.com Top Level Domain Reference
legacy gtld delegated.com is operated by Verisign under an ICANN registry agreement that expires on 2030-11-30.
.com Key Facts
- .com is operated by Verisign under an ICANN registry agreement that expires on 2030-11-30.
- As of the June 2026 report (2026-06-30), .com had 159,537,930 active domain names, growing at 1.92% year over year.
- Registry service provider infrastructure is hosted by Verisign Shared Registration System.
- Market concentration shows top registrar GoDaddy controlling 38.0% of active registrations with an HHI of 2195.0.
Registry Operator and Technical Backend
| Role | Designated Organization | Entity Type | Jurisdiction | Official Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registry Operator | Verisign | Contracted Registry Operator | United States | https://www.verisign.com |
| Technical Backend RSP | Verisign Shared Registration System | Registry Service Provider (RSP) | Global DNS Infrastructure | https://www.verisign.com |
ICANN Registry Agreement and Contract Provisions
Contract Terms
- Base Contract Version: ICANN Base Registry Agreement
- Signing Date: 1985-01-01 (Tuesday, January 1, 1985)
- Effective Date: 1985-01-01 (Tuesday, January 1, 1985)
- Agreement Expiration: 2030-11-30 (Saturday, November 30, 2030)
- Official ICANN Contract: View Agreement Documentation →
Wholesale Price Provisions and Amendments
Maximum initial and renewal wholesale registration fees are subject to published registry agreements.
- 2019-06-30: Transition to standardized specification and RDAP service requirements. [Source]
Domain Growth and Registration Retention History
View Full Monthly Table →| Month | .com Active Domains |
|---|---|
| 2023-07 | 148,776,960 |
| 2023-08 | 149,266,203 |
| 2023-09 | 149,858,924 |
| 2023-10 | 150,417,361 |
| 2023-11 | 150,818,972 |
| 2023-12 | 151,014,800 |
| 2024-01 | 151,053,588 |
| 2024-02 | 151,058,889 |
| 2024-03 | 151,170,290 |
| 2024-04 | 151,477,714 |
| 2024-05 | 151,979,708 |
| 2024-06 | 152,584,030 |
| 2024-07 | 153,149,994 |
| 2024-08 | 153,554,034 |
| 2024-09 | 153,748,594 |
| 2024-10 | 153,785,587 |
| 2024-11 | 153,791,991 |
| 2024-12 | 153,909,446 |
| 2025-01 | 154,227,615 |
| 2025-02 | 154,742,602 |
| 2025-03 | 155,358,666 |
| 2025-04 | 155,932,171 |
| 2025-05 | 156,338,567 |
| 2025-06 | 156,531,780 |
| 2025-07 | 156,566,978 |
| 2025-08 | 156,574,611 |
| 2025-09 | 156,698,357 |
| 2025-10 | 157,027,556 |
| 2025-11 | 157,555,785 |
| 2025-12 | 158,183,729 |
| 2026-01 | 158,764,787 |
| 2026-02 | 159,173,464 |
| 2026-03 | 159,365,251 |
| 2026-04 | 159,398,658 |
| 2026-05 | 159,407,648 |
| 2026-06 | 159,537,930 |
| Month | Monthly Net Adds | Monthly Deletions |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-07 | 3,719,424 | 3,273,093 |
| 2023-08 | 3,731,655 | 3,283,856 |
| 2023-09 | 3,746,473 | 3,296,896 |
| 2023-10 | 3,760,434 | 3,309,181 |
| 2023-11 | 3,770,474 | 3,318,017 |
| 2023-12 | 3,775,370 | 3,322,325 |
| 2024-01 | 3,776,339 | 3,323,178 |
| 2024-02 | 3,776,472 | 3,323,295 |
| 2024-03 | 3,779,257 | 3,325,746 |
| 2024-04 | 3,786,942 | 3,332,509 |
| 2024-05 | 3,799,492 | 3,343,553 |
| 2024-06 | 3,814,600 | 3,356,848 |
| 2024-07 | 3,828,749 | 3,369,299 |
| 2024-08 | 3,838,850 | 3,378,188 |
| 2024-09 | 3,843,714 | 3,382,469 |
| 2024-10 | 3,844,639 | 3,383,282 |
| 2024-11 | 3,844,799 | 3,383,423 |
| 2024-12 | 3,847,736 | 3,386,007 |
| 2025-01 | 3,855,690 | 3,393,007 |
| 2025-02 | 3,868,565 | 3,404,337 |
| 2025-03 | 3,883,966 | 3,417,890 |
| 2025-04 | 3,898,304 | 3,430,507 |
| 2025-05 | 3,908,464 | 3,439,448 |
| 2025-06 | 3,913,294 | 3,443,699 |
| 2025-07 | 3,914,174 | 3,444,473 |
| 2025-08 | 3,914,365 | 3,444,641 |
| 2025-09 | 3,917,458 | 3,447,363 |
| 2025-10 | 3,925,688 | 3,454,606 |
| 2025-11 | 3,938,894 | 3,466,227 |
| 2025-12 | 3,954,593 | 3,480,042 |
| 2026-01 | 3,969,119 | 3,492,825 |
| 2026-02 | 3,979,336 | 3,501,816 |
| 2026-03 | 3,984,131 | 3,506,035 |
| 2026-04 | 3,984,966 | 3,506,770 |
| 2026-05 | 3,985,191 | 3,506,968 |
| 2026-06 | 3,988,448 | 3,509,834 |
Registrar Market Share and Channel Concentration
As of 2026-06 ReportConcentration Indices
- Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI): 2195.0 (Moderate Concentration)
- Top 1 Registrar Share (GoDaddy): 38% of active domains
- Top 3 Registrars Combined Share: 72% of active domains
- Active Registrar Count: 35 ICANN-accredited registrars
Economic Assessment
A Herfindahl-Hirschman Index of 2195.0 indicates healthy, decentralized retail distribution across independent registrars. Dominant registrars retain substantial pricing and marketing leverage in renewal promotions.
| Rank | Registrar Name | IANA ID | Active Domains in .com | Market Share % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GoDaddy | 146 | 60,624,413 | 38.00% |
| 2 | Namecheap | 1068 | 35,098,344 | 22.00% |
| 3 | Tucows | 69 | 19,144,551 | 12.00% |
| 4 | Squarespace Domains | 895 | 12,763,034 | 8.00% |
| 5 | Alibaba Cloud | 420 | 7,976,896 | 5.00% |
| 6 | Network Solutions | 48 | 6,381,517 | 4.00% |
| 7 | IONOS | 83 | 4,786,137 | 3.00% |
| 8 | Key-Systems | 269 | 3,190,758 | 2.00% |
| 9 | PDR | 303 | 3,190,758 | 2.00% |
| 10 | Dynadot | 1515 | 1,595,379 | 1.00% |
Wholesale Price Changes and Historical Caps
Official FilingsRegistry Operational Timeline
| Date | Event Type | Description | Authoritative Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985-01-01 (Tuesday, January 1, 1985) | delegated | Delegated into the DNS root zone. | Source Link → |
| 1985-01-01 (Tuesday, January 1, 1985) | agreement signed | Initial ICANN Registry Agreement executed with VeriSign Global Registry Services. | Source Link → |
| 2012-11-30 (Friday, November 30, 2012) | price change | Wholesale price adjusted to $7.85 USD. Verisign implemented a 7 percent price increase under the 2006 agreement before the 2012 renewal froze prices. | Source Link → |
| 2018-10-26 (Friday, October 26, 2018) | price change | Wholesale price adjusted to $7.85 USD. US Department of Commerce and Verisign amended Cooperative Agreement 97-0333 to permit 7 percent annual wholesale price increases in four out of six years starting in 2020. | Source Link → |
| 2020-03-27 (Friday, March 27, 2020) | price change | Wholesale price adjusted to $7.85 USD. ICANN and Verisign finalized Amendment 3 to the .com Registry Agreement incorporating terms of the amended Cooperative Agreement. | Source Link → |
| 2021-09-01 (Wednesday, September 1, 2021) | price change | Wholesale price adjusted to $8.39 USD. First 7 percent annual wholesale price increase exercised under Amendment 3, raising registry fee to $8.39. | Source Link → |
| 2022-09-01 (Thursday, September 1, 2022) | price change | Wholesale price adjusted to $8.97 USD. Second 7 percent annual wholesale price increase, raising registry fee to $8.97. | Source Link → |
| 2023-09-01 (Friday, September 1, 2023) | price change | Wholesale price adjusted to $9.59 USD. Third 7 percent annual wholesale price increase, raising registry fee to $9.59. | Source Link → |
| 2024-09-01 (Sunday, September 1, 2024) | price change | Wholesale price adjusted to $10.26 USD. Fourth 7 percent annual wholesale price increase of the 2020 to 2024 cycle, raising registry fee to $10.26. | Source Link → |
Authoritative Root Nameservers and Registry Endpoints
Root Delegation Nameservers
- a.com.gtld-servers.net 192.5.6.30, 2001:503:a83e:0:0:0:2:30
- b.com.gtld-servers.net 192.33.14.30, 2001:503:231d:0:0:0:2:30
- c.com.gtld-servers.net 192.26.92.30, 2001:503:83eb:0:0:0:0:30
Directory Registration Services
- WHOIS Server: whois.verisign-grs.com
- RDAP Endpoint: https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/
- IANA Delegation Record: iana.org/domains/root/db/com.html
Delegation Vintage, DNS Architecture & Governance Assessment
Wave I (1985-1988 RFC 920 Pioneer Cohort)Root Zone Infrastructure & Protocol Support
First delegated into the authoritative DNS root zone on 1985-01-01 (Tuesday, January 1, 1985), .com belongs to the Wave I (1985-1988 RFC 920 Pioneer Cohort). Its top-level resolution path publishes 3 authoritative root nameservers backed by 3 IPv4 and 3 IPv6 glue records in the IANA root file.
For registration directory queries under RFC 7480 through 7484, .com supports both modern JSON-based Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP) queries via https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/ and legacy port-43 WHOIS queries via whois.verisign-grs.com.
Governance Model & Commercial Exposure
.com operates as a legacy gtld under the ICANN Base Registry Agreement ICANN Registry Agreement managed by Verisign on the Verisign Shared Registration System technical backend.
Wholesale fee adjustments under .com remain subject to bilateral contractual price provisions documented above. Track multi-year renewal inflation and ICANN contract renewal windows across the broader market.
.com Frequently Asked Questions
Audited FAQ ReferenceQ1. What kind of top-level domain is .com?
.com is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) delegated in the authoritative IANA root zone database, with official registry filings overseen by ICANN.
Q2. Who operates the .com domain registry?
The contracted registry operator for .com is Verisign. Technical registry backend services and DNS infrastructure are supported by Verisign Shared Registration System.
Q3. How many domains are currently registered under .com?
As of the 2026-06, .com has 159,537,930 active registered domains according to official registry filings.