Cloudflare Newly Registered Domains: Registrar Growth and DNS Use
Cloudflare was the registrar for 694,737 newly registered domains in our 50-day dataset. Its nameservers appeared on 3,498,501, or 24.1% of the recorded registrations. About four in five of those DNS domains were registered elsewhere.
Between the first and second halves of the window, Cloudflare registrations increased 10.6%. The number of domains registered elsewhere and identified on Cloudflare DNS increased 0.3%. The registrar count rose faster, although the outside-registration group remained much larger.
The window runs from 26 July to 13 September 2026 and contains 14,534,461 distinct domains across 629 extensions. We use the latest registration date available for both .app and .dev as the cutoff, then take 50 calendar days ending on that date. This keeps those extensions within the same reporting window despite their data delay.
Cloudflare registrations increased in the second half
The first half covers 26 July–19 August; the second covers 20 August–13 September. Every percentage below is calculated from the relevant period totals.
| Measure | 26 Jul–19 Aug | 20 Aug–13 Sep | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| All recorded new domains | 7,309,511 | 7,224,950 | -1.2% |
| Registered at Cloudflare | 329,850 | 364,887 | +10.6% |
| Registered at Cloudflare per day | 13,194 | 14,595 | +1,401 |
| Cloudflare registrar share of all records | 4.51% | 5.05% | +0.54 pp |
Cloudflare registered 35,037 more domains in the second half while the dataset's total registration count fell 1.2%. Its registrar share rose from 4.51% to 5.05%, an increase of 0.54 percentage points.
.com supplied 74.4% of Cloudflare's registrations across the window. Its count increased by 14,248, accounting for 40.7% of the registrar's net increase. The remaining extensions added 20,789 between them. Among the larger additions were .app, up 2,650; .win, up 2,159; and .dev, up 1,930.
Most domains on Cloudflare DNS were registered elsewhere
Cloudflare Registrar requires Cloudflare nameservers. Registrar registrations therefore also contribute to its DNS footprint. In this dataset, every domain identified as registered at Cloudflare had a nameserver matching the Cloudflare formats used in our count.
| Registration source | Domains | Share of the DNS group |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare | 694,737 | 19.86% |
| Another named registrar | 2,801,146 | 80.07% |
| Registrar not recorded | 2,618 | 0.07% |
| Total identified on Cloudflare DNS | 3,498,501 | 100.00% |
The outside-registration group averaged 56,023 domains a day, compared with 13,895 registered at Cloudflare. For example, .site contributed 136,549 domains to the DNS count, of which 135,416 were registered elsewhere. Cloudflare's role as a DNS provider extended well beyond the domains registered through its own service.
| Measure | 26 Jul–19 Aug | 20 Aug–13 Sep |
|---|---|---|
| All domains identified on Cloudflare DNS | 1,729,429 | 1,769,072 |
| Cloudflare DNS share of all records | 23.66% | 24.49% |
| Registered elsewhere, on Cloudflare DNS | 1,398,360 | 1,402,786 |
| Cloudflare DNS share among other named registrars | 20.06% | 20.48% |
The total DNS count increased by 39,643, or 2.3%. The Cloudflare-registered group contributed 35,037 of that increase, about 88.4%. Domains at other named registrars added 4,426; the unknown-registrar group added 180.
Among domains at other named registrars, the Cloudflare DNS count rose only 0.3%, but its share increased from 20.06% to 20.48%. The denominator also changed: those outside registrations fell from 6,971,974 to 6,850,904. The higher share reflects that smaller population as well as the additional DNS domains.
The small net increase combined movements in opposite directions. Outside-registered .com domains on Cloudflare DNS increased by 22,055. The other extensions together decreased by 17,629. Their combined increase was 4,426.
.com, .app and .dev had different changes
.com is the largest contributor by volume. .app and .dev provide two smaller comparisons in which Cloudflare also sells registrations. The chart separates registrar share from DNS use among domains registered elsewhere; the two panels use different denominators.
.com changed little in percentage terms. Cloudflare's registrar share moved from 7.55% to 7.70%. Among outside registrations, its DNS share moved from 17.74% to 17.84%. The absolute outside-DNS count still rose 4.0%, alongside a 3.6% increase in all recorded .com registrations.
.app's registrar and outside-DNS counts moved in opposite directions. Registrations at Cloudflare rose from 15,761 to 18,411, and registrar share increased from 16.27% to 19.25%. Outside-registered .app domains on Cloudflare DNS fell from 14,826 to 13,364, a decline of 9.9%. These records do not establish whether any users switched between the two routes.
.dev recorded increases on both measures. Cloudflare registrations rose from 8,796 to 10,726; outside registrations on its DNS rose from 3,811 to 4,856. Registrar share increased from 31.30% to 34.74%, while outside-registration DNS share rose from 19.74% to 24.10%. Counting both groups, Cloudflare nameservers appeared on 50.47% of the second half's new .dev domains, up from 44.87% in the first.
Method and scope
The source is a DomainKits export of newly registered domain records. We filter the registration-date field to 26 July–13 September 2026 inclusive and count each domain once. No duplicate domain names were found in this window. The figures describe records in this export, rather than a census of every registration worldwide.
Registrar names are matched to Cloudflare without case sensitivity. DNS identification uses nameserver hostnames ending in .ns.cloudflare.com, .secondary.cloudflare.com, or .foundationdns.com, .foundationdns.net and .foundationdns.org, with a domain-label boundary. The latter three are documented Foundation DNS names. Custom-branded or other unrecognized hostnames are not attributed to Cloudflare from the name alone. The nameserver field holds the nameservers listed for each domain at the time it was recorded in the zone.
The export has 16,846 records without a registrar and 416 without nameservers in this window. The 2,618 DNS matches with no registrar are shown separately. Registrar and total-DNS shares use all recorded domains as the denominator; the outside-registration DNS rate uses only domains at another named registrar. Percentages are calculated before rounding.
The second 25-day period contains one more weekend day. As a sensitivity check, we also compare the first and last 21 days, each containing three of every weekday. Registrar share rises from 4.53% to 5.07% under that comparison; outside-registration DNS share rises from 20.27% to 20.57%. The outside-DNS count increases 2.5%, compared with 0.3% under the 25-day split, so the size of that change depends on the comparison period.
These are descriptive comparisons between registration cohorts. A nameserver field records the configuration captured in the export; it does not establish when DNS was configured, whether a website was active, or how the domain was used. The 50-day window does not establish whether the observed changes will continue.