In the domain name industry, trust is the real moat. While ICANN accreditation is a baseline requirement, it does not automatically translate into customer confidence. Over time, registrars earn—or lose—trust based on how they price domains, treat customers, handle support, and behave during critical moments such as renewals, transfers, or security incidents.

For much of the past decade, the registrar business has been shaped by incremental change—thin margins, intense price competition, and a steady reliance on volume-driven domain sales.

If you run (or are building) a domain registrar, you can go years “selling domains” without ever internalizing the most important operational truth in the business: you do not buy domain names from ICANN, and you do not “create” domains in your own system. You broker registrations in other people’s namespaces, under contracts, policies, and billing rules set upstream by registry operators.

Becoming a ccTLD registrar is less like “getting ICANN accreditation” and more like onboarding to a different registry business model every single time. Each country-code TLD has its own contract, its own technical rules, and its own idea of what “qualified registrar” means. Even when the protocol looks the same (usually EPP), the operational reality can be wildly different.

The Applicant Support Program (ASP) application window has officially closed, concluding a key preparatory phase ahead of ICANN’s 2026 New gTLD round. Final statistics show a sharp acceleration in application submissions during the last month of the window, following a prolonged period of relatively low activity.

Running a domain registrar that is truly ICANN-compliant is not just about getting accredited and moving on. Compliance is an ongoing discipline that touches every part of your operations — from how you collect customer data to how you handle abuse complaints.

Becoming a ccTLD registrar is less like “getting ICANN accreditation” and more like onboarding to a different registry business model every single time.

In 2025, a handful of domain registrars manage tens of millions of domains worldwide — and these “registrar giants” dominate thanks to a mix of scale, features, and brand trust. Based on recent data on domain-registrations under management, the following five companies stand out.

For many new or aspiring registrars, this number feels almost unreachable. But the truth is that a million domains is not magic — it’s the result of a clear business model, proper distribution, automation, and patience.

CVC Capital Partners  is buying a majority stake in Namecheap at a roughly $1.5 billion enterprise value. Founder-CEO Richard Kirkendall...

By Venkatesh Venkatasubramanian In the global domain name industry, registrar performance is typically evaluated by a single metric:...

New Delhi, July 8, 2025  — India’s .IN domain registry is rolling out a decisive enforcement of Section 4.3.7  in its Registrar...

ICANN has shifted its 2025 Annual General Meeting—ICANN84—from Muscat, Oman, to Dublin, Ireland, while keeping the original dates of...

The recent data exposure involving Openprovider underscores a growing concern in the domain industry: registrar operations are increasingly becoming targets for security threats. As reliance on third-party systems grows, so does the need for strategic oversight, proactive planning, and robust safeguards to protect sensitive registrant data and maintain trust.

On April 16, 2025, Zoom went down. Not because of a DDoS attack. Not because of some misconfigured DNS record. Not because someone hacked...

Drop-catching—the high-stakes game of snapping up expired domain names—has created some of the most thrilling and ruthless experiences in...

Mastering Drop Catching: A Domain Investor's Guide to ICANN Accreditation and Registrar Strategies In the dynamic world of domain names,...

How to Become an ICANN-Accredited Domain Registrar in 2025: A Strategic Guide By Dotup ICANN Accreditation Consultancy The Growing Demand...

Proud to announce that Dotup is now an Associate Member of APTLD and a sponsor of APTLD87 in Hong Kong! We are thrilled to announce that...

ICANN Accreditation Latest Updates for 2025. Are you applying for ICANN accreditation in 2025? Must Read for applicants.