In this report:
The .com domain isn't going anywhere. But it doesn’t own the internet either. Businesses are choosing different domain extensions, and the most popular ones aren’t always the most effective at driving business results.
Wix is an ICANN-accredited domain registrar. We looked at data from Wix domain registrations across the globe to find out which extensions are winning, which ones are trending, and what that means for your business in 2026.
Is .com still the best domain extension?
Yes, .com is generally the best domain extension for websites in 2026. It's recognizable, trusted, and universally understood by customers and site visitors. You can't go wrong with a .com domain extension.
.com is still the most popular domain extension in 2026
82%
of Wix sites in the United States use .com as their extension.
13x
People are 13x more likely to use .com than another domain extension.
What are the best .com alternatives?
While .com is still the standard domain extension, there’s a case for choosing an extension that clearly reflects what your brand does, especially if .com isn't available.
These .com alternatives are associated with successful businesses
.org
.org sites are 34% more likely to generate eCommerce revenue than .com. And they receive 3% more site sessions than .com sites. Unlike .gov or .edu, anyone can register a .org domain, not just nonprofits.
.store
eCommerce sites with a .store extension earn 10% more revenue than sites with a .com extension and 2x more than .shop or .net.
"Everyone reaches for .com out of habit, but familiarity and performance aren't the same thing. In our data, extensions that clearly signal what a business does are associated with stronger results. If your ideal .com is already registered, you can usually get your exact brand under a more creative extension that fits. Consider a yoga studio on .yoga, a bar on .bar, or a company on .co." — Inbal Geva, Product Lead & GM, Wix Domains
Which domain extensions are trending in 2026?
.store, .ai and .io experienced a surge in popularity this year. eCommerce businesses, AI companies and startups may want to consider a trendy domain extension.
Trending domain extensions
These domain extensions doubled within 5 months, from January to May 2026.
.store
.online
.shop
Consider these trending domain extensions if you're in the tech space:
.ai increased +20% from January to May 2026, making it the 10th most popular domain
.io increased 32x in May 2026
.com is the most popular domain in many countries, but local extensions signal legitimacy in some markets.
Top domain extensions around the world
.com is the dominant extension in the US, Brazil, Ukraine, Japan, Turkey, Spain, Mexico, India, South Africa, and Kenya. In Germany (.de), Switzerland (.ch), and the Netherlands (.nl), local extensions beat .com.
Australia (.com.au), Canada (.ca), France (.fr), and Great Britain (.co.uk) sit in the middle, meaning there’s local domain adoption alongside .com, but neither are fully winning.
The pattern suggests that a local extension signals legitimacy in markets where local trust matters. In markets chasing global reach, .com still wins.
For this report, we looked at Wix Premium users worldwide with a connected domain between 2025 and 2026.