Registry backends

Which technical registry service provider actually serves each new gTLD's DNS. ICANN publishes no TLD-to-backend mapping, so this is inferred from three signals: the root-zone nameserver hostnames, the RDAP endpoint from IANA's bootstrap file, and — for TLDs running vanity hostnames — the reverse DNS of those nameservers' addresses.

These are the companies running the infrastructure, not the ones selling the domains. Most registry operators outsource their backend and so appear nowhere on this page — Radix's ten TLDs all run on Tucows' platform, for instance. For the operators themselves, see registry operators.

New gTLDs Legacy gTLDs All gTLDs

1,089 TLDs attributed across 26 platforms. 24 remain unattributed — brand TLDs whose vanity nameservers and RDAP endpoints reveal nothing about who operates them. They are counted here rather than quietly dropped. How the inference works.

Backend concentration

Source: ICANN monthly registry reports

A handful of platforms serve the DNS for most of the new-gTLD namespace. Share of all new-gTLD domains by technical backend, from ICANN's monthly registry reports. Each TLD is attributed to the platform serving it today — nothing records who ran a TLD's DNS in 2016 — so this is volume on today's platforms over time, not who served it at the time.

45reported Nov 2013

Share of new-gTLD domains by backend
Identity Digital26 TLDs	27	60%
GoDaddy Registry2 TLDs	15	33.33%
Knipp / TANGO Registry2 TLDs	2	4.44%
Tucows1 TLDs	1	2.22%

By domains served

Source: Daily zone files and ICANN monthly registry reports

Bar length is domains; the TLD count is shown alongside because the two rank very differently.

CentralNic (Team Internet) 87 TLDs

18.15M

Tucows 53 TLDs

11.64M

Identity Digital 450 TLDs

7.44M

KNET 22 TLDs

6.52M

GoDaddy Registry 206 TLDs

5.35M

GMO Registry 46 TLDs

4.40M

Google Registry 46 TLDs

2.67M

fury.ca 5 TLDs

388.76k

Nominet 78 TLDs

141.82k

Knipp / TANGO Registry 27 TLDs

140.83k

AFNIC 11 TLDs

117.89k

Teleinfo 10 TLDs

68,598

dnsnode.net 2 TLDs

61,618

RyCE 4 TLDs

43,191

CNNIC 9 TLDs

35,361

All backends

#	Backend	TLDs	Domains	Source
1	CentralNic (Team Internet)	87	18,147,733	curated
2	Tucows	53	11,640,350	curated
3	Identity Digital	450	7,436,010	curated
4	KNET	22	6,515,771	curated
5	GoDaddy Registry	206	5,354,030	curated
6	GMO Registry	46	4,396,558	curated
7	Google Registry	46	2,671,753	curated
8	fury.ca inferred	5	388,761	rdap_host shared by 5 TLDs
9	Nominet	78	141,818	curated
10	Knipp / TANGO Registry	27	140,830	curated
11	AFNIC	11	117,888	curated
12	Teleinfo	10	68,598	curated
13	dnsnode.net inferred	2	61,618	ns_suffix shared by 16 TLDs
14	RyCE	4	43,191	curated
15	CNNIC	9	35,361	curated
16	FlexiReg	2	28,301	curated
17	anycastdns.cz inferred	1	16,871	ns_suffix shared by 25 TLDs
18	dns.net.za inferred	3	7,295	ns_suffix shared by 7 TLDs
19	Verisign	14	6,625	curated
20	ripn.net inferred	2	2,249	ns_suffix shared by 25 TLDs
21	NIC.br	5	903	curated
22	pch.net inferred	1	76	ns_suffix shared by 17 TLDs
23	aka-ns.net inferred	2	4	ns_suffix shared by 12 TLDs
24	ns.il inferred	1	–	ns_suffix shared by 6 TLDs
25	ntc.org.pk inferred	1	–	ns_suffix shared by 3 TLDs
26	monic.mo inferred	1	–	ns_suffix shared by 5 TLDs

Data currency. Domain counts on this page are from zone files dated 14 October 2026 and refresh daily. Registrar figures are from ICANN's monthly registry reports for June 2026, which ICANN publishes about three months in arrears; zone files contain no registrar information, so no fresher source exists. Full detail on methodology and live pipeline status.