--- id: "registry" kind: "glossary-term" title: "registry" language: "en" category: "Industry roles and organizations" updated: "2026-10-10T10:28:55Z" canonical: "https://tldlog.com/glossary/registry/" translations: es: "https://tldlog.com/es/glosario/registro/" de: "https://tldlog.com/de/glossar/registry/" fr: "https://tldlog.com/fr/glossaire/registre/" it: "https://tldlog.com/it/glossario/registro/" pt-BR: "https://tldlog.com/pt/glossario/registro/" ru: "https://tldlog.com/ru/glossariy/registratura/" zh-Hans: "https://tldlog.com/zh/cihui/zhuce-guanli-jigou/" --- # registry The central database and system that keep every domain name registered in a top-level domain (TLD) and publish the zone file the DNS uses. The word also loosely means the organization that runs them, properly called the registry operator. Most registries sell names only through registrars. Verisign, for example, runs the .com registry. A registry is the central database of a top-level domain (TLD), such as .com or .es, together with the systems that run it. Every name registered in that TLD is recorded there. People also use the word for the organization in charge, although the precise name for that organization is the registry operator. ## What a registry is ICANN describes a registry as the authoritative master database of the domain names registered in a TLD. Each TLD has one registry. ICANN's base Registry Agreement lists the core registry services: - receiving registration data from registrars; - running the TLD's DNS servers; - publishing the zone file, which the DNS uses to find the name servers for each name in the TLD; - publishing contact and other registration data. When someone visits example.com, the DNS consults the .com registry to find which name servers answer for that name. As of October 2026, IANA lists VeriSign Global Registry Services for .com and Red.es for .es. Spain's Orden ITC/1542/2005 makes Red.es the authority that manages the registry of .es names. ## Registry operator versus back-end provider The registry operator holds the right to run a TLD and sets its rules: who may register, on what terms and at what wholesale price. For a gTLD, that right comes from a Registry Agreement with ICANN, which under the base agreement runs for ten years and renews for further ten-year periods unless it ends. For a ccTLD, it comes from a local framework, such as the 2005 order for .es. Many operators hire a back-end provider to run the technical systems. ICANN calls it a Back-End Registry Operator or Registry Service Provider (RSP). ICANN treats five functions as critical: - DNS resolution for registered names; - the SRS, the system registrars use to create and manage names; - the RDDS, the registration data lookup services such as RDAP; - data escrow deposits; - a zone properly signed with DNSSEC. Hiring a provider does not move the responsibility: under the base agreement, the operator stays bound by all its obligations. Applicants in ICANN's 2026 round of new gTLDs must name one or more RSPs evaluated through the RSP Evaluation Program. ## How registrars connect to a registry Under the base agreement, names in a gTLD must be registered through ICANN-accredited registrars, with limited exceptions. ICANN accreditation is not enough on its own: each registrar also signs the registry's Registry-Registrar Agreement (RRA), one step of registry accreditation. The registry must use the same agreement for all registrars and give non-discriminatory access to every accredited registrar that signs it and complies with it. The technical link is the SRS, which registrars reach through EPP, a standard protocol the base agreement requires. The Registry Code of Conduct (Specification 9 of the agreement) bars a registry from giving any registrar preferential access unless all can qualify on similar terms. It also bars front-running: registering names based on inside knowledge of what people search for. ccTLDs can work differently. The 2005 order for .es provides for accredited registrars competing freely, and also allows applicants to apply directly to Red.es. ## How registries earn money A registry charges registrars a wholesale price for each year of a new registration or renewal, and for each transfer between registrars. Registrars then set their own retail prices. Under the base agreement, registrars must get at least 30 days' notice of a price increase for new registrations and 180 days for renewals. Legacy TLDs such as .com have their own agreements. As of October 2026, the .com agreement (version of 1 December 2024, initial term through 30 November 2030) sets a maximum price that started at US$10.26 per year and may rise by up to 7 % a year under set conditions; a price of US$10.97 is scheduled from 1 November 2026. Verisign must charge all ICANN-accredited registrars the same price. ## When a registry changes hands or providers ### A sale In a registry acquisition, a buyer takes control of the operator or receives the TLD itself. Under the base agreement, both a change of control and an assignment of the Registry Agreement need ICANN's prior written consent, which may not be unreasonably withheld, and the operator must notify ICANN at least 30 days in advance. ICANN checks the buyer's finances and operational and technical capabilities, and runs background checks. As of October 2026, ICANN says it responds within 10 calendar days when the buyer already operates a gTLD, and within 30 when it does not. Its fees for assigning one TLD to a new operator typically do not exceed US$19,000. ### A change of back-end provider A move to a new back-end provider is what ICANN calls a Material Subcontracting Arrangement (MSA) change. The steps are an informal submission, approval of a transition plan, Registry System Testing (RST), formal submission and ICANN review, ICANN's determination, and the move itself. A provider that either supports no gTLD yet or has not passed the 2026 evaluation also needs a technical evaluation (estimated at US$14,300 as of October 2026) and a simulation exercise. As of October 2026, ICANN advises allowing at least 7 to 12 weeks. An assignment and an MSA change must be done one after the other, not at once. ICANN uses "registry transition" for a change of the party holding the Registry Agreement; in industry usage the term covers both kinds of move. ### A failure If DNS or DNSSEC is down 4 hours in total in a week, or EPP or RDAP and RDDS 24 hours in total in a week, ICANN may hand the critical functions to an Emergency Back-End Registry Operator (EBERO). As of October 2026, the providers are Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) and Nominet. EBERO does not apply to some legacy gTLDs. The rescue relies on data escrow, a copy of the registry data the operator deposits every day. An emergency operator normally accepts no new registrations; if no successor registry comes forward after a call for proposals, the TLD is closed. ## Registry, registrar and registrant: the three roles ICANN summarizes a registration this way: the registrant registers a name with a registrar; the registrar checks that the name is available and sends the request to the registry operator; the registry operator adds the name to the registry. Resellers offer registrations through a registrar. The contracts follow the same chain: the registry operator signs with ICANN (Registry Agreement); the registrar signs with ICANN (RAA) and with each registry (RRA); the registrant signs with the registrar. ## Sources - [ICANN Acronyms and Terms](https://www.icann.org/en/icann-acronyms-and-terms) - [Registry Agreement](https://itp.cdn.icann.org/en/files/registry-agreements/base-registry-agreement-12-03-2026-en.pdf) - [Material Subcontracting Arrangement (MSA) Change](https://www.icann.org/en/contracted-parties/registry-operators/services/material-subcontracting-arrangement-change) - [Assignment of a Registry Agreement](https://www.icann.org/en/contracted-parties/registry-operators/services/assignment-of-registry-agreements) - [.com Registry Agreement (Verisign), as amended 1 December 2024](https://itp.cdn.icann.org/en/files/registry-agreements/com/com-agreement-html-01-12-2024-en.htm) ## related terms - [registrar](https://tldlog.com/glossary/registrar/) - [Registry Agreement](https://tldlog.com/glossary/registry-agreement/) - [back-end provider](https://tldlog.com/glossary/back-end-provider/) - [TLD](https://tldlog.com/glossary/tld/) - [wholesale price](https://tldlog.com/glossary/wholesale-price/)