may also include one or more allocatable variant strings (where such variants exist under the Root Zone Label Generation Rules). The AGB also allows the registry operator of an existing gTLD to apply for one or more allocatable variant strings of that existing gTLD.

Geographic Names, IDN TLDs, Reserved Names, and Strings Subject to Category 1 Safeguards strings will initiate specific processing and evaluation procedures. In the AGB, Category 1 Safeguards are implemented through mandatory Safeguard Public Interest Commitments (Safeguard PICs) assigned based on the applied-for string's safeguard group and incorporated into Specification 11 of the Base Registry Agreement.

At the moment, Closed Generics, defined as "a string consisting of a word or term that denominates or describes a general class of goods, services, groups, organizations or things, as opposed to distinguishing a specific brand of goods, services, groups, organizations or things from those of others", are not accepted.

Pre-Submission String Validations

Certain validations on the primary and variant strings, including replacement strings, are automatically incorporated into and implemented via TAMS. If a string fails one of the validations or a match is found, the applicant will receive an error or warning message in TAMS explaining the detected issues and will not be allowed to proceed and submit its application or will have to provide additional documentation. Applicants will be able to enter their string in TAMS to check whether there is a match.

Certain strings, referred to as "Blocked Names", are not available for delegation. During the application drafting process, the system will automatically verify whether the applicant’s entered string and any applicable variant strings appear on the Blocked Names list. If so, the applicant will not be able to move forward with that string and must select a different one in order to continue the application.

Certain strings, known as "Reserved Names," are available as gTLDs only through a verification process. These names are designated for specific entities, referred to as “Limited International IGO-INGOs,” which are the only parties eligible to apply for them. ICANN maintains the Reserved Names list, compiled from various sources, and requires relevant entities to provide appropriate documentation. During the application drafting process, the system will automatically verify whether the applicant’s entered string and any applicable variant strings appear on the Reserved Names list. If the string is found on this list, the exception process will be initiated, during which the applicant will be prompted to upload documentation demonstrating that it is the entity for which the name is reserved.

Registry Service Provider Selection

All applicants are required to identify one or more evaluated Registry Service Providers (RSPs), evaluated via the RSP Evaluation Program, that the applicant intends to use if the applied-for string or strings proceed to delegation. Applicants can choose a pre-evaluated registry service provider, or ask ICANN to evaluate their own in-house capability through the RSP evaluation program.

Applicants can submit their application without selecting an RSP, although it is engouraged they do. However, they will need to provide that information later through application change requests before Application Evaluation.

Pre-Evaluation Processes

Following the close of the application submission period, ICANN will review the list of submitted applications and place applications for identical strings into contention sets in preparation for Reveal Day. The administrative check is expected to be completed for all applications in a period of approximately eight weeks, subject to the overall application volume.

ICANN expects to publish the list of all applications that have passed the Administrative Check on Reveal Day no later than nine weeks following the close of the application submission period. This list, which will be posted on the New gTLD Program website, will include the relevant applied-for strings and any variant and replacement strings, if applicable. The public portions of each application will also be made available. A list of contention sets containing applications for identical strings will also be published on the website.

Replacement Period

Once applicants have access to the full list of applied-for strings, as well as any variant strings and replacement strings, they will have the opportunity to replace their applied-for string with their replacement string. Applicants that have selected an eligible replacement string will have a 14-day Replacement Period to notify ICANN via TAMS of their intention to replace their original applied-for string with the replacement string identified in their application.

String Confirmation Day

On String Confirmation Day, ICANN will post an updated list of applications and their chosen strings, whether original or replacement.

Prioritization Draw

A Prioritization Draw is expected to be held no later than 30 days after String Confirmation Day. The Draw will determine the Priority Number of an application and the general order in which it will be processed by ICANN.

Community Input

Starting on String Confirmation Day, the community will have the opportunity to provide input. Comments shall be posted on the Application Comment Forum (ACF), allowing all interested parties, including applicants, to review and comment on the applications.

To submit a comment, commenters will need to have an ICANN Account. They will also be asked to indicate their affiliation and whether they have a relationship with any applicants or applications. In addition, commenters will be required to specify the applications, strings, and specific evaluations and processes to which their comments relate.

If commenters believe they have information related to confidential portions of an application that may not be appropriate to submit publicly, they can opt to submit a confidential comment. This confidential comment will only be visible to ICANN, the applicant, and evaluators. To ensure transparency, this option can only be used for comments related to confidential portions of the application.

GAC Early Warning

After applications are publicly posted on the New gTLD Program website, members and observers of ICANN's GAC may issue a GAC Member Early Warning (Early Warning) concerning an application. An Early Warning provides the applicant with an indication that the application is seen as potentially sensitive or problematic, for example, by potentially violating national law or raising sensitivities, which must be specified in the Early Warning notice.

GAC Member Early Warnings should be submitted in the 104 days following String Confirmation Day, and must include a written explanation describing why the Early Warning was submitted and how the applicant may address the GAC member's concerns.

Upon receipt of an Early Warning, an applicant wishing to continue with its application may meet with representatives from the concerned party or parties on the applicant’s own accord or submit an Application Change Request to try to address the concerns.

Applicants may also elect not to take action and continue with their application as is. While applicants are generally encouraged to engage with the relevant GAC members to address any concerns raised, failure to do so may or may not result in GAC Consensus Advice.

Singular/Plural Notifications

Within 30 days of String Confirmation Day, the public can notify ICANN about:

• applied-for strings representing singular or plural versions of the same word in the same language;
• an applied-for string being a singular or plural version of a:
  • delegated string;
  • string still being processed from previous new gTLD round; or
  • Blocked Name.

Objections and Appeals

In the 104 days following String Confirmation Day, parties with standing may file objections against specific applications, which will be evaluated by a panel of expert(s). Objections may be based on four grounds: string confusion, legal rights, limited public interest, and community.

The party that does not prevail in an objection has a limited opportunity to appeal the decision. The non-prevailing party must notify the Dispute Resolution Service Provider (DRSP) of its intent to appeal within 15 days following the issuance of the objection determination. Subsequently, the non-prevailing party has an additional 15 days from the notice date to file the appeal and pay the required fees.

String Evaluation focuses solely on the evaluation of the applied-for strings and their allocatable variant strings. This process starts after String Confirmation Day and is expected to take 180 days. String Evaluation will partially overlap with the period during which the community can provide their input on the applications. String Evaluation consists of the five elements described below, each of which will be assessed concurrently:

Generic Top-level Domain

Generic Top-level Domain

Top-Level Domain

Internationalized Domain Name

Top-Level Domain

Governmental Advisory Committee. Considers and provides advice on the activities of ICANN as they relate to concerns of governments, particularly matters where there may be an interaction between ICANN's policies and various laws and international agreements or where they may affect public policy issues (ICANN Bylaws).