Domain and DNS research
Research updated for 2026
Domains and DNS are the parts of the web with the most authoritative data behind them, because both run on published policy and quarterly industry reporting rather than vendor estimates. These four pages cover how many domains exist, what holds the naming system up, which rules govern registration and transfer, and what the record sales actually were once the misreported ones are set aside.
How many domain names are there?
Domain registration is one of the few web statistics with an authoritative quarterly source behind it. This covers the global total, how .com compares to everything else, and how many extensions have actually been delegated.
DNS statistics and infrastructure
The entire naming system rests on a surprisingly small number of root identities carrying an enormous query volume. This covers the infrastructure underneath DNS and the scale it operates at daily.
Domain registration lifecycle
Registration terms, grace periods and transfer locks are set by policy rather than by your registrar. This covers how long you can register for, what happens after expiry, and which rules are currently changing.
Most expensive domain names ever sold
These pages cover the domain system as a whole. For what a domain actually costs to register and renew, see domain name cost research. If you are setting a domain up rather than researching one, what DNS is and how it works and how to connect domain and hosting are the practical guides. Return to all research.