.adult: A Namespace Set Aside for Adult Content
.adult was delegated to the root zone on 26 November 2014 and is sponsored by ICM Registry AD LLC. The registry describes the extension on its own site as a namespace purpose-built for online adult content, and it runs .xxx under the same roof — you can look either up through a domain name search. This is not a general extension that drifted into the category; it was set aside for it from the start.
On the business side, that translates into classification. Keeping the content inside its own namespace makes the address readable to anyone applying filtering or age verification, and visitors know what they are opening before they click. The decision rule is plain: if the content genuinely is adult, the ending sets the right expectation. If it is not, the address prepares the wrong audience, and content rarely undoes that.
.ADULT Domain at a Glance
- Sponsoring organisation ICM Registry AD LLC
- Delegated to the root zone 26 November 2014
- Purpose A namespace built for online adult content
- Sibling extension .xxx — same registry
- Document Requirement No documents are required to register a .adult domain
- Character Length 1 - 63 characters
- Registration Period 1 - 10 years
- Name Server Count 1 - 13 servers
.adult Domain Prices — No Surprise Fees
Registration, transfer and renewal fees are listed separately. The renewal price can differ from the first-year price, so you see both up front.
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New Registration
$109.90 /year -
Transfer
$110.49 /year -
Renewal
$118.99 /year -
Restore
$331.50 -
Late Renewal
$19.98
Included With Every .adult Domain
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Free DNS management
Change A, MX, TXT and CNAME records yourself from the panel — no waiting on anyone when you move a site or mailbox.
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Domain lock
While the lock is on, nobody can move your domain to another registrar without your approval.
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Domain forwarding
Point the domain at your existing site, a campaign page or a social profile — at no extra cost.
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Free WHOIS privacy
Your name, address and phone stay out of public WHOIS records, which cuts down spam and scam calls.
.adult Domain Lifecycle
What happens day by day after it expires
Day 0 is the domain's expiry dateIn short: your .adult domain is put on Client Hold on its expiry date, so the site and e-mail stop that same day. You can still renew during the first 20 days, but from this point a late renewal fee is added on top of the renewal price. On day 20 the registration is deleted and until day 50 only a paid restore brings it back. Nothing at all can be done in the 5 days that follow, and on day 55 the name is open to anyone. There is exactly one way never to enter this chain: keep auto-renewal on.
Domain Is Available (Available)
A .adult address at this stage has not been taken yet, and it goes to whoever registers first. Check the name you have in mind — if it is free, it can be yours within minutes.
Domain Is Active (Active Period)
Once registration is complete, the domain is registered to you for the term you selected. You can renew at any point before it expires to keep it active, or switch on auto-renewal so you never have to watch the date.
Renewal Window (Client Hold)
On its expiry date your .adult domain is put on Client Hold: the site and e-mail go down that day, but the registration is still yours. A single renewal within these first 20 days brings everything back exactly as it was — nothing is lost. The only difference is that a $19.98 late renewal fee is now added to the renewal price; renewing before the expiry date avoids that fee entirely.
Redemption Period (Redemption / RGP)
On day 20 the registration is deleted and the 30-day redemption period that ICANN requires of every gTLD registry begins. The name is not released to anyone during this time; only you can take it back, by paying the restore fee, until day 50. That fee is far higher than a renewal — renewing on time is always the cheaper route.
Pending Delete (Pending Delete)
Once the redemption window closes too, the domain enters its final 5 days and there is no way back. Neither renewal nor restore works here; nobody — your registrar included — can return the name to you. The registry uses this window as the last hold before the name goes back into the pool.
Open to Anyone Again (Released)
On day 55 the name .adult returns to the pool and anyone can register it. Sought-after names are often gone within seconds, and there is no guaranteed way to get one back. Yet staying out of this timeline is entirely in your hands: leave auto-renewal on and the expiry date will never catch you off guard.
The timeline above is the schedule Atak Domain applies and publishes. The ICANN chart you will find elsewhere shows a renewal window of up to 45 days after expiry; ICANN's policy on expired registrations (section 2.2.1) lets registrars delete an expired domain at any time, provided they disclose their policy in advance. We apply that window as 20 days and publish it here in plain sight. Full text of the policy: ICANN Expired Registration Recovery Policy
.adult Domain Specifications and Registration Rules
Registration conditions, supported features and the registry's own timelines in a single table.
.adult Domain Registration
- Document Requirement No documents are required to register a .adult domain
- Character Length 1 - 63 characters
- Registration Period 1 - 10 years
- Name Server Count 1 - 13 servers
.adult Domain Support
- IDN Support No
- Transfer Support Yes
- Late Renewal Support Yes
Frequently Asked Questions About .adult Domains
The questions people actually ask before registering — answered plainly.
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We could not reach the registry's detailed eligibility policy at the time of writing. For that reason we do not state a firm rule about who may register; what we can verify is the purpose. The registry describes the extension as a namespace built for online adult content. Read the current registry terms your registrar passes on before you order. Existing ownership is visible through a whois search.
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Both answer to the same organisation, ICM Registry, and serve the same content space. The difference lies mainly in the word itself and how it reads: one spells the category out, the other works through a long-established mark. Brands frequently register both, using one as the working address and holding the other defensively. To see which is free, try them together in a bulk domain name search.
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Sitting in a dedicated namespace makes filtering technically simpler for whoever applies it. Corporate networks, parental control software and access policies in some countries can write rules at the extension level. That cuts both ways: you reach fewer people you were not targeting, but your address will not open in places where you did not want it to. If your audience arrives through search, this is rarely a problem.
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Connection security and age verification come first. On a site carrying user data and payment flows, an unencrypted connection is indefensible, so an SSL certificate is a baseline. Signing on the DNS side and regular backups follow. Third comes delivery: with video-heavy publishing, bandwidth is the dominant cost line, which is why separating media from the application server belongs in the plan from day one.
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Technically the extension behaves like any other generic ending in email and DNS. The difference comes from provider policy rather than the domain: some payment processors and mail services apply specific acceptance terms to this content category. So the practical order is to read the providers' acceptance policies first and register the name afterwards. Doing it the other way round can leave you with a setup you cannot use.
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