Buy your .pub domain today

.pub is most closely associated with pubs and drinking venues, including bars, taprooms and breweries. It can also fit businesses connected to hospitality, such as a venue with its own events, food or drinks program.

The extension has a second established meaning around publishing. Authors, newsletters, small presses, literary projects and other publications can use .pub because "pub" is also a familiar abbreviation for publication.

That makes the extension unusually dependent on the name before the dot. Theanchor.pub immediately suggests a venue, while quarterly.pub suggests something published. Pick a name that makes your intended meaning obvious rather than expecting the extension to explain the whole business.

.pub can mean either, and visitors will usually use the words before the dot to work out which meaning applies.

For a hospitality business, the extension reinforces the type of venue. A name such as oakandale.pub feels like a place people can visit. For a publication, names such as quarterly.pub or fieldnotes.pub make the publishing interpretation much clearer.

If your name is neutral, test the complete address with someone who has never seen your brand. Ask what they think the site is before explaining it. That simple test can reveal ambiguity that is easy to miss when you already know what the business does.

No, .pub is open and does not require you to prove that you operate a pub, brewery or other hospitality business.

There is also no requirement to live in a particular country or provide evidence of a hospitality license. Registration is generally based on domain availability and the registrar's normal registration requirements rather than the type of business you run.

That makes .pub usable for publishing projects and other creative uses too. The important distinction is between being eligible to register the name and making the address accurately describe what visitors will find when they arrive.

The first thing to check on a .pub domain is the renewal price, not just the first-year registration price. A domain becomes a recurring cost once you put it on signage, menus, packaging, email addresses or printed material.

Then check the exact name you are buying. Short dictionary words can be unavailable or treated as premium domains, so the price shown for one .pub name may not apply to another.

Finally, say the address aloud and write it down from memory. A strong .pub domain should be easy for customers to hear, remember and type. If the name already makes your business clear, you usually do not need to add another word such as pub before the dot.

.pub is more specific if the business really presents itself as a pub. The word carries a particular type of venue and can feel more distinctive than a generic hospitality ending.

.bar is broader. It can make more sense for a cocktail bar, hotel bar, nightlife venue or business serving an international audience where the word "bar" describes the operation more directly.

The practical test is to write your venue name with both endings and ask which one sounds like the business customers will actually walk into. If both work, compare availability and renewal pricing rather than choosing based only on the first-year offer.

Some short .pub names may be available, but the most obvious hospitality and dictionary terms are more likely to be registered or priced as premium names.

A premium designation can change the economics of a domain considerably, so do not assume that an attractive one-word .pub name will cost the same as a normal available registration. Check both the registration price and the renewal terms for the exact name.

You also do not need to repeat the extension's meaning in the name. If your venue is called The Anchor, theanchor.pub already communicates the category. Adding another generic word can make the address longer without making it clearer.

Yes, particularly when the venue has a short name that works naturally before .pub. The extension can tell someone who hears the address what kind of place it represents without adding "pub" to the business name itself.

That can be useful locally because the domain may appear on menus, signs, event listings, social profiles and printed materials. A customer who remembers the venue name has a reasonable chance of guessing the address.

The main trade-off is familiarity. .com remains the default domain many people try first. If your matching .com is available and affordable, owning it as well can protect against customers making that guess while allowing .pub to remain your branded address.