The .agent Domain and What to Register Today

As announced by ICANN on October 7, 2026, 13 of the applications in its 2026 round of new top-level domains are for .agent, among them OpenAI, Meta and Google's registry. This page covers who applied, when a .agent name could work, and what to register for an AI agent today. The .ai domain cost guide has the other AI endings and what a .ai costs meanwhile.

By Rodrigo Chame — independent creator with a digital marketing background. Published October 6, 2026; updated October 22, 2026.

Who applied for .agent

ICANN's round took applications from April 30 to August 12, 2026, and on Reveal Day, October 7, it published 1,615 of them. Its application list shows 13 active applications for .agent, read on October 22, 2026: OpenAI (OpenAI OpCo), Meta (Meta Registry Holdings, which also applied for .facebook and .instagram), Google's registry Charleston Road Registry, the registries Radix, XYZ.COM and Intercap, Internet Land & Cattle, Open Agent Registry, ECHO Domain, Elegant Leader, FireLabs Capital, Ipollo Tech and Rein Check. Close strings are separate applications: .agentic, .agentid and .aiagent each have their own.

When a .agent name could work

Not soon. ICANN publishes the final list of strings on String Confirmation Day, November 17, 2026, and comments and objections run until March 16, 2027 (ICANN). Thirteen applications for one string form a contention set, which has to be settled, often at auction, before anyone signs a contract. Identity Digital, a registry, expects even uncontested endings to reach the internet 14.5 to 19.5 months after Reveal Day (Identity Digital), so a contested .agent is unlikely to take registrations before 2028, and the winner then sets its own launch dates and prices.

A .agent you can buy today is not this one

If someone sells you a .agent name now, it is one of two things: a pre-order that cannot guarantee anything until a registry exists, or a blockchain name that most browsers do not open. Neither is the ICANN domain. Treat both as a bet, not as your agent's address.

What to register today

  • The .com or the .ai. Both work everywhere now. An AI agent's name is often a short coinage, so the exact .com is more often free than you expect.
  • The handles on the networks where your agent will post or be found, including the agent networks such as Moltbook.
  • A name that will still fit a .agent later. If .agent launches, you will want yourname.agent; a short, distinct name gives you the best chance of getting it at launch.

The AI agent name generator checks the .com and the .ai on company agent names, and the list of names assistants already use shows what to avoid.

Related