Registrar Accreditation

Registrar accreditation is the formal authorization process through which [[icann|ICANN]] certifies an organization to sell domain name registrations under the [[raa|Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA)]]. Accredited registrars must meet financial, technical, and operational requirements, pay annual accreditation fees, maintain [[data-escrow|data escrow]] deposits, and comply with ICANN's ongoing compliance audits. The accreditation process exists to ensure registrars meet minimum standards for [[whois|WHOIS]] accuracy, consumer protection, domain lifecycle management, and abuse response. As of 2024 there are approximately 3,000 ICANN-accredited registrars, though a smaller number handle the vast majority of registrations.