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.

793.10kreported May 2014

Share of new-gTLD domains by backend
Identity Digital179 TLDs	617.88k	77.91%
GoDaddy Registry26 TLDs	83,296	10.5%
Teleinfo3 TLDs	47,476	5.99%
Tucows7 TLDs	16,325	2.06%
CentralNic (Team Internet)17 TLDs	14,186	1.79%
fury.ca1 TLDs	5,507	0.69%
Knipp / TANGO Registry8 TLDs	3,680	0.46%
Google Registry2 TLDs	3,542	0.45%
Nominet3 TLDs	703	0.09%
AFNIC1 TLDs	215	0.03%
Other7 more backends	283	0.04%

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

18.07M

Tucows 53 TLDs

11.63M

Identity Digital 450 TLDs

7.43M

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

388.22k

Nominet 78 TLDs

141.74k

Knipp / TANGO Registry 27 TLDs

140.83k

AFNIC 11 TLDs

117.95k

Teleinfo 10 TLDs

68,601

dnsnode.net 2 TLDs

61,583

RyCE 4 TLDs

43,195

CNNIC 9 TLDs

35,365

All backends

#	Backend	TLDs	Domains	Source
1	CentralNic (Team Internet)	87	18,072,486	curated
2	Tucows	53	11,630,408	curated
3	Identity Digital	450	7,430,998	curated
4	KNET	22	6,522,351	curated
5	GoDaddy Registry	206	5,347,854	curated
6	GMO Registry	46	4,398,762	curated
7	Google Registry	46	2,666,186	curated
8	fury.ca inferred	5	388,221	rdap_host shared by 5 TLDs
9	Nominet	78	141,741	curated
10	Knipp / TANGO Registry	27	140,825	curated
11	AFNIC	11	117,948	curated
12	Teleinfo	10	68,601	curated
13	dnsnode.net inferred	2	61,583	ns_suffix shared by 16 TLDs
14	RyCE	4	43,195	curated
15	CNNIC	9	35,365	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	7,296	ns_suffix shared by 7 TLDs
19	Verisign	14	6,617	curated
20	ripn.net inferred	2	2,247	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 13 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.