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.

24.90Mreported Oct 2016

Share of new-gTLD domains by backend
CentralNic (Team Internet)83 TLDs	7.10M	28.53%
KNET21 TLDs	5.66M	22.72%
GoDaddy Registry192 TLDs	4.88M	19.58%
Identity Digital441 TLDs	3.50M	14.07%
Tucows44 TLDs	2.80M	11.24%
Teleinfo10 TLDs	222.93k	0.9%
GMO Registry46 TLDs	149.15k	0.6%
Knipp / TANGO Registry26 TLDs	101.59k	0.41%
CNNIC9 TLDs	99,460	0.4%
Nominet72 TLDs	96,856	0.39%
Other13 more backends	288.91k	1.16%

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

17.74M

Tucows 53 TLDs

11.60M

Identity Digital 450 TLDs

7.41M

KNET 22 TLDs

6.52M

GoDaddy Registry 206 TLDs

5.34M

GMO Registry 46 TLDs

4.41M

Google Registry 46 TLDs

2.63M

fury.ca 5 TLDs

387.92k

Nominet 78 TLDs

141.40k

Knipp / TANGO Registry 27 TLDs

140.72k

AFNIC 11 TLDs

118.14k

Teleinfo 10 TLDs

68,606

dnsnode.net 2 TLDs

61,422

RyCE 4 TLDs

43,203

CNNIC 9 TLDs

35,385

All backends

#	Backend	TLDs	Domains	Source
1	CentralNic (Team Internet)	87	17,742,685	curated
2	Tucows	53	11,596,907	curated
3	Identity Digital	450	7,406,884	curated
4	KNET	22	6,518,832	curated
5	GoDaddy Registry	206	5,341,133	curated
6	GMO Registry	46	4,408,234	curated
7	Google Registry	46	2,632,815	curated
8	fury.ca inferred	5	387,915	rdap_host shared by 5 TLDs
9	Nominet	78	141,397	curated
10	Knipp / TANGO Registry	27	140,719	curated
11	AFNIC	11	118,144	curated
12	Teleinfo	10	68,606	curated
13	dnsnode.net inferred	2	61,422	ns_suffix shared by 16 TLDs
14	RyCE	4	43,203	curated
15	CNNIC	9	35,385	curated
16	FlexiReg	2	28,301	curated
17	anycastdns.cz inferred	1	16,868	ns_suffix shared by 25 TLDs
18	dns.net.za inferred	3	7,282	ns_suffix shared by 7 TLDs
19	Verisign	14	6,616	curated
20	ripn.net inferred	2	2,220	ns_suffix shared by 25 TLDs
21	NIC.br	5	902	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 7 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.