What Internet Systems Consortium (ISC) does

Internet Systems Consortium (ISC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1994 and headquartered in Newmarket, New Hampshire. ISC develops and maintains open source Internet infrastructure software, most notably BIND 9 (the dominant open source DNS server implementation), Kea DHCP (a modern DHCPv4/DHCPv6 server with REST API and database backend support), Stork (a graphical management system covering both BIND 9 and Kea), and the legacy ISC DHCP server (now end-of-life as of October 2022). The software is written primarily in C and Python, targets UNIX-like systems, and is distributed under MPL 2.0. Beyond software development, ISC operates the F-Root domain server, one of the 13 Internet root name servers, deployed via anycast with nodes distributed globally. ISC engineers have authored over 100 technical standards (RFCs) contributing to Internet interoperability.

The technology portfolio addresses the DNS and DHCP layers of network infrastructure, which are foundational to virtually all Internet operations. BIND 9 provides authoritative and recursive DNS resolution with DNSSEC, DNS over HTTPS (DoT/DoH), Response Rate Limiting (RRL), and Response Policy Zones (RPZ). Kea DHCP replaces the legacy ISC DHCP codebase with a more modular design featuring high-availability modes, REST APIs, hooks for extensibility, and support for MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Cassandra backends. The first Long-Term Support release of Kea (3.0) shipped in June 2025, signaling product maturity. Stork, which began as a Kea dashboard in 2019, was extended in 2024 to also monitor BIND 9, creating a unified operations layer.

ISC's business model is the classic open-source-foundation hybrid. All four software packages are distributed free of charge through ISC's website, Cloudsmith repositories, standard OS package managers, and public GitLab repositories. Revenue is generated through paid professional support contracts sold directly to organizations requiring installation assistance, configuration review, and ongoing engineering support, supplemented by training services and grants (e.g., a $495,000 grant from ICANN in May 2025). The user base spans ISPs, network operators, large enterprises (e.g., Facebook uses Kea in its datacenters), security services (Quad9 runs on BIND 9), education/research institutions, and government entities. Community support is delivered through project-specific mailing lists, while commercial support engagement is the primary mechanism sustaining ISC's engineering operations.

Name

Internet Systems Consortium (ISC)

Legal name

Internet Systems Consortium, Inc.

Website

https://isc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Internet Systems Consortium (ISC) is a non-profit founded in 1994 that develops open source Internet infrastructure software — BIND 9 DNS, Kea DHCP, and Stork management tools — for network operators, enterprises, and governments, while operating the F-Root name server.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Network Infrastructure Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (513210)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Network Operations Outsourcing (NOC Services) (BPAEAMAD)

Keywords

• Open source DNS
• Open source DHCP
• DNS server software
• Network infrastructure software
• Root name server

Headquarters

HQ city

Redwood City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Professional Support Contracts: Organizations purchase professional support contracts from ISC's engineers for installation, configuration, and ongoing management assistance with BIND 9, Kea DHCP, and Stork software. This represents the primary funding mechanism that sustains ISC's operations and open source development.
2. Training Services: DNS and DHCP training classes offered to users, often as part of support contract engagements or as standalone public courses.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

ISC develops, maintains, and distributes open source Internet infrastructure software, including BIND 9 (the original DNS server), Kea DHCP (modern DHCPv4/v6 server), and Stork (web-based management for DNS and DHCP). The organization also operates the F-Root Internet root name server. Revenue is generated through professional support contracts and training services for organizations that deploy these open source products in production.

Product overview

ISC develops and distributes four open source Internet networking software packages: BIND 9 (DNS server), Kea DHCP (dynamic IP address management), Stork (graphical management dashboard for both), and maintains legacy ISC DHCP. The portfolio centers on DNS and DHCP infrastructure software, with Stork serving as a unified management layer for BIND 9 and Kea. ISC also operates the F-Root domain server and offers professional support services. The software is professionally developed, standards-compliant, and distributed under open source licenses (MPL 2.0 for most products).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• BIND 9: The original, complete open source DNS implementation. BIND 9 is the gold standard for DNS servers on the Internet.
• Kea DHCP
• Stork
• ISC DHCP

Products and services

• BIND 9 Open source DNS server software providing authoritative and recursive DNS services with full DNSSEC, DNS over HTTPS (DoH), DNS over TLS (DoT), Response Rate Limiting (RRL), and Response Policy Zones (RPZ) support. Used by ISPs, enterprises, governments, and the open source community for production DNS resolution.
• Kea DHCP Open source DHCPv4 and DHCPv6 server providing dynamic IP address allocation and static host reservation management, featuring high-availability mode, REST API, database backend support (MySQL, PostgreSQL, Cassandra), and an extensible hooks framework. Targets ISPs, enterprises, and large-scale network operators.
• Stork Web-based graphical management system providing dashboard, monitoring, and troubleshooting for BIND 9 and Kea DHCP servers using an agent-based architecture and a PostgreSQL backend. Designed for network operators managing ISC's DNS and DHCP deployments.
• F-Root Name Server Operation of the F-Root domain server, one of the 13 Internet root name servers, delivered as a public benefit infrastructure service using anycast routing across numerous global nodes. Provides foundational DNS root resolution for the Internet.
• Professional Support Contracts Paid technical support contracts delivered directly by ISC engineers covering installation assistance, configuration review, and ongoing management of BIND 9, Kea DHCP, and Stork deployments. Sold to organizations requiring vendor-backed assurance for critical DNS and DHCP infrastructure.

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Linux FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 May 2026DNS-AID project, initially developed by Infoblox, is now under Linux Foundation governance. ISC is a founding member supporting the project's long-term growth. DNS-AID enables secure, decentralized discovery and communication between AI agents using existing DNS infrastructure.
• CloudflarecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 May 2026Founding member of DNS-AID project. Endorsed the initiative as a critical step toward standardizing agent discovery and identity for the emerging agentic web.
• EquinixcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 May 2026Founding member of DNS-AID project. Supporting standardization of AI agent discovery through DNS infrastructure.
• GoDaddycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 May 2026Founding member of DNS-AID project. Initial backing company supporting the initiative.
• CSCcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 May 2026Founding member of DNS-AID project. Endorsed the initiative for standardizing agent discovery.
• WWT (World Wide Technology)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 May 2026Founding member of DNS-AID project. Supporting the initiative as a critical step toward standardizing agent discovery.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Infoblox: Infoblox is the leading commercial vendor of DNS, DHCP, and IP address management (DDI) appliances and software, with overlapping products to BIND 9, Kea, and Stork. It serves enterprise and service-provider customers with proprietary DNS/DHCP platforms, making it the closest commercial analog to ISC's software stack.
• NLnet Labs: NLnet Labs develops open-source authoritative and recursive DNS servers (NSD and Unbound) alongside BIND 9 and is a peer open-source foundation focused on DNS infrastructure. Both organizations produce standards-driven DNS software relied upon by operators globally.
• PowerDNS: PowerDNS offers authoritative and recursive DNS servers used by ISPs and enterprises, plus an authoritative DNS-as-a-service platform. It competes directly with BIND 9 in the open-source DNS server category.
• BlueCat Networks: BlueCat provides enterprise DNS, DHCP, and IPAM solutions as an integrated DDI platform, directly overlapping with BIND 9 and Kea DHCP in Fortune 500 and large enterprise environments.
• EfficientIP: EfficientIP delivers DDI solutions including DNS and DHCP security and management, and competes with ISC's BIND/Kea/Stork stack in mid-market and enterprise network operations.

Broad incumbents

• Cloudflare: Cloudflare operates one of the largest authoritative and recursive DNS networks globally and is a co-founding partner of the DNS-AID project alongside ISC. It overlaps with ISC in DNS infrastructure and operator-grade DNS service provisioning, but across a broader security and performance portfolio.
• Cisco (Identity Services Engine / Umbrella DNS): Cisco integrates DNS/DHCP into broader enterprise networking, security, and data-center platforms (e.g., Umbrella, ISE, Prime Infrastructure). Its portfolio competes with and complements BIND/Kea in large enterprise networks.
• Red Hat: Red Hat ships DHCP (and historically DNS) server components in Red Hat Enterprise Linux and supports them commercially, making it an alternative path for enterprises that prefer vendor-supported open-source networking stacks.

Emerging players

• NS1 (now part of IBM / Akamai CDN routing heritage): NS1 offers managed authoritative DNS and traffic steering, with overlapping focus on enterprise and SaaS-grade DNS resolution. It is comparable to BIND 9's authoritative DNS use case in modern, distributed environments.

Others

• ICANN: ICANN coordinates the DNS root zone and provided ISC with a $495K grant on 2025-05-29. While not a direct competitor, it is a key ecosystem participant whose policy and funding decisions shape F-Root's role and ISC's revenue.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgitlab.isc.org/isc-projects
• Xx.com/ISCdotORG
• Facebookfacebook.com/InternetSystemsConsortium
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/internet-systems-consortium

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Internet Systems Consortium (ISC)