Get a free .city.state.us domain for your AI project
A little-known US government program lets anyone claim a free hyper-local domain like myapp.seattle.wa.us — perfect for giving your AI side project instant credibility.
A little-known US government program lets anyone claim a free hyper-local domain like myapp.seattle.wa.us — perfect for giving your AI side project instant credibility.
Since 1992, the US government has quietly maintained a free domain program that lets citizens claim addresses like yourname.seattle.wa.us — and almost nobody knows about it. A new guide walks through exactly how to claim one today, no credit card required.
Most people assume a professional web address costs money — typically $10–$20 per year for a .com. These locality domains are a genuine free alternative with an official government-backed history.
Nothing changed in the underlying program — it has existed since 1992 and is maintained under government contract. The process involves three moving parts: (1) picking a locality from a delegated list, (2) setting up free nameservers through Amazon Lightsail, and (3) emailing the Interim .US Domain Template to the local registrar.
A free locality domain is a great fit for AI builders creating tools tied to a specific place. Think a neighborhood events chatbot at mybot.portland.or.us, a local business directory at search.austin.tx.us, or a civic tool at help.chicago.il.us.
Visit the official list of delegated .us subdomains. Search for your city or state. If your locality is listed, note the registrar contact email. If the email bounces, Google the company name to find current contact info.
Go to aws.amazon.com/lightsail and create a free account. Create a DNS zone before you apply for the domain, so you have nameserver addresses ready to include in your registration email.
Fill in the form with your chosen domain name, nameserver addresses from Lightsail, and contact details. Email it to the registrar you found in step one. The guide author used this exact process to register frederick.seattle.wa.us.
Confirmed: The locality domain program is real, government-maintained since 1992, and free to use. The guide author successfully registered frederick.seattle.wa.us using the exact steps described.
Confirmed: Eligibility requires being a US citizen, permanent resident, or a US-incorporated or US-present organization — not open to everyone globally.
Not independently verified by CBW: We have not tested the full registration process ourselves or confirmed current response times from registrars.
Worth noting: The registrar contact list is dated 2009 and some companies have renamed. Expect some light research to find current contact details.
Source: https://fredchan.org/blog/locality-domains-guide/
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