What Is .agakhan? The Aga Khan Foundation's Brand TLD

The .agakhan domain is a closed brand top-level domain operated by Fondation Aga Khan, known publicly as the Aga Khan Foundation, a non-profit international development organization. It is not a public extension: unlike .com or .io, you cannot register a .agakhan name for your own project, because the entire namespace belongs to the Foundation.

If you searched for the ".agakhan domain" hoping to buy one, the short answer is that you can't — but this page explains what .agakhan is, who controls it, why a non-profit runs its own TLD, and what you can register instead.

.agakhan at a glance

What is .agakhan?

.agakhan is a generic top-level domain that ICANN delegated to Fondation Aga Khan on March 31, 2016. The registrant operates publicly as the Aga Khan Foundation, a non-profit organization working in international development.

.agakhan is a brand TLD — a "dot-brand" — not an open extension anyone can buy into. The Foundation applied for the string so that it, and only it, would control every domain ending in .agakhan. You can confirm the delegation and operator on the authoritative IANA root-zone record for .agakhan.

A related but separate TLD: the wider network the Foundation belongs to, the Aga Khan Development Network, holds its own sibling dot-brand, .akdn. The two are related but distinct delegations, each closed to its own registrant.

History of .agakhan

.agakhan was delegated to the DNS root zone on March 31, 2016, with Afilias handling the technical operation on the Foundation's behalf. Unlike most dot-brands, its registry agreement with ICANN is listed as a standard "Base, Non-Sponsored" agreement — it does not carry a Specification 13 brand designation. Instead, the Foundation holds a Specification 9 Notice of Exemption from the Registry Operator Code of Conduct, the mechanism ICANN uses to approve single-registrant use of a TLD outside the formal dot-brand track. The practical effect is the same closed registry, just under a different contractual mechanism than most brand TLDs use.

Fondation Aga Khan applied for its own name as a TLD during ICANN's New gTLD Program, one of a small number of non-profit and institutional registrants to do so alongside the far more common corporate applicants. The .agakhan record has remained active since delegation.

Is .agakhan available to register?

No. .agakhan is a closed brand TLD, so there is no open registration and no registrar — including Namefi — can sell you a .agakhan name. Registrations are limited to Fondation Aga Khan and organizations it authorizes. This is by design: a dot-brand exists precisely so the registrant controls the whole namespace and no one else can register a confusing or malicious lookalike.

If you have a genuine institutional relationship with the Aga Khan Foundation and a legitimate need for a .agakhan address, that request would go through the Foundation's own channels, not a commercial registrar.

How the Foundation uses .agakhan

Brand TLDs give an organization a private space to organize its web presence. Typical uses for a dot-brand like .agakhan include:

• Program and institutional sites on clean, memorable addresses tied directly to the Foundation.
• Campaign and initiative pages that are obviously official because only the Foundation can create them.
• Internal tools and partner portals where a branded suffix signals a trusted, first-party destination.

Who it's not for: anyone outside Fondation Aga Khan. Because the namespace is closed, there is no scenario in which an independent charity, developer, or business can build on .agakhan.

Notable sites using .agakhan

There are no third-party sites on .agakhan, and there never will be while it stays a closed brand TLD — every .agakhan address is controlled by Fondation Aga Khan. The Foundation's parent network runs its main public presence from akdn.org, and uses the brand TLD selectively rather than as a wholesale replacement. Rather than point to a specific address that may change, the honest description is simple: .agakhan is the Foundation's private namespace, used only for its own properties.

What is a dot-brand TLD?

A dot-brand (or brand TLD) is a top-level domain that a single organization owns and operates for its exclusive use, secured through ICANN's New gTLD Program. Hundreds were delegated — examples in this same alphabetical band include .abb, .accenture, and .aetna — and they share a few defining traits:

• Closed registration. Only the registrant and its affiliates can hold names.
• Specification 13, usually. Most brand TLDs carry this registry-agreement addendum, which formally recognizes the TLD as a brand and relaxes some rules that apply to open generics. .agakhan is a notable exception — it achieves the same closed result through a Specification 9 Code-of-Conduct exemption instead.
• Security and control. The Foundation eliminates the risk of anyone else registering a .agakhan lookalike, which strengthens resistance to phishing and impersonation — a real concern for an organization that solicits donations and works with beneficiaries worldwide.

Most brands are corporations, but institutional and non-profit registrants like Fondation Aga Khan show the same closed-registry model applies outside the commercial world, even when the underlying contractual mechanism differs.

.agakhan vs open domain alternatives

If your goal was a short, brandable name rather than the .agakhan string specifically, an open extension is the right tool. Here is how a closed brand TLD compares with domains you can actually register:

For a non-profit or institutional project, .org is the traditional choice; a matching .com remains the universal default; and .io suits a more modern, tech-forward program.

Reputation and trust

Ironically, the closed nature of .agakhan is exactly what makes it trustworthy: because only the Foundation can create these addresses, a .agakhan link is verifiably official, which is why brand TLDs are considered strong against impersonation and email spoofing — useful for an organization that depends on donor and partner trust. That trust, however, benefits Fondation Aga Khan alone — it does not transfer to any name you might register, since you cannot register one. For your own project, deliverability and reputation will come from a well-configured domain on an open extension, not from a brand TLD you don't control.

Looking for an "agakhan" name? Register an alternative at Namefi

You can't buy a .agakhan domain, but if you want a name for your own non-profit or institutional project, you can secure it on an open extension in minutes:

1. Search your desired name across open TLDs like .com, .org, or .io.
2. Choose the extension that fits your mission and budget.
3. Register and configure DNS.

Namefi is an ICANN-accredited registrar that bridges Web2 and Web3, with transparent pricing, fast DNS, and the option to hold your name as a tokenized domain for provable ownership and easier transfer.

Frequently asked questions

Can anyone register a .agakhan domain?

No. .agakhan is a closed brand TLD delegated to Fondation Aga Khan, the Aga Khan Foundation. Only the Foundation and parties it authorizes can hold a .agakhan name, so it is not available to the general public through any registrar.

Who operates the .agakhan registry?

Fondation Aga Khan, the Aga Khan Foundation, is the registry operator, with Afilias providing the technical back-end. The TLD was delegated to the DNS root zone on March 31, 2016, under ICANN's New gTLD Program.

What is the Aga Khan Foundation?

The Aga Khan Foundation is a non-profit international development organization. Its .agakhan domain is reserved for its own use and is separate from the similarly named .akdn TLD held by the wider Aga Khan Development Network.

What can I register instead of .agakhan?

Because .agakhan is closed, choose an open extension for your own project. A matching .com, or a modern alternative like .io or .xyz, can be registered by anyone through an accredited registrar such as Namefi.

Related resources

• What is a TLD? — the fundamentals behind top-level domains.
• How a TLD affects domain value — why the extension matters.
• .com TLD guide — the open default to compare against.
• .org TLD guide and .io TLD guide — alternatives for non-profits and tech projects.
• Glossary: new gTLD, registry, ICANN.