Enter a domain to request its WHOIS data through the server. Registration dates and other fields appear when returned; contact information may be redacted, and some domains no longer provide WHOIS results.
Enter a domain and the server queries the registry or registrar that holds its registration data, then prints the fields that were returned: registrar, creation, update and expiry dates, status codes, name servers and whatever contact details the registry still publishes.
WHOIS is a federation of databases rather than one system, so the response format and the amount of detail vary by top-level domain. Records for the same domain can differ between the registry that owns the TLD and the registrar that resells it.
A typical record lists the registrar and its IANA identifier, the creation, last-update and expiry dates, the EPP status codes that describe what may be done with the domain, the authoritative name servers, and a registrant section. If the registry supports it, the record also includes abuse contact details, which are the ones worth using when a domain is being used for spam or fraud.
Dates are usually given in ISO 8601 format with a Z suffix, but the registry decides, so parse defensively. Some registries return the raw text only, and a few return a notice explaining that the information is not available rather than an empty result.
Since the GDPR took effect in 2018, most registries redact personal contact data for natural persons and publish a role address or a web form instead. An empty registrant field is therefore normal and does not mean the lookup failed. Business registrations in some TLDs still publish full contact details.
RDAP is the structured successor to WHOIS: it returns JSON, supports authentication for gated data, and tells you explicitly when a field is redacted. Registries are migrating to it, and many now serve both, which is why the same domain can produce a long text record in one place and a tidy JSON document in another.
Common codes include clientTransferProhibited, which blocks a transfer away from the current registrar, clientDeleteProhibited, clientUpdateProhibited, and the server equivalents set by the registry, which a registrar cannot override. A freshly registered domain often shows all three client codes because the registrar locks it against hijacking during the first weeks.
pendingDelete and redemptionPeriod mean the domain has expired and is in the deletion process, which is the window where the previous owner can still restore it. A status of clientHold means the domain no longer resolves. Reading these codes is faster than parsing every date when you are trying to work out what is actually happening with a name.
Accepts a domain name and returns the available WHOIS record, including registrar, registration and expiry dates, status, and contact details as text.
Checking domain availability or ownership before purchase; researching a domain's registration history for technical investigations; verifying expiration dates to plan renewals.
The submitted domain is sent to VoriTools; its server queries the applicable public WHOIS service and returns registry data.
WHOIS output is not normalized across registries; field names and completeness vary, and private registrations may omit contact or owner details.
Most registries redact personal contact details to comply with data protection law. You will see an anonymised role address or a contact form instead of a name, e-mail and phone number. The registrar, dates, status codes and name servers are still published.
WHOIS describes who registered a domain and until when; DNS describes how the domain is configured to resolve. A WHOIS lookup returns ownership and registration data from a registry database, while a DNS lookup returns records such as A, MX and TXT from name servers.
The TLD may not publish WHOIS data, the registry may rate-limit queries from your address, or the domain may not exist. Reserved and internal TLDs never return public records. Try again later before concluding that a domain is unregistered.
It is a lock that prevents the domain from being transferred to another registrar. Registrars set it by default shortly after registration or renewal to reduce the risk of hijacking. It does not stop the domain from resolving or from being sold.
It is real-time for the queried registry, but registrars are not required to update the registry instantly after a change made in their own control panel, so a renewal or name server change can take a short while to appear.
WHOIS servers for IP ranges exist and are run by the regional internet registries, but this page is set up for domain names. Use the IP geolocation tool when you need to know where an address is allocated and roughly where it is used.