.crew: Why We Applied to ICANN for Our Own Top-Level Domain

A team almost always has a name. A free domain to go with it? Almost never. That's exactly where our application comes in: in the new nTLD round, we applied to ICANN for the top-level domain .crew.

What exactly did we apply for?

A top-level domain, or TLD, is the part of an internet address after the last dot, .com, .org, or in this case .crew. Anyone who wants to operate a new TLD can't simply sign up for one; they have to apply to ICANN, the international organization that manages the Domain Name System. The last time that was possible was 2012. Back then, more than 1,200 new endings were created, from .shop to .berlin to .google.

After that came a 14-year pause. On April 30, 2026, ICANN opened the application window for the second time, and closed it again on August 12, 2026. During those 15 weeks, more than 1,600 primary applications were submitted, according to ICANN. The evaluation fee alone costs 227,000 US dollars per application, on top of technical, legal, and operational costs.

Ours is one of those applications: .crew. But a word of caution: an application is a request, not a guarantee. Before a new ending is actually reachable on the internet, it has to go through a multi-stage review process and possibly an auction. Detailed information on the entire application and award process is available directly from ICANN here.

Why .crew, of all things?

Because "crew" is one of the few words that means the same thing in German and in English and still doesn't sound like a corporation. A crew is a film team, a sailing crew, a gaming clan, a roofing team, an agency, a band, a volunteer fire brigade, or simply a group of friends.

For these groups, the domain search today is frustrating. The name they want has been taken or parked under .de and .com for years, and what's left are constructions with hyphens and tacked-on numbers. Under an ending that's only just launching, short and meaningful addresses are still up for grabs. That's exactly why, for the first time in more than 20 years as a registrar, we're putting ourselves on the other side of the table.

Can I secure a .crew domain right now?

No, the ending doesn't exist in the Domain Name System yet. There's no registry, no price list, and no waiting list with a claim to a particular name. Anyone who "reserves" you a .crew domain or any other ending from the 2026 round for money today is selling you a promise nobody can keep. Non-binding, free interest lists are standard practice in the industry and perfectly fine; paid pre-registrations for endings that haven't been delegated yet are not.

What happens next?

After the application window closes, ICANN first checks formally whether the applications are complete. Next comes Reveal Day, the day ICANN makes all the applied-for endings and the applicants behind them public. It's supposed to take place no later than nine weeks after the window closes, so around mid-October 2026.

After that, the process broadly continues as follows:

• 14 days after Reveal Day: applicants who filed a backup string as a precaution can switch to it.
• String Confirmation Day, expected November 2026: ICANN publishes the final list of applied-for endings and the so-called contention sets, the groups of applicants who want the same ending.
• After that: priority draw, objection periods for third parties, technical and financial evaluation, resolution of contention sets, registry agreement, delegation.
• Realistic launch of the first new endings: 2028 at the earliest.

What happens if someone else has also applied for .crew?

Then a contention set is formed, and the rules in this round are significantly stricter than in 2012. Back then, competing applicants could settle privately, often through private auctions in which the winner paid off the other parties. That's now forbidden. As of Reveal Day, agreements between competing applicants are prohibited, and the only permitted solution is an ICANN auction. Anyone who breaks the rules risks being excluded from the process.

Conclusion

We applied for .crew because teams deserve a name, and with our many years of experience in the domain business, we believe we're in a position to turn this ending into something great for teams and groups of every kind.