Why .com still matters in 2025

Every few years someone declares that .com is dead and that the new TLDs (.io, .ai, .co, .app) have levelled the playing field. They're partly right. But they're missing something important.

What .com still does that nothing else does

Default mental model

When someone hears a brand name, their brain autocompletes to .com. Always. Every time. This is twenty-five years of conditioning and it isn't going away. If you're on .io and someone else has your .com, that someone else is getting a percentage of your traffic forever. Not a huge percentage — but forever is a long time.

Email credibility

Sending from name@yourbrand.io to enterprise customers looks slightly off. It doesn't look wrong — but it creates a tiny, subconscious question mark. Email on .com has zero friction.

Resale value

Short, clean .com domains appreciate over time. A good .io might be worth something. A good .com will almost certainly be worth more. If you're building something with value, the domain is an asset.

When .com doesn't matter much

Consumer apps where you live entirely inside a mobile app. B2B products sold entirely through direct sales. Products in markets where a specific TLD is the standard (most UK high-street businesses are perfectly fine on .co.uk). Developer tools where the audience actively likes .io or .dev.

The pragmatic approach

Launch on whatever TLD you can get that's clean and memorable. But make acquiring the .com a priority within the first two years if it's available at any reasonable price. Set a Google Alert on the domain so you know when it changes hands. Check the expiry date — if it's coming up, watch it closely.

If your .com is taken

Check when it expires. Check whether it's parked or actively used. If it's parked, the owner might sell — domain brokers handle this for a fee. If it's actively used by a competitor, move on. If it expires without renewal, it goes through a grace period then becomes available — this takes 75 days minimum from expiry, but drop-catching services can help you grab it the moment it becomes registerable.