OpenNIC

OpenNIC (also referred to as the OpenNIC Project) is a user-owned and -controlled top-level Network Information Center that offers a non-national alternative to traditional top-level domain (TLD) registries such as ICANN. As of January 2017, OpenNIC recognizes and peers all existing ICANNTLDs, for compatibility reasons. However, OpenNIC has not yet evaluated and does not hold a formal position on future ICANN TLDs.

In addition to resolving hostnames in the ICANNroot, OpenNIC also resolves hostnames in OpenNIC-operated namespaces, as well as within namespaces with which peering agreements have been established. Some OpenNIC recursive servers (Tier 2 servers) are known for their high speeds and low latency, relative to other more widely used DNS recursors, as well as their anonymizing or no-logging policies. Many servers offer DNSCrypt. Community volunteers operate Tier 2 servers across a multitude of geographic locations.

Like all alternative root DNS systems, OpenNIC-hosted domains are unreachable to the vast majority of Internet users because they require a non-default configuration in one's DNS resolver.