Registry backends
Which technical registry service provider actually serves each legacy 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.
Backend concentration
Source: ICANN monthly registry reports
A handful of platforms serve the DNS for most of the legacy-gTLD namespace. Share of all legacy-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.
| Verisign3 TLDs | 178.74M | 91.07% |
|---|---|---|
| Identity Digital8 TLDs | 15.82M | 8.06% |
| GoDaddy Registry2 TLDs | 1.53M | 0.78% |
| Knipp / TANGO Registry2 TLDs | 159.01k | 0.08% |
| Nominet1 TLDs | 14,501 | 0.01% |
| Tucows1 TLDs | 8,628 | <0.01% |
| AFNIC1 TLDs | 969 | <0.01% |
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.
All backends
| # | Backend | TLDs | Domains | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Verisign | 3 | 179,378,864 | curated |
| 2 | Identity Digital | 8 | 19,468,743 | curated |
| 3 | GoDaddy Registry | 2 | 1,337,841 | curated |
| 4 | Knipp / TANGO Registry | 2 | 152,905 | curated |
| 5 | Nominet | 1 | 10,865 | curated |
| 6 | Tucows | 1 | 8,288 | curated |
| 7 | AFNIC | 1 | 1,097 | curated |
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.