Your journey starts today. ICANN is opening its second new gTLD application window in nearly 15 years on April 30, 2026. To be clear, there is no guarantee that this opportunity will be available again in the future, especially any time soon. The application window closes on August 12, 2026.
In our prior articles in this series, we have provided an overview of the 2026 New gTLD program as well as the financial requirements involved. To help you envision what this journey entails, we will walk you through the lifecycle in this article—from Pre-Submission to Onboarding & Delegation—detailing the requirements and financial commitments you will face at each milestone.
It is expected to take at a minimum two years to launch the first top level domains through the program, taking us to the second quarter of 2028. ICANN expects it will take through 2030 to get through the entire program for all applicants, depending on the number of applications received.
The gTLD application journey
For official documentation on the new gTLD program, visit ICANN’s Applicant Guidebook which is the definitive source of information and rules for the program.
Let’s take a look at the journey should you choose to embark.
Stage 1: Pre-Submission (Now – April 2026)
Preparation and Strategy
Effective forecasting, budgeting, and risk assessment during this phase are crucial. The thoroughness of your pre-application preparation will be the main determinant of your success throughout this entire process.
The primary decision to make is the selection of your string—the “after the dot” gTLD name you will operate. In your application, you may also designate a replacement string in your initial application to pivot to if there are any issues with your first choice. While your own research is essential, this selection also requires a thorough evaluation of strings that are prohibited from application, potential name collision concerns (ICANN offers a Name Collision Observatory Tool 1 to get you started), and other factors that will impact your ability to successfully obtain your chosen name.
Second, decide whether you want to operate your TLD as a closed dotBrand, make it commercially available, or are applying on behalf of a community. Careful consideration of your target audience, business model, profitability projections, long-term strategic goals, and brand and organizational alignment is vital, depending on your chosen path.
You should have the following in place prior to preparation and submission of your application to ICANN:
- Legal Entity to be used (required for contracting with ICANN).
- Expertise in Legal, Technical, Financial, Operational, Strategic, Policy and Governance.
- Registry Service Provider selected from ICANN’s list of approved RSPs that is responsible for managing your entire technical infrastructure2.
Stage 2: Application Submission (April 30 – August 12, 2026)
The Window of Opportunity
Once the round opens on April 30, 2026, you have 15 weeks to submit your application via the TLD Application Management System (TAMS). This portal will be used to handle everything from drafting your application and submitting payments to progress tracking. Each application has universal requirements, conditional sections based on your application type, and optional addons, such as Registry Voluntary Commitments (RVCs) to support your business strategy.
TAMS includes automated validations to confirm the eligibility of your string and variants immediately, helping you catch errors before submission. You are required to pay your $227,000 evaluation fee at the time of submission to ICANN.
Stage 3: ICANN Pre-Evaluation (August – December 2026)
Reveal Day
Caveat: This schedule is based on the current ICANN Applicant Guidebook (AGB) and may be adjusted based on application volume.
Administrative Checks by ICANN will occur from August to October 2026, where ICANN verifies fees and checks your application for completeness, flagging any identical strings for contention. All applied-for strings are announced on Reveal Day in late October. From Reveal Day, you have 14-days to switch to your alternative string (a fallback string listed in your application) if your string is in contention with other applicants. In order to switch to your alternative string, it cannot create a contention set with other applications.
In November, ICANN will publish the finalized string list and contention sets. The Community Input and Objections Period then begins, where both the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) and the general public may provide feedback.
Finally, in December, the Prioritization Draw3 allows applicants to participate for a priority number, which determines the application processing order. (See timeline)
Stage 4: String Evaluation
The 180-day String Evaluation period, which runs concurrently with Community Input and Objection period, is a technical and policy review conducted by ICANN to ensure DNS safety and stability. ICANN checks for protected geographic names, confusion with existing TLDs, and potential name collisions.
This stage is also where contention sets are confirmed. If other applicants have applied for your string, you must budget for the possibility of an auction if there are multiple applicants listed on Reveal Day for your desired string if contention cannot be resolved. Auctions can be the most significant financial variable in the new gTLD journey, historically ranging from hundreds of thousands to tens of millions of dollars to win an auction.
Stage 5: Applicant & Application Evaluation
During this stage, your organization is evaluated by its ability to operate a registry, focusing on your financial security and technical plans submitted in your application. This ensures you possess the long-term resources and expertise required by ICANN standards.
ICANN will evaluate:
- Background screening
- Financial capacity (long-term)
- Geographic and reserved names review
- Name collision risk
- Extended evaluation if risks or questions arise
Stage 6: Contracting
Signing your Registry Agreement
Once your application passes all stages, and arrives at Contracting, you must sign ICANN’s Registry Agreement prior to delegation into the root. ICANN will send an invitation to contract, which must be executed within 90 days. You are then required to delegate your new TLD within one year of contract execution.
Stage 7: Onboarding & Delegation
Going Live!
This phase officially transitions you into an operational registry. It includes administrative setup, configuration in the trademark clearinghouse system, and defining your launch periods (Sunrise/Claims) and other details.
Pre-Delegation Testing is mandatory to verify that all technical and operational criteria are met before your TLD is delegated to the Root Zone, which makes the TLD active and available for use on the internet.
As we’ve mentioned before, we expect ICANN to begin the delegation of new TLDs in the second quarter of 2028.
In Summary
The successful application, approval, and operation of a new gTLD requires strategic vision, cross-functional organization buy-in, legal, operational, and technical expertise throughout the process and after it is launched.
While this journey map provides a useful roadmap, from initial application to final delegation, success ultimately rests on the thoroughness of preparation and who you partner with on this journey.
101domain is here to partner with you throughout this process with:
- Pre-evaluation
- Application preparation & submission
- Registry Service Provider services
- Registrar services
- Business, operational and marketing services
- Policy development
- Audit & compliance
The application window is fast approaching. Don’t miss this opportunity to own and operate your own space in the internet—contact us today to get started.
- https://newgtldprogram-nco.icann.org/ ↩︎
- ICANN list of approved RSPs ↩︎
- Prioritization draw information and timeline. ↩︎