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.

1,089 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.

Month ‹ › Aug 2020 latest
CentralNic (Team Internet) — 10.15M (29.19%)Tucows — 6.48M (18.64%)KNET — 5.10M (14.65%)GoDaddy Registry — 5.03M (14.46%)Identity Digital — 4.69M (13.49%)Google Registry — 1.37M (3.94%)GMO Registry — 943.54k (2.71%)fury.ca — 211.67k (0.61%)dnsnode.net — 155.20k (0.45%)Knipp / TANGO Registry — 135.38k (0.39%)Other — 511.07k (1.47%)
34.79Mreported Aug 2020
Share of new-gTLD domains by backend
CentralNic (Team Internet)85 TLDs10.15M29.19%
Tucows47 TLDs6.48M18.64%
KNET22 TLDs5.10M14.65%
GoDaddy Registry206 TLDs5.03M14.46%
Identity Digital449 TLDs4.69M13.49%
Google Registry46 TLDs1.37M3.94%
GMO Registry46 TLDs943.54k2.71%
fury.ca5 TLDs211.67k0.61%
dnsnode.net2 TLDs155.20k0.45%
Knipp / TANGO Registry27 TLDs135.38k0.39%
Other13 more backends511.07k1.47%

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
11.65M
7.45M
KNET 22 TLDs
6.52M
5.36M
GMO Registry 46 TLDs
4.39M
2.68M
fury.ca 5 TLDs
389.60k
Nominet 78 TLDs
141.96k
140.91k
AFNIC 11 TLDs
117.83k
Teleinfo 10 TLDs
68,613
61,692
RyCE 4 TLDs
43,192
CNNIC 9 TLDs
35,366

All backends

#BackendTLDsDomainsSource
1 CentralNic (Team Internet) 87 18,373,139 curated
2 Tucows 53 11,653,353 curated
3 Identity Digital 450 7,446,417 curated
4 KNET 22 6,524,608 curated
5 GoDaddy Registry 206 5,362,084 curated
6 GMO Registry 46 4,390,583 curated
7 Google Registry 46 2,683,293 curated
8 fury.ca inferred 5 389,599 rdap_host shared by 5 TLDs
9 Nominet 78 141,959 curated
10 Knipp / TANGO Registry 27 140,907 curated
11 AFNIC 11 117,826 curated
12 Teleinfo 10 68,613 curated
13 dnsnode.net inferred 2 61,692 ns_suffix shared by 16 TLDs
14 RyCE 4 43,192 curated
15 CNNIC 9 35,366 curated
16 FlexiReg 2 28,301 curated
17 anycastdns.cz inferred 1 16,917 ns_suffix shared by 25 TLDs
18 dns.net.za inferred 3 7,294 ns_suffix shared by 7 TLDs
19 Verisign 14 6,638 curated
20 ripn.net inferred 2 2,249 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 and refresh daily. Registrar figures are from ICANN's monthly registry reports for June 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.