What are the most popular domain ex­ten­sions?

.com remains by far the most widely used domain extension, but hundreds of country-code, industry-specific and newer top-level domains are also available. Current reg­is­tra­tion and website usage data shows which ex­ten­sions dominate the market and which cat­e­gories are growing most quickly.

What is a domain extension?

A domain extension, also known as a top-level domain (TLD), is the final part of a web address, such as .com, .org or .us.

The main cat­e­gories are:

• Generic top-level domains (gTLDs) such as .com, .org and .net
• Country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs) such as .us, .ca and .de
• New generic top-level domains (new gTLDs) such as .xyz, .shop and .online

The IANA Root Zone Database records delegated TLDs and their registry operators. The .us extension, for example, is clas­si­fied as the country-code TLD for the United States.

What are the most popular domain ex­ten­sions?

There are two useful ways to measure the pop­u­lar­i­ty of a domain extension:

1. Website usage measures the per­cent­age of active websites using an extension.
2. Domain reg­is­tra­tions measure how many domain names have been reg­is­tered under an extension, including domains that may not currently host an active website.

These methods produce different rankings. W3Techs analyzes domain ex­ten­sions used by published websites, while domain industry reports generally measure reg­is­tered domain names.

Most-used domain ex­ten­sions by website share

The following figures show the per­cent­age of websites using each TLD:

The data high­lights the ex­cep­tion­al position of .com. More than four out of ten websites use this extension, while no other in­di­vid­ual TLD reaches a 5% share.

Country-code domains nev­er­the­less occupy several of the leading positions. This reflects the im­por­tance of na­tion­al­ly targeted websites in markets such as Germany, Brazil, the United Kingdom and Japan.

For US busi­ness­es, .com is usually more prominent than .us. The .us extension can com­mu­ni­cate a specific con­nec­tion to the United States, but US companies commonly use .com for both domestic and in­ter­na­tion­al audiences. Unlike .com, .us isn’t open to everyone: reg­is­trants must meet the US Nexus Re­quire­ment, cer­ti­fy­ing a genuine US con­nec­tion (cit­i­zen­ship/residency, a US-in­cor­po­rat­ed entity, or a doc­u­ment­ed US business presence). This makes .us un­suit­able for purely in­ter­na­tion­al projects, and reg­is­trants should also note that .us WHOIS contact data is public — domain privacy services aren’t available the way they are for .com.

The global domain market in numbers

Reg­is­tra­tion sta­tis­tics provide a broader picture of the domain market. According to the Domain Name Industry Brief, the second quarter of 2026 ended with:

The total number of reg­is­tered domains increased by 29.9 million, or 8.1%, year over year. New gTLDs recorded par­tic­u­lar­ly strong growth, rising by 34.0% year over year to 52.9 million reg­is­tra­tions.

Despite this growth, .com remains the largest in­di­vid­ual extension. Together, .com and .net accounted for 179.1 million reg­is­tered domains at the end of June 2026.

The figures show that the domain market continues to grow, with par­tic­u­lar­ly strong gains among new generic top-level domains. The following in­fo­graph­ic sum­ma­rizes the most important market figures and the ex­ten­sions that recorded the largest absolute increases.

Which TLDs have the most reg­is­tra­tions?

As of June 30, 2026, the ten largest domain ex­ten­sions by reported reg­is­tra­tions were:

1. .com
2. .cn
3. .de
4. .net
5. .org
6. .uk
7. .xyz
8. .ru
9. .top
10. .nl

This ranking contains several different types of extension. .com, .net and .org are es­tab­lished generic TLDs, while .cn, .de, .uk, .ru and .nl are country-code domains. The inclusion of .xyz and .top demon­strates the growing reg­is­tra­tion volume of newer ex­ten­sions.

Reg­is­tra­tion totals alone do not reveal how ex­ten­sive­ly an extension is used for active websites. Low in­tro­duc­to­ry prices, pro­mo­tion­al reg­is­tra­tions, domain port­fo­lios and redirect domains can all increase reg­is­tra­tion numbers.

What are the most popular country-code domain ex­ten­sions?

Country-code top-level domains represent national or ter­ri­to­r­i­al markets. At the end of the second quarter of 2026, ccTLDs accounted for 148.6 million reg­is­tra­tions, equiv­a­lent to ap­prox­i­mate­ly 37% of all reg­is­tered domains.

The ten largest ccTLDs were:

Together, these ten ex­ten­sions rep­re­sent­ed 57.2% of all ccTLD reg­is­tra­tions as of June 30, 2026.

The .us domain does not rank among the world’s ten largest ccTLDs. This does not mean that US busi­ness­es have little demand for domains. As mentioned earlier, many American companies use .com, including busi­ness­es whose op­er­a­tions are primarily or entirely based in the United States. A .us domain can nev­er­the­less be relevant when a website wants to emphasize its US presence, national identity or con­nec­tion to a specific American audience.

How quickly are new domain ex­ten­sions growing?

New generic top-level domains were in­tro­duced to increase choice beyond es­tab­lished options such as .com, .net and .org.

At the end of June 2026:

• New gTLDs accounted for 52.9 million reg­is­tra­tions
• Reg­is­tra­tions had increased by 6.7% in one quarter
• Reg­is­tra­tions had increased by 34.0% year over year
• New gTLDs rep­re­sent­ed 13.2% of all reg­is­tered domains

The largest gTLDs included the following es­tab­lished and newer ex­ten­sions:

The ten largest gTLDs accounted for 88.1% of all gTLD reg­is­tra­tions. This shows that reg­is­tra­tion volume remains con­cen­trat­ed in a rel­a­tive­ly small number of ex­ten­sions despite the large number of available TLDs.

Renewal rates also vary con­sid­er­ably. Among the ten largest gTLDs, the latest reported quarterly renewal estimates ranged from 78.7% for .net to 14.2% for .shop. A high number of initial reg­is­tra­tions therefore does not nec­es­sar­i­ly indicate equally high long-term use.

Domain extension sta­tis­tics at a glance

The latest figures show how large the global domain market has become, how strongly .com continues to dominate and how quickly new domain ex­ten­sions are gaining ground.

The global domain market in 2026

• 401.6 million domains reg­is­tered worldwide
• 166.6 million .com reg­is­tra­tions
• 43.6% of websites use .com
• 148.6 million ccTLD reg­is­tra­tions
• 52.9 million new gTLD reg­is­tra­tions
• 34.0% year-over-year growth among new gTLDs
• 13.2% of all reg­is­tra­tions use new gTLDs
• 1,265 gTLD ex­ten­sions delegated in the root zone
• 316 ccTLD ex­ten­sions delegated in the root zone

Sources: DNIB Quarterly Report Q2 2026, W3Techs and the Global Domain Report.

Tra­di­tion­al vs. new domain ex­ten­sions

Reg­is­tra­tion growth shows that new domain ex­ten­sions are gaining ground, but tra­di­tion­al TLDs continue to account for most active websites and reg­is­tered domains.

A tra­di­tion­al extension is generally suitable when broad recog­ni­tion is important. A new TLD can be useful when the extension adds meaning to the full domain name or when a suitable .com address is un­avail­able.

Which domain extension should you choose?

The most popular domain extension is not au­to­mat­i­cal­ly the best one for every website. The available data nev­er­the­less provides several useful reference points:

• .com has the largest reg­is­tra­tion base and is used by the highest share of websites.
• Country-code domains are important for websites that focus on a par­tic­u­lar national market.
• New gTLD reg­is­tra­tions are growing rapidly but have widely varying renewal rates.
• A high reg­is­tra­tion total does not nec­es­sar­i­ly mean that an extension is widely used for active websites.
• US busi­ness­es generally rely more heavily on .com than on the US country-code extension .us.

For a US business serving a broad market, .com remains the most es­tab­lished choice. A .us domain may be ap­pro­pri­ate when the con­nec­tion to the United States is central to the website’s identity. New ex­ten­sions such as .shop, .store, .tech or .online can work when they clearly describe the project and form a concise, memorable web address.

The final choice should therefore be based not only on pop­u­lar­i­ty but also on avail­abil­i­ty, audience, brand fit, renewal costs and the intended use of the domain.