Fast, practical, browser-based developer tools
Check domain registration details, registrar information, registration and expiry dates, status, and name servers instantly. This browser-based whois lookup tool is useful for domain research, ownership review, and technical reference.
Whois lookups help you inspect domain registration details, troubleshoot ownership questions, and review lifecycle or configuration details for websites and domains.
Domain whois and RDAP lookups are useful when checking registration details, reviewing domain lifecycle data, researching name servers, or validating ownership-related information.
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Enter a domain name, run the lookup, and review the returned registration record details in the output area.
Registrar: Example Registrar, Inc. Created: 2020-01-01 Expires: 2027-01-01 Status: active Name Servers: - ns1.example.com - ns2.example.com
Classic WHOIS is a 1980s protocol that returns a blob of unstructured text with no agreed format — every registry lays its fields out differently, which makes it painful to parse reliably. Its modern replacement is RDAP (Registration Data Access Protocol), which answers the same questions over HTTPS and returns structured JSON with standardised fields, consistent status values, and proper support for internationalised data. ICANN has required gTLD registries and registrars to run RDAP since 2019.
This tool queries RDAP (via rdap.org, which routes each domain to the correct
registry's RDAP server) rather than legacy WHOIS. So the raw response you see is JSON, not
the traditional text report — that is the current, machine-readable form of the same
registration data.
If you remember WHOIS showing an owner's name, address, and email, that era largely ended in 2018. To comply with the GDPR, ICANN's Temporary Specification required registrars to redact personal contact details from public registration data for most domains. Today a public lookup typically shows the registrar, creation and expiry dates, name servers, and status codes, but the registrant contact fields are removed or replaced with a privacy-service relay or a generic anonymised address.
This is not the tool hiding data — it is not published. Reaching the real registrant behind a redacted record now requires a formal request to the registrar with a lawful basis, not a public query. Some ccTLDs and business registrations still show full details; individuals almost never do.
Two parties hold records for a domain. The registry operates the TLD
(Verisign for .com) and holds the authoritative record of the sponsoring
registrar, the name servers, and the domain's status. The registrar (where
the domain was bought) holds the customer relationship and the contact data. A thorough
lookup follows the referral from registry to registrar, and the two can show slightly
different snapshots.
The status codes (EPP codes) are the most operationally useful field, because they tell you what can and cannot happen to the domain:
clientTransferProhibited — the registrar blocks transfers to another registrar. This is a normal, good anti-hijacking default, not a fault; you clear it deliberately before a legitimate transfer.clientHold — the domain is set not to resolve at all. If a live site suddenly goes dark, this code explains it (often an unpaid renewal or a compliance issue).redemptionPeriod / pendingDelete — the domain has expired and is moving through the deletion lifecycle; redemptionPeriod means it can still be recovered, usually at a steep fee, before it drops.serverTransferProhibited — the same lock applied by the registry rather than the registrar, and harder to remove.
The request goes to a third-party RDAP service, so the domain you enter is sent to that
server — the lookup does not run in your browser. A few limits worth knowing. RDAP
coverage is excellent for gTLDs like .com, .net, and
.org but patchier for some country-code TLDs, a handful of which still answer
only over legacy WHOIS or restrict access. Dates in the response are registry records, so an
expiry date is when the registration lapses, not when the site stops working. And a domain
showing as registered tells you it is taken, not who controls it — thanks to redaction,
the useful signals are usually the registrar, the name servers, the dates, and the status
codes rather than a human name.
Redaction removed the registrant's identity, but the fields that remain are often the ones
investigators actually use. The name servers reveal who runs the domain's
DNS — frequently the hosting provider, CDN, or email platform (values like
*.cloudflare.com or *.awsdns-* are giveaways) — which tells
you where the infrastructure lives even with the owner hidden. The registrar
and the creation date matter too: a domain registered days ago through a
bulk-friendly registrar and then used in email is a classic phishing and spam signal, because
attackers churn through fresh throwaway domains.
Combine these and a redacted record still supports real diagnostics: pairing the RDAP name servers with a DNS lookup, and the registrar and dates with the status codes, usually tells you who to contact and how established a domain is — without ever needing the registrant's name.
Since GDPR took effect in 2018, registrars redact personal contact details from public registration data for most domains. The information is not withheld by this tool — it is no longer published. You will typically see the registrar, dates, name servers, and status, but not the registrant's identity.
RDAP. This tool queries the modern Registration Data Access Protocol via
rdap.org, which returns standardised JSON rather than the old unstructured
WHOIS text. It is the same registration data in the format ICANN now requires registries
to provide.
Because it is RDAP output. RDAP was designed to replace WHOIS's free-form text with structured, machine-readable JSON — consistent field names, proper status values, and internationalised data — so tools can parse it reliably instead of guessing at each registry's layout.
It is a registrar lock that blocks the domain from being transferred to another registrar. It is a normal anti-hijacking protection, not a problem — you clear it on purpose when you intend a legitimate transfer, then re-enable it afterwards.
RDAP coverage is mandated for gTLDs but uneven across ccTLDs. Some country registries do not run RDAP, expose only legacy WHOIS, or restrict automated access — so a lookup for those domains may return little or nothing here.
No. The expiry date is when the domain registration lapses. After it, most gTLDs enter a grace and redemption period during which the owner can still renew before the name is released. A site can also go offline earlier for reasons unrelated to registration.