Top GTLDs 2023

  1. .com
  2. .org
  3. .io/.co/.net
  4. .ai/.xyz
  5. .dog/.lol/.wtf

Top = my favourite. GTLD = generic top level domain. Best for digital product and services and/or if you sell to multiple countries.

  • No, no, you’re right. You’re smarter than Paul Graham, Jeff Bezos, Elon and Zuck. Low renewal fees, a namesake stock market bubble and trillions of dollars of value created 😉
  • Wikipedia lifts .org above every other alt TLD. Usage is situational but there are plenty of businesses where it makes sense, see Craigslist and AdBlock Plus. I also have a soft spot for it because I flipped superfungames.org for a cool $500 when I was a young buck
  • .co’s biggest strength is also its biggest weakness; its similarity to .com. You will leak more traffic and emails but if users actually make it to your site then it might seem more familiar
  • .io has existential issues and renewals are a ripoff but tech bros love it
  • .net seems dated but renewals are reasonable and it is still familiar to a lot of users. Your average small business is probably better served with a .net than a .co (less leakage and renewals cost half as much)
  • .ai renewals are obscene and I doubt it has staying power
  • Cheap registrations led .xyz to being abused by spammers and scammers
  • I’m joking about .dog but honestly if you’re not using .com you may as well
  • I have seen .lol and .wtf do well on Hacker News