Backend Registry
A Backend Registry is the mandatory technical platform to operate a domain name extension. All registries have one. The backend registry allows accredited registrars to technically sell domain names for each top-level domain (TLD).[1]
Backend Registry Landscape
As of July 2022, nTLDStats listed 37 active backend registries. Below they are listed in order of % share of the industry.[2]
| Backend Registries | how many new gTLDs? | How many domain names? | % Share of the industry | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CentralNic | 94 | 14,326,376 | 47.52% |
| 2 | Identity Digital | 272 | 5,609,671 | 18.61% |
| 3 | GoDaddy Registry | 223 | 3,820,927 | 12.67% |
| 4 | ZDNS | 21 | 2,199,937 | 7.30% |
| 5 | GMO Registry | 48 | 1,553,799 | 5.15% |
| 6 | 46 | 1,076,778 | 3.57% | |
| 7 | Tucows Registry Services | 27 | 502,389 | 1.67% |
| 8 | Domain Name Services (Pty) Ltd | 4 | 211,232 | 0.70% |
| 9 | Afilias | 133 | 128,820 | 0.43% |
| 10 | AFNIC | 12 | 120,199 | 0.40% |
| 11 | CORE Association | 19 | 85,430 | 0.28% |
| 12 | Nominet | 64 | 76,437 | 0.25% |
| 13 | TLD-BOX | 4 | 70,807 | 0.23% |
| 14 | Knipp Medien und Kommunikation GmbH | 9 | 64,511 | 0.21% |
| 15 | Computer Network Information Center of Chinese Academy of Sciences | 2 | 55,714 | 0.18% |
| 16 | Beijing Tele-info Network Technology | 9 | 52,664 | 0.17% |
| 17 | RyCE GmbH | 4 | 50,277 | 0.17% |
| 18 | Flexireg | 2 | 27,548 | 0.09% |
| 19 | CoCCA Registry Services (NZ) Limited | 6 | 22,892 | 0.08% |
| 20 | SIDN | 2 | 22,511 | 0.07% |
| 21 | CIRA | 3 | 21,248 | 0.07% |
| 22 | DNS Belgium | 2 | 14,543 | 0.05% |
| 23 | Verisign | 118 | 13,379 | 0.04% |
| 24 | GDN Registry FZ LLC | 1 | 12,018 | 0.04% |
| 25 | NIC Mexico | 1 | 5,693 | 0.02% |
| 26 | Technical Center of Internet | 2 | 1,662 | 0.01% |
| 27 | Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of UAE | 5 | 1,268 | 0.00% |
| 28 | CGI.br | 6 | 983 | 0.00% |
| 29 | Guangzhou YU Wei Information Technology Co. | 2 | 606 | 0.00% |
| 30 | LEMARIT GmbH | 3 | 385 | 0.00% |
| 31 | China Organizational Name Administration Center | 2 | 99 | 0.00% |
| 32 | Qinetics Solutions Sdn Bhd | 1 | 48 | 0.00% |
| 33 | Thai Name Server Co., Ltd. | 1 | 39 | 0.00% |
| 34 | Japan Registry Services Co., Ltd. | 3 | 20 | 0.00% |
| 35 | KISA | 3 | 5 | 0.00% |
| 36 | Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited | 1 | 3 | 0.00% |
| 37 | TWNIC | 1 | 1 | 0.00% |
- ↑ When the Backend Registry Is Too Expensive, CircleID
- ↑ Backend, nTLDstats Accessed July 12, 2022