.social domain — meaning, price and how to register

What does .social mean?

The .social extension is a descriptive top-level domain built on the word social — the language of communities, networks, forums and the places people gather online. It was delegated in 2014 as part of the new-gTLD expansion that opened the right-hand side of the address bar to plain-English meaning. Where a neutral .com says nothing about purpose, .social sets the tone immediately: the site is about people connecting, not a shop or a corporate brochure.

It is operated by Identity Digital, the registry behind one of the largest portfolios of keyword TLDs, the same family that includes .software and .tools. The extension's profile got a real boost from the open-source social web: mastodon.social, the flagship instance of the Mastodon network, is the best-known site on the TLD and a genuine, recognisable example of what a .social name is for. That association — community-run, network-shaped, people-first — is what the extension carries.

Who uses .social?

The natural audience is anyone building a community or a place to connect: social networks and fediverse instances, forums, membership groups, fan communities, local clubs, and the "community" arm of a larger brand. The clearest real-world case is mastodon.social, the headline Mastodon server, but the same logic applies to any project where the point is people talking to each other.

Brands also use it as a dedicated home for their community or social presence — a hub that lives apart from the main marketing site and signals "this is where our people are." Because registration is open with no proof-of-eligibility, a group organiser or a startup can claim a fitting name quickly. When weighing it up, people often compare it with .org for a community or non-profit feel, or with .co and .xyz when they want something short and brandable rather than literally "social".

.social registration rules and requirements

There are none beyond the basics. .social is a fully open generic TLD: anyone in any country can register one, with no requirement to run a community, no business licence, no local presence and no identity documents. Registration is first-come, first-served — whoever registers an available name first holds it, for as long as they keep renewing. The only universal obligation is the standard ICANN contact-information policy that applies to every gTLD, plus Identity Digital's standard registry terms accepted via your registrar.

How much does a .social cost?

A .social runs about $25 per year at mainstream registrars — typical for an Identity Digital keyword TLD and well above a $11 .com, which is the cost of the descriptive, community-flavoured word. Pricing stays consistent because the registry sets a single wholesale rate; the variation between registrars is mostly markup and the odd first-year discount. Look at the renewal price before you buy, not just the promo.

Is .social good for SEO?

Not as a ranking signal. Google and Bing do not rank a .social page higher than a .com because of its extension — the TLD is not a ranking factor, even with a relevant word in it. The benefit is human: an address like mastodon.social signals a community or platform at a glance, which can help recall, click-through and the willingness of people to join and link. That is branding, not algorithm. For the wider comparison, see our guide on how to compare and choose a TLD.

.social vs alternatives

Its closest comparisons are the community-leaning extensions. .org is the long-established choice for non-profits and community projects and carries more mainstream trust; .com remains the safe universal default if you would rather not signal a category at all; and short brandables like .co or .xyz work when you want memorability over the literal word. .social wins when you specifically want the address to say "community" — as the Mastodon project decided when it built its flagship on mastodon.social.