Kinds of names
Domain hack
A domain hack is a name where the extension completes the word, so the whole address reads as one word or phrase, such as short.ly or brand.ai.
What Domain hack means in practice
Hacks use country-code extensions (.ly, .ai, .it, .me and many others) that happen to spell the end of a word. They can give a short, memorable name when the .com is taken.
Some country-code extensions have residency or usage rules, and renewal prices can be much higher than for .com.
Why it matters
A hack can look clever and be hard to type or say aloud. Check the registry's rules, the renewal price and whether people will remember the ending.
Try it
- Domain Hacks Turn a word into a hack like short.ly or brand.ai, and check one name across many extensions.
- Domain Cost Calculator What an extension really costs over several years, including the renewal jump.
Related terms
- TLD (top-level domain) A top-level domain, or TLD, is the last part of a domain name, such as .com, .org or .uk. It is the extension that follows the final dot.
- Brandable domain A brandable domain is a short, easy-to-say name that works as a brand even though it may not describe what the business does, such as Google or Spotify.