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.

8.77Mreported Oct 2015

Share of new-gTLD domains by backend
Identity Digital327 TLDs	2.12M	24.18%
GoDaddy Registry99 TLDs	1.99M	22.68%
CentralNic (Team Internet)57 TLDs	1.66M	18.94%
KNET18 TLDs	1.32M	15.09%
Tucows23 TLDs	935.50k	10.67%
Nominet26 TLDs	133.16k	1.52%
Teleinfo6 TLDs	128.73k	1.47%
CNNIC6 TLDs	109.09k	1.24%
AFNIC8 TLDs	98,713	1.13%
Knipp / TANGO Registry24 TLDs	75,277	0.86%
Other12 more backends	196.14k	2.24%

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

17.95M

Tucows 53 TLDs

11.61M

Identity Digital 450 TLDs

7.42M

KNET 22 TLDs

6.52M

GoDaddy Registry 206 TLDs

5.33M

GMO Registry 46 TLDs

4.41M

Google Registry 46 TLDs

2.65M

fury.ca 5 TLDs

388.48k

Nominet 78 TLDs

141.62k

Knipp / TANGO Registry 27 TLDs

140.85k

AFNIC 11 TLDs

118.04k

Teleinfo 10 TLDs

68,618

dnsnode.net 2 TLDs

61,524

RyCE 4 TLDs

43,203

CNNIC 9 TLDs

35,375

All backends

#	Backend	TLDs	Domains	Source
1	CentralNic (Team Internet)	87	17,949,371	curated
2	Tucows	53	11,611,324	curated
3	Identity Digital	450	7,420,413	curated
4	KNET	22	6,518,974	curated
5	GoDaddy Registry	206	5,334,507	curated
6	GMO Registry	46	4,406,087	curated
7	Google Registry	46	2,645,268	curated
8	fury.ca inferred	5	388,482	rdap_host shared by 5 TLDs
9	Nominet	78	141,615	curated
10	Knipp / TANGO Registry	27	140,853	curated
11	AFNIC	11	118,042	curated
12	Teleinfo	10	68,618	curated
13	dnsnode.net inferred	2	61,524	ns_suffix shared by 16 TLDs
14	RyCE	4	43,203	curated
15	CNNIC	9	35,375	curated
16	FlexiReg	2	28,301	curated
17	anycastdns.cz inferred	1	16,889	ns_suffix shared by 25 TLDs
18	dns.net.za inferred	3	7,291	ns_suffix shared by 7 TLDs
19	Verisign	14	6,612	curated
20	ripn.net inferred	2	2,226	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 10 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.