WHOIS Lookup

Is this a real WHOIS query?

It uses RDAP, the successor to WHOIS, rather than the older port-43 text protocol. The page requests https://rdap.org/domain/<name>, a service that points to the registry responsible for the domain, and reads the JSON that comes back. The data shown is whatever that registry publishes, and the old WHOIS layout and fields you may have seen elsewhere are not reproduced.

Which fields does it show?

Seven: Domain, Registrar, Registered, Updated, Expires, Status and Nameservers. Dates are written as, for example, Tue Nov 14 2023, with the time of day dropped. Nothing about the registrant, administrative or technical contacts is displayed, even when the registry returns it, and neither are the registrar’s abuse contact or DNSSEC status.

Why can I not see who owns the domain?

Two reasons. Many registries and registrars now redact personal contact data, and in any case this page shows no contact fields at all. The Registrar row identifies the company that sold the domain, not the owner. If you need to reach the holder, the registrar is the place to start.

What do the Status values mean?

They are the registry’s status codes for the domain, shown joined by commas. Values such as "client transfer prohibited" mean the registrar has locked the domain against transfer, which is normal and good practice. "pending delete" and "redemption period" indicate a domain that has lapsed and is on its way to being released. The tool prints them as given and does not explain them.

The lookup returned an error or dashes. What does that mean?

An error such as "RDAP lookup failed (404)" means the service answered with an HTTP error, often because no record was found. That can mean the domain is unregistered, but it can equally mean the name was misspelled, is a subdomain, or sits under a top-level domain that does not offer RDAP, so it is not proof that a name is available. A dash in a field just means the registry did not supply it. The request stops after 9 seconds.

Should I enter a subdomain?

No. Registration records exist for the registrable domain, such as example.com, not for www.example.com or blog.example.com. The tool strips URLs down to the host name but does not reduce a subdomain to its parent, so type the main domain yourself. Multi-part endings like .co.uk count as part of the domain, so example.co.uk is correct.

How accurate is the expiry date?

It is the expiry the registry holds, which is what matters for the domain’s life, but it can change when the owner renews, so it is a snapshot. Many registrars give a grace period after expiry, and the length varies, so a passed date does not always mean the domain has been released.

Is the answer cached?

The page’s own response carries a 60-second cache header, and registries update on their own schedules. A renewal or transfer made moments ago may take a little while to show.