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.

16.43Mreported Mar 2016

Share of new-gTLD domains by backend
GoDaddy Registry129 TLDs	4.00M	24.37%
KNET21 TLDs	3.40M	20.71%
CentralNic (Team Internet)69 TLDs	3.19M	19.44%
Identity Digital383 TLDs	3.17M	19.27%
Tucows31 TLDs	1.93M	11.76%
Teleinfo10 TLDs	156.28k	0.95%
CNNIC7 TLDs	110.47k	0.67%
Nominet55 TLDs	101.14k	0.62%
Knipp / TANGO Registry25 TLDs	93,290	0.57%
AFNIC9 TLDs	75,373	0.46%
Other13 more backends	196.70k	1.2%

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

17.79M

Tucows 53 TLDs

11.60M

Identity Digital 450 TLDs

7.41M

KNET 22 TLDs

6.51M

GoDaddy Registry 206 TLDs

5.35M

GMO Registry 46 TLDs

4.41M

Google Registry 46 TLDs

2.64M

fury.ca 5 TLDs

388.46k

Nominet 78 TLDs

141.46k

Knipp / TANGO Registry 27 TLDs

140.75k

AFNIC 11 TLDs

118.09k

Teleinfo 10 TLDs

68,609

dnsnode.net 2 TLDs

61,452

RyCE 4 TLDs

43,215

CNNIC 9 TLDs

35,388

All backends

#	Backend	TLDs	Domains	Source
1	CentralNic (Team Internet)	87	17,792,126	curated
2	Tucows	53	11,601,694	curated
3	Identity Digital	450	7,411,126	curated
4	KNET	22	6,510,363	curated
5	GoDaddy Registry	206	5,345,318	curated
6	GMO Registry	46	4,409,153	curated
7	Google Registry	46	2,638,914	curated
8	fury.ca inferred	5	388,458	rdap_host shared by 5 TLDs
9	Nominet	78	141,464	curated
10	Knipp / TANGO Registry	27	140,752	curated
11	AFNIC	11	118,094	curated
12	Teleinfo	10	68,609	curated
13	dnsnode.net inferred	2	61,452	ns_suffix shared by 16 TLDs
14	RyCE	4	43,215	curated
15	CNNIC	9	35,388	curated
16	FlexiReg	2	28,301	curated
17	anycastdns.cz inferred	1	16,872	ns_suffix shared by 25 TLDs
18	dns.net.za inferred	3	7,285	ns_suffix shared by 7 TLDs
19	Verisign	14	6,616	curated
20	ripn.net inferred	2	2,223	ns_suffix shared by 25 TLDs
21	NIC.br	5	904	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 8 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.