The True Cost of Applying for a New gTLD: What $227,000 Doesn’t Cover

Venkatesh Venkatasubramanian
Apr 18
3 min read

Infographic-style featured image titled 'The True Cost of Applying for a New gTLD' showing layers of hidden costs beyond ICANN’s $227,000 fee, created by newgtldprogram.com.

The ICANN application fee for a new gTLD in 2026 is $227,000. That number gets tossed around a lot. And yes—it’s significant.

But here’s the reality, $227,000 is just the starting point.

If you're budgeting based solely on that figure, you're headed for trouble. Because the real cost of applying for—and launching—a new gTLD can easily hit half a million dollars or more. Let’s break it down.

The $227K Fee Covers Evaluation. That’s It.

cartoon-style image of an applicant holding a $227,000 ICANN invoice, looking shocked at hidden costs like legal, technical, and marketing fees listed below.

The ICANN fee pays for your application to be processed and evaluated.

It includes reviews for:

Technical stability
Registry plans
Legal background
String similarity
Public comments

But approval doesn’t equal success. And it definitely doesn’t cover everything else you’ll face.

Legal Objections Can Be Expensive

2D cartoon illustration of a gTLD applicant overwhelmed by legal documents, a gavel, and objection notices, representing unexpected legal costs during the ICANN process.

Plenty of applicants in 2012 faced objections. Community groups, governments, and competing brands all weighed in. Some filed formal complaints. Others leveraged public comments or political pressure. Many applicants had to bring in lawyers. Some went through arbitration. Others had to withdraw altogether.

This is time-consuming, costly, and in some cases, fatal to your gTLD ambitions. Expect to spend money on legal review and representation—especially if your string overlaps with trademarks, locations, or cultural identities.

Contention Sets Can Blow Up Budgets

Cartoon-style image of bidders raising paddles at a domain name auction, symbolizing the high-stakes cost of contention sets in ICANN's new gTLD round.

If someone else applies for the same or similar string, ICANN won’t pick a winner. Instead, you enter a contention set.

Applicants can negotiate a resolution—or go to auction. And that’s where things escalate.

In 2012, strings like .app and .web went for tens of millions of dollars. Smaller strings were still fought over for hundreds of thousands. If your string isn’t 100% unique, plan for this.

New gTLD Registry Backend Isn’t Free

Colorful infographic showing a registry infrastructure with labels like DNS, EPP, RDAP, and ICANN compliance, representing the backend costs for new gTLD applicants.

You can’t run a gTLD without a backend registry partner—unless you're building one yourself (and you're probably not).

These Registry Service Providers (RSPs) handle DNS, EPP, WHOIS/RDAP, uptime, abuse monitoring, and ICANN compliance.

In 2026, ICANN will only allow pre-evaluated RSPs. You’ll pay:

A one-time setup fee
Ongoing yearly fees, typically $25K–$100K depending on services

ICANN Fees Don’t Stop After Approval

Cartoon showing a gTLD registry operator writing recurring checks to ICANN, highlighting ongoing costs like annual fees, audits, and compliance.

Once your gTLD is approved, you’ll sign a contract with ICANN. That comes with more obligations:

$25K annual fixed fee which is an ongoing cost
Per-domain transaction fees (if you're open to public registrations)
Periodic audits
Compliance reports

Marketing = Your Responsibility

Just because your TLD exists doesn’t mean anyone knows—or cares. Registrars aren’t required to carry your TLD. Users won’t search for it unless there’s a reason. That’s on you.

You’ll need to invest in:

Branding and messaging
Website and content
Registrar onboarding
Paid campaigns or outreach
Community engagement (for some TLDs)

DotBrands may not need mass marketing, but they still need internal adoption plans and IT integration.

Your Team’s Time Has a Cost

Cartoon-style team meeting with people from legal, IT, and marketing around a table labeled ‘gTLD Planning,’ representing the hidden internal resource cost.

Even if you outsource the application, your internal teams will be involved.

Legal will want to review contracts.

IT will vet the backend provider.

Marketing will ask how this fits into the brand strategy.Leadership will want risk assessments.

This coordination can take months. It costs time, energy, and focus.

Don’t ignore it in your planning.

So What’s the Real Cost?

If your application is simple, uncontested, and supported by a solid partner: You might land around $300K–$400K.

If you’re going public, building a registry, or entering a competitive category: Expect $500K–$1M+ all-in.

If your string triggers legal challenges or auctions: There’s no upper limit.

Bottom Line

The $227,000 is just the application fee. It doesn’t cover the risks, the backend, the objections, the marketing, or the actual work to go live.

In 2012, many applicants found this out too late. In 2026, you don’t have to.

At newgtldprogram.com, we help clients map the real cost of applying—so you don’t just submit a form, you launch a gTLD that’s ready to run. Need help building your budget? Let’s talk.