Registries (also called directories) are repositories where information about trading partner profiles or services are stored. In many cases, the WSDL for a service is stored in the directory. The WSDL may point at the actual service provider or it may point at an external SOAP Router.

Registries can be public (open to everyone) or private (available to a single company or to a trading community). In many cases, registries will replicate their content between themselves. In other cases, special bridges are built to allow cross-directory queries.

UDDI and ebRS are examples of registries designed for working with web services.