Registry backends

Which technical registry service provider actually serves each 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

1,106 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 gTLD namespace. Share of all 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.

258.75Mreported Apr 2026

Share of gTLD domains by backend
Verisign16 TLDs	181.12M	70%
Identity Digital459 TLDs	27.77M	10.73%
CentralNic (Team Internet)87 TLDs	16.28M	6.29%
Tucows52 TLDs	12.40M	4.79%
KNET22 TLDs	7.20M	2.78%
GoDaddy Registry208 TLDs	6.06M	2.34%
GMO Registry46 TLDs	4.54M	1.75%
Google Registry46 TLDs	2.08M	0.81%
fury.ca5 TLDs	419.84k	0.16%
Knipp / TANGO Registry29 TLDs	306.88k	0.12%
Other13 more backends	573.12k	0.22%

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.

Verisign 17 TLDs

181.38M

Identity Digital 457 TLDs

26.91M

CentralNic (Team Internet) 87 TLDs

18.70M

Tucows 54 TLDs

11.82M

GoDaddy Registry 208 TLDs

6.77M

KNET 22 TLDs

6.53M

GMO Registry 46 TLDs

4.28M

Google Registry 46 TLDs

2.82M

fury.ca 5 TLDs

393.00k

Knipp / TANGO Registry 29 TLDs

295.09k

Nominet 79 TLDs

153.44k

AFNIC 12 TLDs

117.81k

Teleinfo 10 TLDs

68,695

dnsnode.net 2 TLDs

62,498

RyCE 4 TLDs

42,876

All backends

#	Backend	TLDs	Domains	Source
1	Verisign	17	181,383,959	curated
2	Identity Digital	457	26,906,460	curated
3	CentralNic (Team Internet)	87	18,704,192	curated
4	Tucows	54	11,819,700	curated
5	GoDaddy Registry	208	6,766,828	curated
6	KNET	22	6,525,526	curated
7	GMO Registry	46	4,275,538	curated
8	Google Registry	46	2,815,130	curated
9	fury.ca inferred	5	392,999	rdap_host shared by 5 TLDs
10	Knipp / TANGO Registry	29	295,094	curated
11	Nominet	79	153,442	curated
12	AFNIC	12	117,811	curated
13	Teleinfo	10	68,695	curated
14	dnsnode.net inferred	2	62,498	ns_suffix shared by 16 TLDs
15	RyCE	4	42,876	curated
16	CNNIC	9	35,299	curated
17	FlexiReg	2	28,312	curated
18	anycastdns.cz inferred	1	16,834	ns_suffix shared by 25 TLDs
19	dns.net.za inferred	3	7,205	ns_suffix shared by 7 TLDs
20	ripn.net inferred	2	2,251	ns_suffix shared by 25 TLDs
21	NIC.br	5	900	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 10 November 2026 and refresh daily. Registrar figures are from ICANN's monthly registry reports for July 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.