.org
About .org
.org launched in 1985 as one of the original seven gTLDs, intended for non-profit and community organizations, though registration has never actually required proof of non-profit status and anyone can register one. The registry has been operated since 2003 by Public Interest Registry (PIR), a non-profit created by the Internet Society specifically to run .org; PIR was itself the subject of a contested 2019 - 2020 attempted sale to a private equity firm, which was ultimately blocked following pushback from ICANN and the non-profit sector that relies on the extension.
That non-profit association still shapes how .org is used in practice, even among registrants with no charitable status: it reads as more institutional or trustworthy than a .com to many users, which is part of why software projects, open-source communities, and advocacy groups gravitate toward it.