.net Top Level Domain Reference
legacy gtld delegated.net is operated by Verisign under an ICANN registry agreement that expires on 2029-06-30.
.net Key Facts
- .net is operated by Verisign under an ICANN registry agreement that expires on 2029-06-30.
- As of the June 2026 report (2026-06-30), .net had 12,990,280 active domain names, growing at -1.68% 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: 2029-06-30 (Saturday, June 30, 2029)
- 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 | .net Active Domains |
|---|---|
| 2023-07 | 13,454,532 |
| 2023-08 | 13,458,412 |
| 2023-09 | 13,471,479 |
| 2023-10 | 13,481,265 |
| 2023-11 | 13,476,816 |
| 2023-12 | 13,453,884 |
| 2024-01 | 13,416,978 |
| 2024-02 | 13,377,198 |
| 2024-03 | 13,346,932 |
| 2024-04 | 13,334,034 |
| 2024-05 | 13,338,220 |
| 2024-06 | 13,351,243 |
| 2024-07 | 13,360,711 |
| 2024-08 | 13,355,877 |
| 2024-09 | 13,332,732 |
| 2024-10 | 13,295,942 |
| 2024-11 | 13,256,608 |
| 2024-12 | 13,226,962 |
| 2025-01 | 13,214,625 |
| 2025-02 | 13,219,107 |
| 2025-03 | 13,232,077 |
| 2025-04 | 13,241,227 |
| 2025-05 | 13,236,013 |
| 2025-06 | 13,212,663 |
| 2025-07 | 13,175,996 |
| 2025-08 | 13,137,111 |
| 2025-09 | 13,108,082 |
| 2025-10 | 13,096,296 |
| 2025-11 | 13,101,062 |
| 2025-12 | 13,113,973 |
| 2026-01 | 13,122,803 |
| 2026-02 | 13,117,214 |
| 2026-03 | 13,093,667 |
| 2026-04 | 13,057,131 |
| 2026-05 | 13,018,696 |
| 2026-06 | 12,990,280 |
| Month | Monthly Net Adds | Monthly Deletions |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-07 | 336,363 | 295,999 |
| 2023-08 | 336,460 | 296,085 |
| 2023-09 | 336,786 | 296,372 |
| 2023-10 | 337,031 | 296,587 |
| 2023-11 | 336,920 | 296,489 |
| 2023-12 | 336,347 | 295,985 |
| 2024-01 | 335,424 | 295,173 |
| 2024-02 | 334,429 | 294,298 |
| 2024-03 | 333,673 | 293,632 |
| 2024-04 | 333,350 | 293,348 |
| 2024-05 | 333,455 | 293,440 |
| 2024-06 | 333,781 | 293,727 |
| 2024-07 | 334,017 | 293,935 |
| 2024-08 | 333,896 | 293,829 |
| 2024-09 | 333,318 | 293,320 |
| 2024-10 | 332,398 | 292,510 |
| 2024-11 | 331,415 | 291,645 |
| 2024-12 | 330,674 | 290,993 |
| 2025-01 | 330,365 | 290,721 |
| 2025-02 | 330,477 | 290,820 |
| 2025-03 | 330,801 | 291,105 |
| 2025-04 | 331,030 | 291,306 |
| 2025-05 | 330,900 | 291,192 |
| 2025-06 | 330,316 | 290,678 |
| 2025-07 | 329,399 | 289,871 |
| 2025-08 | 328,427 | 289,016 |
| 2025-09 | 327,702 | 288,377 |
| 2025-10 | 327,407 | 288,118 |
| 2025-11 | 327,526 | 288,223 |
| 2025-12 | 327,849 | 288,507 |
| 2026-01 | 328,070 | 288,701 |
| 2026-02 | 327,930 | 288,578 |
| 2026-03 | 327,341 | 288,060 |
| 2026-04 | 326,428 | 287,256 |
| 2026-05 | 325,467 | 286,411 |
| 2026-06 | 324,756 | 285,786 |
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 .net | Market Share % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GoDaddy | 146 | 4,936,306 | 38.00% |
| 2 | Namecheap | 1068 | 2,857,861 | 22.00% |
| 3 | Tucows | 69 | 1,558,833 | 12.00% |
| 4 | Squarespace Domains | 895 | 1,039,222 | 8.00% |
| 5 | Alibaba Cloud | 420 | 649,514 | 5.00% |
| 6 | Network Solutions | 48 | 519,611 | 4.00% |
| 7 | IONOS | 83 | 389,708 | 3.00% |
| 8 | Key-Systems | 269 | 259,805 | 2.00% |
| 9 | PDR | 303 | 259,805 | 2.00% |
| 10 | Dynadot | 1515 | 129,902 | 1.00% |
Wholesale Price Changes and Historical Caps
Official Filings| Effective Date | Old Wholesale Price | New Wholesale Price | Currency | Source Document and Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-02-01 (Wednesday, February 1, 2017) | $7.46 | $8.20 | USD | Verisign 10 percent wholesale fee escalation permitted annually under the .net Registry Agreement. |
| 2018-02-01 (Thursday, February 1, 2018) | $8.20 | $9.02 | USD | Annual wholesale escalation of 10 percent. |
| 2019-02-01 (Friday, February 1, 2019) | $9.02 | $9.92 | USD | Annual wholesale escalation of 10 percent. |
| 2023-02-01 (Wednesday, February 1, 2023) | $9.92 | $10.91 | USD | Verisign instituted annual wholesale escalation to $10.91. |
| 2024-02-01 (Thursday, February 1, 2024) | $10.91 | $12.00 | USD | Annual wholesale escalation to $12.00. |
Registry 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 → |
| 2017-02-01 (Wednesday, February 1, 2017) | price change | Wholesale price adjusted to $8.20 USD. Verisign 10 percent wholesale fee escalation permitted annually under the .net Registry Agreement. | Source Link → |
| 2018-02-01 (Thursday, February 1, 2018) | price change | Wholesale price adjusted to $9.02 USD. Annual wholesale escalation of 10 percent. | Source Link → |
| 2019-02-01 (Friday, February 1, 2019) | price change | Wholesale price adjusted to $9.92 USD. Annual wholesale escalation of 10 percent. | Source Link → |
| 2023-02-01 (Wednesday, February 1, 2023) | price change | Wholesale price adjusted to $10.91 USD. Verisign instituted annual wholesale escalation to $10.91. | Source Link → |
| 2024-02-01 (Thursday, February 1, 2024) | price change | Wholesale price adjusted to $12.00 USD. Annual wholesale escalation to $12.00. | Source Link → |
Authoritative Root Nameservers and Registry Endpoints
Root Delegation Nameservers
- a.net.gtld-servers.net 192.5.6.30, 2001:503:a83e:0:0:0:2:30
- b.net.gtld-servers.net 192.33.14.30, 2001:503:231d:0:0:0:2:30
- c.net.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/net/v1/
- IANA Delegation Record: iana.org/domains/root/db/net.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), .net 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, .net supports both modern JSON-based Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP) queries via https://rdap.verisign.com/net/v1/ and legacy port-43 WHOIS queries via whois.verisign-grs.com.
Governance Model & Commercial Exposure
.net 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 .net remain subject to bilateral contractual price provisions documented above. Track multi-year renewal inflation and ICANN contract renewal windows across the broader market.
.net Frequently Asked Questions
Audited FAQ ReferenceQ1. What kind of top-level domain is .net?
.net 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 .net domain registry?
The contracted registry operator for .net is Verisign. Technical registry backend services and DNS infrastructure are supported by Verisign Shared Registration System.
Q3. How many domains are currently registered under .net?
As of the 2026-06, .net has 12,990,280 active registered domains according to official registry filings.