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.

26.42Mreported Mar 2019

Share of new-gTLD domains by backend
GoDaddy Registry204 TLDs	7.26M	27.49%
Identity Digital438 TLDs	4.81M	18.19%
Tucows47 TLDs	4.45M	16.86%
ZDNS32 TLDs	4.31M	16.33%
CentralNic (Team Internet)84 TLDs	3.30M	12.48%
GMO Registry46 TLDs	764.10k	2.89%
Google Registry46 TLDs	539.08k	2.04%
fury.ca5 TLDs	221.12k	0.84%
dnsnode.net2 TLDs	148.79k	0.56%
Knipp / TANGO Registry27 TLDs	131.10k	0.5%
Other13 more backends	481.23k	1.82%

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

17.59M

Tucows 53 TLDs

11.58M

Identity Digital 440 TLDs

7.34M

ZDNS 32 TLDs

6.57M

GoDaddy Registry 206 TLDs

5.32M

GMO Registry 46 TLDs

4.42M

Google Registry 46 TLDs

2.60M

fury.ca 5 TLDs

387.34k

Nominet 78 TLDs

141.12k

Knipp / TANGO Registry 27 TLDs

140.54k

AFNIC 11 TLDs

118.44k

dnsnode.net 2 TLDs

61,206

Public Interest Registry 10 TLDs

49,608

RyCE 4 TLDs

43,212

KNET 9 TLDs

35,535

All backends

#	Backend	TLDs	Domains	Source
1	CentralNic (Team Internet)	87	17,585,111	curated
2	Tucows	53	11,577,337	curated
3	Identity Digital	440	7,344,322	curated
4	ZDNS	32	6,567,229	curated
5	GoDaddy Registry	206	5,322,012	curated
6	GMO Registry	46	4,422,764	curated
7	Google Registry	46	2,604,420	curated
8	fury.ca inferred	5	387,337	rdap_host shared by 5 TLDs
9	Nominet	78	141,121	curated
10	Knipp / TANGO Registry	27	140,538	curated
11	AFNIC	11	118,437	curated
12	dnsnode.net inferred	2	61,206	ns_suffix shared by 16 TLDs
13	Public Interest Registry	10	49,608	curated
14	RyCE	4	43,212	curated
15	KNET	9	35,535	curated
16	FlexiReg	2	28,618	curated
17	anycastdns.cz inferred	1	16,831	ns_suffix shared by 25 TLDs
18	dns.net.za inferred	3	7,279	ns_suffix shared by 7 TLDs
19	Verisign	14	6,627	curated
20	ripn.net inferred	2	2,224	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 1 October 2026 and refresh daily. Registrar figures are from ICANN's monthly registry reports for May 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.