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

1,090 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.

35.20Mreported Jun 2020

Share of new-gTLD domains by backend
CentralNic (Team Internet)85 TLDs	10.25M	29.11%
Tucows47 TLDs	6.54M	18.59%
ZDNS32 TLDs	5.43M	15.41%
GoDaddy Registry206 TLDs	5.01M	14.23%
Identity Digital439 TLDs	4.79M	13.61%
Google Registry46 TLDs	1.27M	3.62%
GMO Registry46 TLDs	955.69k	2.72%
fury.ca5 TLDs	212.70k	0.6%
dnsnode.net2 TLDs	154.31k	0.44%
Knipp / TANGO Registry27 TLDs	134.56k	0.38%
Other13 more backends	452.77k	1.29%

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

17.58M

Tucows 53 TLDs

11.56M

Identity Digital 441 TLDs

7.34M

ZDNS 32 TLDs

6.54M

GoDaddy Registry 206 TLDs

5.29M

GMO Registry 46 TLDs

4.43M

Google Registry 46 TLDs

2.59M

fury.ca 5 TLDs

386.85k

Nominet 78 TLDs

141.13k

Knipp / TANGO Registry 27 TLDs

140.55k

AFNIC 11 TLDs

118.48k

dnsnode.net 2 TLDs

61,117

Public Interest Registry 10 TLDs

49,596

RyCE 4 TLDs

43,212

KNET 9 TLDs

35,594

All backends

#	Backend	TLDs	Domains	Source
1	CentralNic (Team Internet)	87	17,580,855	curated
2	Tucows	53	11,563,082	curated
3	Identity Digital	441	7,342,727	curated
4	ZDNS	32	6,538,287	curated
5	GoDaddy Registry	206	5,285,934	curated
6	GMO Registry	46	4,428,564	curated
7	Google Registry	46	2,590,492	curated
8	fury.ca inferred	5	386,851	rdap_host shared by 5 TLDs
9	Nominet	78	141,133	curated
10	Knipp / TANGO Registry	27	140,554	curated
11	AFNIC	11	118,484	curated
12	dnsnode.net inferred	2	61,117	ns_suffix shared by 16 TLDs
13	Public Interest Registry	10	49,596	curated
14	RyCE	4	43,212	curated
15	KNET	9	35,594	curated
16	FlexiReg	2	28,618	curated
17	anycastdns.cz inferred	1	16,817	ns_suffix shared by 25 TLDs
18	dns.net.za inferred	3	7,280	ns_suffix shared by 7 TLDs
19	Verisign	14	6,636	curated
20	ripn.net inferred	2	2,223	ns_suffix shared by 25 TLDs
21	NIC.br	5	906	curated
22	pch.net inferred	1	75	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 29 September 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.