The .pictures Domain: Stills and Moving Images Alike
The .pictures domain reached the root zone on 3 April 2014 under an ICANN agreement dated 6 March 2014, with Binky Moon, LLC of the Identity Digital group as contracting party. On 13 August 2026 the zone held 35,554 registrations, yet only 8,244 of them appeared in the zone file.
In English the word covers both a still image and a cinema feature, so the zone serves two audiences at once: photo and illustration archives on one side, production companies, short film projects and festivals on the other. The second-level label has to resolve that ambiguity, because the address alone will not say which business you are in. Test candidates in .pictures domain search and compare the production side on the .productions page.
On 13 August 2026 only 8,244 of 35,554 registered names appeared in the zone file, a share of 23 per cent. Just one zone in this group sits lower. The decision rule follows directly: if the short label you want shows as taken, do not assume an active site sits behind it. Most held names here are parked or being kept for resale. Rather than waiting for an expiry that may never come, trying a two-word combination usually gets you there faster.
.PICTURES Domain at a Glance
- Registry operator Binky Moon, LLC (Identity Digital)
- Root zone entry 3 April 2014
- Eligibility None — the agreement commits to open registration
- Zone size 35,554 registrations, 8,244 in the zone file (nTLDstats, 13 August 2026)
- Document Requirement No documents are required to register a .pictures domain
- Character Length 1 - 63 characters
- Registration Period 1 - 10 years
- Name Server Count 2 - 10 servers
.pictures 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
$8.99 /year -
Transfer
$15.59 /year -
Renewal
$16.79 /year -
Restore
$99.90 -
Late Renewal
$2.20
Included With Every .pictures 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.
.pictures Domain Lifecycle
What happens day by day after it expires
Day 0 is the domain's expiry dateIn short: your .pictures 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 .pictures 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 .pictures 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 $2.20 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 .pictures 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
.pictures Domain Specifications and Registration Rules
Registration conditions, supported features and the registry's own timelines in a single table.
.pictures Domain Registration
- Document Requirement No documents are required to register a .pictures domain
- Character Length 1 - 63 characters
- Registration Period 1 - 10 years
- Name Server Count 2 - 10 servers
.pictures Domain Support
- IDN Support Yes
- Transfer Support Yes
- Late Renewal Support Yes
Frequently Asked Questions About .pictures Domains
The questions people actually ask before registering — answered plainly.
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It suits both, and the second-level label settles which. In English the word covers a still image and a cinema feature alike, so the extension by itself does not signal your sector. If you run a production company, putting studio or film into the label removes the ambiguity at once. Compare the production-focused alternative on the .productions page.
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None is required. The open registration commitment in the agreement forbids the registry from applying an identity-based eligibility limit, so no producer's card, chamber registration or portfolio can be demanded. The clause reads in the other direction too: the address does not prove to a visitor that the person behind it works in the field professionally. Test candidates in .pictures domain search.
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On 13 August 2026 only 8,244 of 35,554 registrations appeared in the zone file, a share of 23 per cent. Carrying two distinct meanings makes the word attractive to genuine users and resellers at the same time, and the second group holds names without publishing them. If the label you want is taken, whois search will show who holds the record.
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This extension's agreement requires registrars to bind registrants to applicable law, naming privacy, data collection and consumer protection among the areas covered. In practice that is not a registration condition but a commitment written into the contract. If you publish images, copyright and personality rights already impose the same duty on you regardless of which extension you chose.
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The extension does not require one, but an archive nearly always carries a search box, a download link or a member login. Where those run without a certificate, the data travels in the clear and the browser warns every visitor. On a large image directory that warning turns directly into lost trust. The options are listed on the SSL certificate page.
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Three things suffice: the name must be unlocked, you need the authorisation code from your current registrar, and the contact address on the record has to work. The confirmation message goes to that address. No extra eligibility review and no document request apply to this extension, so the sequence follows the ordinary gTLD procedure. Start on the domain transfer page.
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