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.

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.

Month ‹ › Jun 2021 latest
Tucows — 6.22M (23.81%)Identity Digital — 5.06M (19.39%)CentralNic (Team Internet) — 5.05M (19.33%)GoDaddy Registry — 4.14M (15.84%)Google Registry — 1.85M (7.08%)ZDNS — 1.68M (6.43%)GMO Registry — 1.19M (4.57%)fury.ca — 218.02k (0.84%)dnsnode.net — 159.01k (0.61%)Knipp / TANGO Registry — 140.25k (0.54%)Other — 411.00k (1.57%)
26.11Mreported Jun 2021
Share of new-gTLD domains by backend
Tucows47 TLDs6.22M23.81%
Identity Digital440 TLDs5.06M19.39%
CentralNic (Team Internet)85 TLDs5.05M19.33%
GoDaddy Registry206 TLDs4.14M15.84%
Google Registry46 TLDs1.85M7.08%
ZDNS32 TLDs1.68M6.43%
GMO Registry46 TLDs1.19M4.57%
fury.ca5 TLDs218.02k0.84%
dnsnode.net2 TLDs159.01k0.61%
Knipp / TANGO Registry27 TLDs140.25k0.54%
Other13 more backends411.00k1.57%

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.

Tucows 53 TLDs
11.55M
7.34M
ZDNS 32 TLDs
6.54M
5.28M
GMO Registry 46 TLDs
4.43M
2.59M
fury.ca 5 TLDs
386.44k
Nominet 78 TLDs
141.06k
140.53k
AFNIC 11 TLDs
118.49k
61,082
RyCE 4 TLDs
43,239
KNET 9 TLDs
35,617

All backends

#BackendTLDsDomainsSource
1 CentralNic (Team Internet) 87 17,580,501 curated
2 Tucows 53 11,550,687 curated
3 Identity Digital 441 7,336,755 curated
4 ZDNS 32 6,541,808 curated
5 GoDaddy Registry 206 5,278,870 curated
6 GMO Registry 46 4,426,590 curated
7 Google Registry 46 2,589,712 curated
8 fury.ca inferred 5 386,441 rdap_host shared by 5 TLDs
9 Nominet 78 141,061 curated
10 Knipp / TANGO Registry 27 140,529 curated
11 AFNIC 11 118,489 curated
12 dnsnode.net inferred 2 61,082 ns_suffix shared by 16 TLDs
13 Public Interest Registry 10 49,570 curated
14 RyCE 4 43,239 curated
15 KNET 9 35,617 curated
16 FlexiReg 2 28,618 curated
17 anycastdns.cz inferred 1 16,820 ns_suffix shared by 25 TLDs
18 dns.net.za inferred 3 7,278 ns_suffix shared by 7 TLDs
19 Verisign 14 6,634 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 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.