WHOIS Lookup
Free WHOIS lookup tool. Find the registrar, registrant, creation date, expiry date, nameservers, and status flags for any domain. Queries the registry directly (.com via Verisign, etc.) and follows referrals to the registrar for full ownership detail. Use it for domain availability checks, expiry tracking, and ownership verification.
What a WHOIS record tells you
WHOIS is the public record of who registered a domain and when. A lookup returns the registrar that manages it, the creation and expiry dates, the last update, the authoritative nameservers, and status flags such as clientTransferProhibited that control whether the domain can be moved or deleted. It is the fastest way to check when a domain expires (and a domain expiry monitor can warn you well before it lapses), confirm which registrar holds it, or verify that a name is genuinely unregistered before you try to buy it.
Registry data, registrars, and privacy
WHOIS is a two-layer system. The registry that runs the top-level domain (Verisign for .com, for example) holds the authoritative dates and nameservers, while the registrar holds the contact detail. This tool queries the registry directly and then follows the referral to the registrar so you get both in one result. Only the registered domain has a record, so a hostname such as www.example.com is looked up as example.com. Since GDPR, most registrant names and emails are redacted behind privacy services, so expect contact fields to read as redacted rather than showing a person; the registrar, dates, and nameservers remain reliable.
Frequently asked questions
What is a WHOIS lookup?
A WHOIS lookup queries the registration record for a domain and returns its registrar, creation and expiry dates, nameservers, and status flags. It answers who registered a domain and when it expires.
Why is the registrant contact information hidden?
Since GDPR took effect, most registrars redact personal contact details behind privacy protection. The registrar, registration dates, nameservers, and status flags are still shown.
How do I check when a domain expires?
Enter the domain in the tool above and read the expiry date field. WHOIS returns the registry's authoritative expiry date, which is the date the current registration period ends.
Can I use WHOIS to see if a domain is available?
Yes. If a WHOIS query returns no registration record for a domain, it is generally unregistered and available. If it returns registrar and date fields, the domain is already taken.
Why does a result say "via RDAP"?
RDAP is the structured successor to WHOIS, and registries are moving to it. When a registry's port-43 WHOIS server has no registration data (as for .dev and .app today) or has been switched off (Nominet retires .uk port-43 WHOIS on 9 February 2027), the tool reads the registry's RDAP record instead and labels the result "via RDAP". If RDAP only fills in fields the WHOIS reply was missing, the label reads "WHOIS + RDAP".