// report · 78 TLDs classified
TLD trust & deliverability rankings.
Some top-level domains get your email filtered before anyone reads it. This is which ones, why, and what to use instead — the same classification our domain search warns you with, published in full.
the thing nobody tells you when you buy a cheap domain
A domain is not just an address, it is a reputation signal. Mail providers score inbound messages partly on the sending domain, and where a whole TLD has a history of abuse, that score starts low for everyone using it — including you, on day one, having done nothing wrong.
This is not about search. Google has been explicit that the TLD does not affect rankings, and we are not claiming otherwise. It is about whether your password resets, invoices and outreach land in an inbox or a junk folder.
The pattern is consistent: the cheaper and more frictionless a TLD is to register in bulk, the more abuse it attracts, and the harder mail providers come down on it. That is why the cheapest option on a price table is sometimes the most expensive decision on this page.
avoid for anything email-facing
These carry enough abuse history that mail from them is routinely filtered or blocked outright. Fine for a throwaway redirect; a liability for anything you need people to receive.
| TLD | why |
|---|---|
| .buzz | elevated abuse rates — weak trust signal and patchy deliverability. |
| .cf | ex-Freenom free TLD — near-universally distrusted and blocklisted. |
| .click | heavily abused — frequently blocked outright by mail and web filters. avoid. |
| .cyou | high-abuse TLD — frequently blocklisted. |
| .ga | ex-Freenom free TLD — near-universally distrusted and blocklisted. |
| .gq | ex-Freenom free TLD — near-universally distrusted and blocklisted. |
| .icu | high-abuse TLD — frequently blocklisted. |
| .link | commonly abused for spam and phishing — often blocklisted. avoid for a brand. |
| .ml | ex-Freenom free TLD — near-universally distrusted and blocklisted. |
| .monster | elevated abuse rates — weak trust signal. |
| .rest | rarely used legitimately — likely to be treated as suspicious. |
| .sbs | high-abuse TLD — frequently blocklisted. |
| .tk | ex-Freenom free TLD — near-universally distrusted and blocklisted. |
| .top | one of the most-abused TLDs anywhere — routinely blocklisted by spam filters and corporate firewalls. avoid for email. |
| .work | elevated abuse rates — many mail filters down-rank it. avoid for email. |
usable, with a caveat
Nothing disqualifying here. These are worth knowing about before you build a business on one, particularly if you send a lot of mail.
| TLD | what to know |
|---|---|
| .biz | long-standing but low-trust — reads as dated and is filtered more than .com. |
| .fun | novelty gTLD — fine for a project, reads as low-trust for a business. |
| .info | long-standing but heavily used by spam — deliverability is patchier than .com/.org. |
| .live | newer gTLD — generally OK, but check email deliverability first. |
| .online | newer gTLD with elevated spam association — mail from it is more likely to be filtered. |
| .site | newer gTLD with elevated spam association — mail from it is more likely to be filtered. |
| .space | newer gTLD with a mixed reputation — fine for a project, weaker for a serious brand. |
| .store | newer gTLD — usually OK for e-commerce, but test email deliverability before relying on it. |
| .today | newer gTLD — fine for content, weak for a product brand. |
| .website | newer gTLD — usable but generic; weaker brand signal than a ccTLD or .com. |
| .world | newer gTLD with a mixed reputation — fine for a project. |
| .xyz | appears on spam-filter blocklists more than most TLDs — fine for a side project, risky for outbound email. |
where cheap and risky overlap
These are TLDs we would warn you about that also happen to be among the cheapest we track. That combination is not a coincidence — it is the mechanism. Low price and light checks attract bulk abuse, abuse attracts filtering, and the price stays low because demand from legitimate buyers falls away.
| TLD | cheapest renewal | rating |
|---|---|---|
| .xyz | £8.57 | caution |
| .info | £15.00 | caution |
| .today | £18.30 | caution |
| .space | £20.00 | caution |
| .online | £22.78 | caution |
| .site | £22.78 | caution |
| .world | £24.00 | caution |
| .store | £34.58 | caution |
the full ranking
All 78 classified TLDs, best first. Anything not listed we have not classified — we would rather say nothing than invent a rating.
| TLD | score | rating | notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| .com | 98 | trusted | — |
| .org | 92 | trusted | — |
| .app | 90 | trusted | — |
| .dev | 90 | trusted | — |
| .io | 90 | trusted | — |
| .net | 90 | trusted | — |
| .co | 87 | trusted | — |
| .ai | 86 | trusted | — |
| .at | 74 | standard | — |
| .au | 74 | standard | — |
| .be | 74 | standard | — |
| .blog | 74 | standard | — |
| .ca | 74 | standard | — |
| .cc | 74 | standard | — |
| .ch | 74 | standard | — |
| .co.in | 74 | standard | — |
| .co.jp | 74 | standard | — |
| .co.nz | 74 | standard | — |
| .co.uk | 74 | standard | — |
| .com.au | 74 | standard | — |
| .de | 74 | standard | — |
| .design | 74 | standard | — |
| .dk | 74 | standard | — |
| 74 | standard | — | |
| .es | 74 | standard | — |
| .eu | 74 | standard | — |
| .fi | 74 | standard | — |
| .fm | 74 | standard | — |
| .fr | 74 | standard | — |
| .gg | 74 | standard | — |
| .ie | 74 | standard | — |
| .in | 74 | standard | — |
| .is | 74 | standard | — |
| .it | 74 | standard | — |
| .jp | 74 | standard | — |
| .me | 74 | standard | — |
| .me.uk | 74 | standard | — |
| .nl | 74 | standard | — |
| .no | 74 | standard | — |
| .nz | 74 | standard | — |
| .org.uk | 74 | standard | — |
| .page | 74 | standard | — |
| .pl | 74 | standard | — |
| .pt | 74 | standard | — |
| .se | 74 | standard | — |
| .so | 74 | standard | — |
| .studio | 74 | standard | — |
| .tech | 74 | standard | — |
| .tv | 74 | standard | — |
| .uk | 74 | standard | — |
| .us | 74 | standard | — |
| .biz | 48 | caution | long-standing but low-trust — reads as dated and is filtered more than .com. |
| .fun | 48 | caution | novelty gTLD — fine for a project, reads as low-trust for a business. |
| .info | 48 | caution | long-standing but heavily used by spam — deliverability is patchier than .com/.org. |
| .live | 48 | caution | newer gTLD — generally OK, but check email deliverability first. |
| .online | 48 | caution | newer gTLD with elevated spam association — mail from it is more likely to be filtered. |
| .site | 48 | caution | newer gTLD with elevated spam association — mail from it is more likely to be filtered. |
| .space | 48 | caution | newer gTLD with a mixed reputation — fine for a project, weaker for a serious brand. |
| .store | 48 | caution | newer gTLD — usually OK for e-commerce, but test email deliverability before relying on it. |
| .today | 48 | caution | newer gTLD — fine for content, weak for a product brand. |
| .website | 48 | caution | newer gTLD — usable but generic; weaker brand signal than a ccTLD or .com. |
| .world | 48 | caution | newer gTLD with a mixed reputation — fine for a project. |
| .xyz | 48 | caution | appears on spam-filter blocklists more than most TLDs — fine for a side project, risky for outbound email. |
| .buzz | 20 | avoid | elevated abuse rates — weak trust signal and patchy deliverability. |
| .cf | 20 | avoid | ex-Freenom free TLD — near-universally distrusted and blocklisted. |
| .click | 20 | avoid | heavily abused — frequently blocked outright by mail and web filters. avoid. |
| .cyou | 20 | avoid | high-abuse TLD — frequently blocklisted. |
| .ga | 20 | avoid | ex-Freenom free TLD — near-universally distrusted and blocklisted. |
| .gq | 20 | avoid | ex-Freenom free TLD — near-universally distrusted and blocklisted. |
| .icu | 20 | avoid | high-abuse TLD — frequently blocklisted. |
| .link | 20 | avoid | commonly abused for spam and phishing — often blocklisted. avoid for a brand. |
| .ml | 20 | avoid | ex-Freenom free TLD — near-universally distrusted and blocklisted. |
| .monster | 20 | avoid | elevated abuse rates — weak trust signal. |
| .rest | 20 | avoid | rarely used legitimately — likely to be treated as suspicious. |
| .sbs | 20 | avoid | high-abuse TLD — frequently blocklisted. |
| .tk | 20 | avoid | ex-Freenom free TLD — near-universally distrusted and blocklisted. |
| .top | 20 | avoid | one of the most-abused TLDs anywhere — routinely blocklisted by spam filters and corporate firewalls. avoid for email. |
| .work | 20 | avoid | elevated abuse rates — many mail filters down-rank it. avoid for email. |
how to read this
- It is a classification, not a measurement. We are not running spam-filter telemetry. This is a judgement built from known abuse patterns and registry history, with scores attached so it sorts. Treating it as precise would be overclaiming.
- Nothing here affects search rankings. Deliverability and search are separate systems.
- An unlisted TLD is not a bad TLD. Most of the thousands in existence are simply too niche for us to have an opinion on.
- Owning a flagged domain is recoverable. Send mail from a trusted domain and keep the flagged one for the site. Deliverability follows the sending domain.
If you think a rating here is wrong — particularly if you run a registry that has cleaned up — tell us and we will look again: hello@owndle.com.
questions people actually ask.
Is .xyz bad for email?
It is riskier than a .com. .xyz appears on spam-filter blocklists more often than most TLDs, so mail sent from it is more likely to be filtered — not guaranteed to be, but more likely. For a side project that is a fine trade for the price. For a business whose invoices and password resets have to arrive, it is not.
Does the TLD affect Google rankings?
No. Google has said repeatedly that a domain's TLD does not affect search rankings, and nothing here contradicts that. This ranking is about reputation and email deliverability — whether mail from a domain reaches an inbox — which is a completely separate mechanism from search.
Why do some TLDs get blocklisted?
Cost and friction. Where registrations are very cheap or were once free, and identity checks are light, abuse follows — spam and phishing campaigns register in bulk. Mail providers respond by scoring the whole TLD down, which penalises legitimate owners along with everyone else.
I already own a flagged domain. What should I do?
Do not panic and do not necessarily move. Keep using it for the site, but send transactional and marketing email from a domain on the trusted list. Deliverability problems attach to the sending domain, so splitting the two solves most of it without rebuilding your brand.
How is this scored?
It is an editorial classification, not a measurement. TLDs are grouped by reputation and known abuse patterns, with a score attached for sorting. We are not running our own spam-filter telemetry, and we say so rather than dressing judgement up as data.
// stop checking one at a time
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