The annual domain insights report from Namecheap reveals the most popular TLDs of 2025, and the results are a fascinating look at how we are currently carving out our corners of the internet. For anyone who thought the classic dot-com was on its way out, the data tells a very different story. Despite the literal hundreds of creative extensions now available, from .pizza to .photography, the old guard is not just surviving; it is seeing a massive resurgence. It seems that when push comes to shove, people still crave that sense of familiarity and trust that comes with a traditional web address.
According to the 2025 Domain Insights and Trends report, which analyzed over 22 million domains, the digital landscape is balancing between established legacy and the cutting edge of tech. We are seeing a market where established businesses cling to the gold standard while a new wave of startups is betting big on specialized extensions to signal exactly what they do before a user even clicks a link.
The king still wears the crown
When looking at the sheer volume of registrations, the .com extension remains the undisputed heavyweight champion. The Namecheap reveals the most popular TLDs of 2025 data shows that .com accounted for a staggering 4.6 million new registrations in the last year alone. This represents about 40.1 percent of the market share, which is actually an 11 percent increase over the previous year.
It is an interesting pivot because, for a while, it looked like the market was diversifying so fast that .com might lose its grip. Instead, we are seeing a “flight to quality.” As the internet gets noisier, having a dot-com address is the digital equivalent of having a storefront on Fifth Avenue. It tells the world you are serious, you are established, and you are here to stay. Even as alternative options grow, that psychological comfort of the original extension is clearly worth the extra effort it takes to find an available name.
The explosive rise of the AI challengers
While .com holds the volume, the growth story of the year belongs to the tech-focused extensions. The Namecheap reveals the most popular TLDs of 2025 report highlights .ai as the standout performer. This extension, which technically belongs to the tiny Caribbean nation of Anguilla, has seen its registrations skyrocket by 55 percent. It is no longer just for deep-tech labs; it has become the default badge of honor for any company even remotely touching machine learning or automation.
We saw this play out in the aftermarket too. One of the biggest sales mentioned in the report was Blockchain.ai, which fetched a whopping 405,000 USD at auction. This shows that investors and businesses are putting serious money behind these three letters. If you are building a tech brand today, the .ai extension is essentially a shortcut to saying “we are part of the future.” It is a powerful branding tool that helps smaller companies stand out in a sea of generic web addresses.
Shifting positions in the top ten
Beyond the giants, there were some notable shifts in the middle of the pack. The .info extension made a massive jump, moving up four positions to become the second most popular TLD with over half a million registrations. This suggests a trend toward information-heavy sites, wikis, and resources that prioritize clarity and educational content.
Close behind were .site, .shop, and .xyz, each pulling in nearly 500,000 registrations. The popularity of .shop and .store is particularly telling. It shows that the e-commerce boom is not slowing down, but rather becoming more specialized. Instead of trying to find a long, clunky dot-com for a retail business, entrepreneurs are opting for shorter, punchier addresses that tell the customer exactly what to expect. If you see “YourBrand.shop,” you know immediately that you can buy something there.
The fastest growing extension you might have missed
One of the biggest surprises in the Namecheap reveals the most popular TLDs of 2025 report was the meteoric rise of .space. This extension grew by an incredible 404 percent year over year. While it might sound like it is just for astronauts, .space has been adopted by creators, freelancers, and community groups as a versatile, open-ended way to define their “place” on the web.
It is an affordable, catchy alternative that appeals to the “solopreneur” crowd. When every good .com name is taken and .ai is too expensive for a personal project, .space offers a clean slate. This type of growth proves that there is still plenty of room for new players in the domain game, especially those that offer a bit of creative flair without breaking the bank.
All of the TLDs mentioned in the Namecheap report are currently available for registration. Pricing varies wildly depending on the extension. A standard .com usually starts around 11.00 USD to 14.00 USD per year, though Namecheap often runs introductory deals as low as 6.00 USD.
