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Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website

I'm having trouble finding a good domain name, all good .com are taken (surprised pikachu face) What other tld than .com would you suggest for a project/saas/tool* if .com is not available? What do you see/stumble across that you would say are popular alternatives.

.io ? .is ? .so ?

grateful for any thoughts, have an awesome day!

* not!! specifically targeted at it/tech people

( 36 comments | on HN )
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Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by 3000 on Sunday April 30, 2023 @02:42PM (#35765375)
yeah, a big plus if porkbun sells it as thats where i got most other domains
Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by xigoi on Monday May 01, 2023 @04:02PM (#35778350)
I just looked at .xyz on Porkbun. It's $9.92/year (with $2.04 for the first year).
Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by scottmas on Sunday April 30, 2023 @09:46AM (#35762488)
.io .ai

These are the only other ones I would consider

Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by robin_reala on Sunday April 30, 2023 @10:22AM (#35762819)
Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by yieldcrv on Sunday April 30, 2023 @04:00PM (#35766085)
and .af domains have to be shariah compliant

me and the Taliban not caring about what .af has been reappropriated for

Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by tkiolp4 on Sunday April 30, 2023 @10:26AM (#35762854)
.net

Or the tld of your country if possible (e.g., .de for Germany, .fr for France, etc.)

Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by abudabi123 on Sunday April 30, 2023 @10:27AM (#35762864)
Name or hyphenated-name dot org or dot space if usage terms match?
Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by brudgers on Sunday April 30, 2023 @11:38AM (#35763570)
* * *
Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by 3000 on Sunday April 30, 2023 @02:38PM (#35765337)
thank you, i really like this comment.
Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by locusofself on Sunday April 30, 2023 @11:56AM (#35763782)
.cloud is an option too if appropriate.
Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by 3000 on Sunday April 30, 2023 @02:52PM (#35765459)
its a very good extension, but i really dont like long tld's i prefer 2 or 3 char max. but as pointed out in other comments... it shouldnt matter at all at this stage.
Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by ratio11 on Sunday April 30, 2023 @12:13PM (#35763958)
Simple opinionated answer: .io and .so

A decade ago .io meant you were trendy and in tech, now it means you’re in tech.

Today .so means you’re trendy and in tech.

Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by 3000 on Sunday April 30, 2023 @02:40PM (#35765358)
notion started the .so trend didnt they? follow up question.... why? whats 'so' short for?
Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by niemandhier on Sunday April 30, 2023 @04:31PM (#35766334)
Shared object, it’s the traditional extension of dynamically likeable c++ libs.
Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by 3000 on Sunday April 30, 2023 @04:48PM (#35766473)
thanks didnt know that, was thinking SOftware
Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by ratio11 on Monday May 01, 2023 @12:44AM (#35769176)
As far as I know, yes. Namecheap markets it as being short for software, or social.
Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by simantel on Monday May 01, 2023 @05:34PM (#35779498)
It's short for Somalia. I don't think Notion has ever said why they chose it, though?
Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by felixg3 on Monday May 08, 2023 @07:36AM (#35860445)
I was surprised by the sudden tech boom at the Horn of Africa.
Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by abrudz on Sunday April 30, 2023 @12:17PM (#35763998)
There are now many new tlds of which one might fit the subject domain of your project/saas/tool. Though specifically targeted at it/tech people, I created an informational site using .info and a colleague created one to help people with a difficult aspect using .help
Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by walthamstow on Sunday April 30, 2023 @12:19PM (#35764018)
I like .net, I think it's underrated and the domains usually undervalued relative to other TLDs.
Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by cpach on Sunday April 30, 2023 @12:33PM (#35764155)
Same here!
Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by felixg3 on Sunday April 30, 2023 @01:41PM (#35764801)
Also, it's a good ol' classic that I use for my primary domain, too. Apparently, it is used since January 1st 1985 and supposedly the oldest registered domain is nordu.net.
Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by 3000 on Sunday April 30, 2023 @02:44PM (#35765388)
true.... 20 odd years ago, i actually preferred .net over .com
Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by marginalia_nu on Sunday April 30, 2023 @01:08PM (#35764519)
Only tangentially related, I'd warn against .icu, .xyz, .tk, .online, and if you aren't doing business in these regions, domains associated with russia, ukraine, china, singapore, taiwan, bangladesh, zimbawe, and south africa. Many problem sites have been hosted on these domains, and blocking them is such an effective mitigation strategy it's surprisingly common.

It can be difficult to for example send emails from these tlds, and firewalls may block your site as harmful, search engines will ignore you or penalize your ranking, etc.

Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by 3000 on Sunday April 30, 2023 @02:38PM (#35765344)
thank you
Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by zhte415 on Sunday April 30, 2023 @08:11PM (#35767752)
I'm curious what you, or HN generally, thinks about .lol.
Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by stanislavb on Tuesday May 02, 2023 @07:06AM (#35785763)
that's in the NO, don't use .lol group. Unless is something very straight to the point.
Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by yieldcrv on Sunday April 30, 2023 @02:03PM (#35764999)
consider prefixes and suffixes to your desired name

getSAAS.com

SAASapp.com

consider plural or singular to your desired name

also ask ChatGPT if you don’t mind the data mining, theyre not going to register your project

I’ve done that with domain names and monetized a viral campaign in a week, i didnt pick a brand name until i had the domain name

but I’m probably not your target audience and I would never need an email from you to close a sale but I see

.io, .dev, .xyz, .wtf, .finance employed alot. if you do those, still register a .com for the transactional emails

Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by 3000 on Sunday April 30, 2023 @02:42PM (#35765372)
good points, thanks!
Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by stanislavb on Tuesday May 02, 2023 @07:12AM (#35785819)
"saas" is a good example of a name where you could have "issues" conversationally. For example, if you are not in a tech circle. I run saashub(.com), and quite often have to explain "saas with double 'a'" or "saas like software as a service"
Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by et-al on Sunday April 30, 2023 @02:50PM (#35765437)
Personally, I wouldn't register any TLD that costs over $20/year for a side project.
Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by tailspin2019 on Sunday April 30, 2023 @03:00PM (#35765530)
Haven’t seen it mentioned yet but .app appeals to me more than something like .io these days (it at least seems like a safer TLD than the latter).
Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by 3000 on Sunday April 30, 2023 @04:47PM (#35766463)
thank you.

to me that indicates that its an app available on the play or app store, not a website.

Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by apex86 on Tuesday May 02, 2023 @01:35PM (#35791259)
I like .app too. I think of a web app when I see it. Did anyone mention .co? That seems really close to .com and it's even shorter and seems pretty legit. Any more details on the project? maybe we can help come up with a cool name? good luck!
Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by dhruvkar on Sunday April 30, 2023 @09:50PM (#35768331)
I like .orgs.

I feel they convey a sense of trustworthiness and they're being slept on by commercial projects.

Re:Ask HN: Non .com .tld for project website by shanecleveland on Monday May 01, 2023 @01:19PM (#35776021)
I've used .org and .net with success.

Used .app recently. I prefer this to .io, .so, etc. People are familiar with the term app. Not so mysterious.

All have ranked fine by Google.