WHAT IS A .DOWNLOAD DOMAIN

The .download Domain: An Address for File Distribution

.download was recorded in the root zone on 5 February 2015, and the IANA entry names dot Support Limited as the sponsoring organisation. The nTLDstats page accessed on 11 August 2026 counts 12,641 registrations, of which 7,901 appear in the zone file — a publication rate near 63%, the lowest among the endings measured in this group.

Software release archives, installers, open data sets, manuals and template libraries all sit naturally on this address. The rule: separating distribution from your main site makes scaling and cache control easier, but it also puts the burden of proving where a file came from squarely on you. Taking this alongside your main address, check both together in a bulk domain name search.

Proving the file is yours to do

A distribution address demonstrates nothing about a file's safety; only the evidence you publish does that. What works: put the checksum, and a signature where you have one, on the same page as each release, keep old versions archived instead of deleting them, and tie the changelog to version numbers. Corporate users look for those three before downloading, and without them the download often never starts.

.DOWNLOAD Domain at a Glance

Sponsoring organisation dot Support Limited
Root zone record 5 February 2015
Eligibility condition No verified restriction
Registered names 12,641 (nTLDstats, 11 August 2026)
Present in the zone file 7,901 names, about 63%
Document Requirement No documents are required to register a .download domain
Character Length 1 - 63 characters
Registration Period 1 - 10 years
Name Server Count 2 - 10 servers

Related Domain Extensions

Registering the same name on more than one extension keeps someone else from taking your brand.

.download 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.

New Registration
$29.99 / years
Transfer
$29.99 / years
Renewal
$34.99 / years
Restore
$119.90
Late Renewal
$7.00

Included With Every .download Domain

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.
Domain lock

While the lock is on, nobody can move your domain to another registrar without your approval.
Domain forwarding

Point the domain at your existing site, a campaign page or a social profile — at no extra cost.
Free WHOIS privacy

Your name, address and phone stay out of public WHOIS records, which cuts down spam and scam calls.

.download Domain Lifecycle

Active registration term 1 - 10 years You choose it at registration

Grace period 44 days First window to renew after expiry

Redemption period 30 days You can still get it back by renewing

Payment period 61 days Extra time granted after expiry

Domain lifecycle

The stages in order, from registration to release

Available Before registration

Active 1 - 10 years

Redemption 30 days

Pending delete 5 days

Available Open again

Domain Is Available (Available)

Open-ended

A .download 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)

1 - 10 years

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.

Redemption Period (Redemption Period)

30 days

The domain is not released the moment it expires — during this window it is still yours and can be recovered. Some extensions charge an extra restore fee at this stage, so renewing before expiry is always the cheaper route.

Pending Delete Period (Pending Delete Period)

5 days

If the redemption window is missed too, the domain enters the final stage and waits to be deleted. Renewal and recovery are no longer possible here; when the period ends the registration is removed for good.

Domain Is Available Again

Open-ended

Once deletion completes, the domain leaves the system and anyone can register it — popular names are often taken the same minute by someone watching. Keep auto-renewal on so a name you care about never gets this far.

.download Domain Specifications and Registration Rules

Registration conditions, supported features and the registry's own timelines in a single table.

.download Domain Registration

Document Requirement No documents are required to register a .download domain
Character Length 1 - 63 characters
Registration Period 1 - 10 years
Name Server Count 2 - 10 servers

.download Domain Support

IDN Support No
Transfer Support Yes
Late Renewal Support Yes

.download Domain Registration Periods

Registration Periods 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 years
Renewal Periods 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 years
Pre-registration 1 days
Accounting Period 5 days
Finalization Period 1 days
Failure Period 44 days
Payment Period 61 days
Redemption Period 30 days
Deletion Hold Period 5 days
Renewal Time 5 Day

Frequently Asked Questions About .download Domains

The questions people actually ask before registering — answered plainly.

Anyone may; there is no requirement to be a software company.
dot Support Limited asks for no company record, publishing permit or undertaking about file types at registration. An open source project and a corporate product team apply on exactly the same terms. Suitable names can be tried in a domain name search.
Version number, checksum, changelog and file size.
Before downloading, a visitor wants to know what the file is and how to verify it, and publishing the checksum on the page makes that verification possible. Keeping older versions archived also makes rolling back easier. The connection has to be encrypted; the SSL certificate page describes that step.
Of 12,641 registrations, 7,901 are in the zone file — about 63%.
That is the lowest rate among the endings measured here, with figures from the nTLDstats page accessed on 11 August 2026. A sizeable share of registrations has not been attached to a site. For you, that raises the odds that the product or project name you want is still free.
For traffic and cache control it usually is.
Serving large files from a separate host keeps them from affecting the response time of your main site, and lets you scale distribution on its own. The trade-off is that the link between the two addresses has to be obvious to visitors, which naming the main site and contact details on the download page achieves.
The product name or the project name is the right choice.
Adjectives such as free or fast are both heavily used and prone to setting expectations you cannot keep. A product name in the label keeps the source visible even when a download link is passed around on a forum. Test the variants together in a bulk domain name search.
Start by requesting the authorisation code from your registrar.
Distribution addresses are usually embedded in install scripts and documentation, so list which releases call this host before you move. Change the name servers during a quiet window. The domain must be unlocked and at least sixty days past registration. Begin the process at domain transfer.

Buy your .DOWNLOAD domain