Useful Information

.dev Domain Zone: Statistics, Trends & Investment Insights

The .dev domain zone, launched in 2014 as a Google-operated gTLD, has grown into a premier namespace for developers, tech startups, and digital innovators. With 676K+ registered domains (676 007 total), .dev offers a unique blend of brevity and brandability. Understanding its composition—from average length (8.30 chars) to the prevalence of the letter 'a' (560 212 occurrences)—is critical for domain investors and SEO specialists. This data-driven analysis reveals patterns that drive value, helping you identify premium opportunities and anticipate shifts in the .dev landscape through 2026.

Domain Length Distribution in .dev

The most common length is 6 characters, with 88 903 domains. Average length is 8.30 chars, and the maximum is 63. Short domains like 0.dev (1 char) are rare but highly valuable.

Infographics for .dev

676,007
Total Domains
+925
New Today
−354
Dropped Today

Domain length distribution by number of characters

Character Composition: Letters, Digits, and Hyphens

Letters dominate: 90.63% of domains (612 675) are purely alphabetic. Digits appear in 4.83% of domains (32 667), while only 0.07% (458) are all-numeric. Hyphens are minimal at 4.47% (30 207 domains).


Average domain name length

8.30 characters
Representative domain: 0.dev
Representative name length: 1

Top Symbols and First-Letter Trends

The most frequent character is 'a' (560 212 times), and the most common first letter is 's' (63 416 domains). These patterns influence brand recall and SEO.

Popular Domain Zones

.fitness .no .baby .tennis .social .tools .store .us .services .travel .com .game .art .education .hosting .design .gr .network .biz .site

Character frequency in domain names

# Symbol Occurrences
1 a 560212
2 e 532821
3 i 391036
4 o 386288
5 r 378967
6 n 345502
7 s 338849
8 t 331372
9 l 284825
10 c 215724
11 d 193268
12 m 187923
13 u 169685
14 h 169470
15 p 148491
16 b 134959
17 g 130139
18 k 121808
19 y 107129
20 f 83015
21 v 80623
22 w 69070
23 j 48136
24 x 42663
25 z 42354
26 q 14591
27 1 9298
28 0 9030
29 2 8009
30 3 7787
31 8 7288
32 4 6375
33 6 5436
34 7 4669
35 9 4131
36 5 3940

Vowel vs. Consonant Balance in .dev

Consonants make up 59.95% (3 361 749 chars) vs. vowels at 38.29% (2 147 171 chars). A balanced ratio often correlates with pronounceability and memorability.


Most common first character in domain names

# First char Domains count
1 - 0
2 0 1114
3 1 1356
4 2 780
5 3 895
6 4 693
7 5 439
8 6 719
9 7 535
10 8 497
11 9 418
12 a 56677
13 b 34481
14 c 46313
15 d 34110
16 e 21791
17 f 22770
18 g 24319
19 h 21261
20 i 18093
21 j 25736
22 k 22781
23 l 25617
24 m 47354
25 n 23998
26 o 16049
27 p 33665
28 q 4257
29 r 30141
30 s 63416
31 t 37403
32 u 7748
33 v 15792
34 w 16509
35 x 4217
36 y 6109
37 z 7954

Top Words and Numeric Tokens in .dev Domains

The most common word is 'go', appearing in 11 256 domains (1.67% share). The top numeric token is '3' (3 625 domains). These indicate trending niches.


Character distribution in domain names

Vowels (2147171 · 38.29%)
Consonants (3361749 · 59.95%)
Digits (65963 · 1.18%)
Hyphen (33038 · 0.59%)
Other (0 · 0%)

Hyphen Usage and Its Impact on Domain Value

Only 4.47% of domains contain hyphens (30 207), while 95.53% (645 800) are hyphen-free. Hyphen-free domains are generally preferred for branding and SEO.


Domain names with numbers and letters

Only numbers (458 · 0.07%)
Only letters (612675 · 90.63%)
Numbers and letters (32667 · 4.83%)
Other (30207 · 4.47%)

Total Character Count and Structural Insights

All domains combined contain 5.6M+ characters (5 607 921). Digits account for 1.18% (65 963), and other characters are negligible (0.00%).


Most frequent word fragments inside domain names

# Word Domains count %
1 go 11256 1.67
2 lab 10440 1.54
3 pro 7433 1.10
4 tech 6164 0.91
5 app 5777 0.85
6 one 5236 0.77
7 web 5086 0.75
8 car 4684 0.69
9 my 4669 0.69
10 dev 4251 0.63
11 net 3964 0.59
12 cloud 2909 0.43
13 get 2492 0.37
14 hub 2210 0.33
15 data 2194 0.32
16 box 1832 0.27
17 star 1793 0.27
18 game 1735 0.26
19 top 1585 0.23
20 pay 1479 0.22

Trends & Insights 2026

Short, brandable domains under 8 characters will command premium prices as .dev matures; the average length of 8.30 chars suggests a sweet spot for investment.
The dominance of the letter 'a' and first letter 's' indicates phonetic patterns that could guide AI-driven domain generation tools.
With 90.63% of domains being purely alphabetic, expect increased competition for letter-only names, especially those containing high-value words like 'go'.
Hyphen-free domains (95.53%) will remain the gold standard; hyphenated names may see declining resale value as users prioritize simplicity.
The low digit usage (1.18% of characters) suggests numeric domains are undervalued; tokens like '3' could gain traction in tech niches.
As .dev approaches 1M domains, early registrants of short, vowel-rich names (vowels at 38.29%) will benefit from scarcity-driven appreciation.

Hyphen usage in domain names

With hyphen (30207 · 4.47%)
Without hyphen (645800 · 95.53%)

Popular numeric tokens in domain names

# Token Domains count
1 3 3625
2 2 3362
3 0 3287
4 1 3049
5 4 2969
6 8 1768
7 7 1402
8 5 1233
9 9 1121
10 6 919
11 88 918
12 10 459
13 6686 403
14 11 347
15 24 332
16 360 287
17 42 283
18 99 277
19 365 241
20 77 226