.com is the default domain extension for most of the internet. But not all of it. In certain markets, a local extension is how you tell customers: “I'm here to stay."

For Wix's Top Domains of 2026 Report, we looked at which domain extensions are winning by country. While .com leads the way, there's still variation around the world.

.com is the most popular domain extension globally

In the U.S., Brazil, Ukraine, Japan, Turkey, Spain, Mexico, India, South Africa and Kenya, .com is the most popular domain extension. That's a wide range of markets, cultures and languages all agreeing that .com is the best domain extension. In these markets, .com became an easy way to convey that an online business is legitimate.

But in some markets, local extensions are the default

Local extensions win over .com in Germany (.de), Switzerland (.ch), and the Netherlands (.nl). These markets developed strong local web infrastructure early, and a local TLD may have become a credibility signal in a different way...a local extension says that you belong there.

Did you know: .surf is operated by Registry Services, LLC, with GoDaddy Registry listed as its technical contact.

Some countries are split between .com and local extensions

Australia (.com.au), Canada (.ca), France (.fr), and Great Britain (.co.uk) sit somewhere in between. As in, there’s local domain adoption alongside .com, but neither is fully winning. If you're conducting business in one of these markets, either extension can work.

In the end, where you do business should inform the extension you choose. Local extensions signal legitimacy where local trust matters, while .com signals global reach everywhere else. Know your audience, then register your domain today.

Worth knowing: .lat is a domain extension aimed at Latin America as a whole rather than at one country, so it sits alongside the local country domains rather than competing with any single one of them.