Gap for top level domain and registrar data — nTLDData fills

Fresh site provides registry and registrar data.

Ever since nTLDStats stopped updating, I’ve been waiting for a good data source for top level domain data. It has finally arrived.

Domain registrar Porkbun has launched nTLDData, and it covers all top level domains, not just fresh ones.

It also has more statistics than nTLDStats did, so I see it as an upgrade.

nTLDData primarily relies on daily zone files and ICANN’s monthly registry notes. These zone files give daily up-to-date registration volumes for each top level domain (although they don’t account for “dark domains” with no nameservers).

Additionally, the site uses the monthly notes each registry provides to ICANN for information on adds, drops, renewals, and registrar performance.

These notes also help the site calculate “keep rates”, which are similar to renewal rates. Some of the lowest (with at least 50,000 registrations) are .bond (0.71%), .sbs (1.23%), and .makeup (2.56%). The highest are .nyc (83.43%), .ovh (81.51%), and .dev (80.25%).

The downside to ICANN’s monthly notes is that they are published three months in arrears. I use this data for my monthly .com leaders series. Even though the data is delayed, it provides the definitive data on a registry’s TLD activity.

Once nTLDData has been around longer, it will be able to use historical zone file data for many of its charts that right now rely on dated ICANN notes.