WHOIS Lookup
Who owns a domain, when it expires, where it points — structured registry data in one lookup.
Read a domain like an investigator
A WHOIS record answers four practical questions. Who manages it? The registrar tells you where the domain lives — relevant if you want to make an acquisition offer through a broker. How old is it? Registration date is a trust signal; a domain registered in 1998 carries different weight than one from last week. When does it expire? Expiry plus status codes reveal whether a domain is actively maintained or drifting toward deletion. Where does it point? Nameservers expose the hosting or parking provider.
Privacy redaction is the norm
Since GDPR, registries and registrars redact personal registrant data by default, so expect "REDACTED FOR PRIVACY" instead of names and emails. What remains public — dates, registrar, status, nameservers — is still enough for due diligence. To contact an owner, use the registrar's abuse contact or the domain's website itself.
Related tools
Checking whether a name is free? The domain checker is faster for pure availability. Watching a registered domain you want? Add it to the expiry checker. Researching an entire list, with WHOIS per row? That's the bulk checker.
Frequently asked questions
What information does a WHOIS lookup show?
The sponsoring registrar, registration / expiration / last-updated dates, EPP status codes (like clientTransferProhibited), nameservers, DNSSEC status, and registrar abuse contacts. Personal registrant details are usually redacted since GDPR (2018) — that's normal, not an error.
Why does Namizy use RDAP instead of classic WHOIS?
RDAP is the ICANN-mandated successor to WHOIS: same data, but served as structured JSON over HTTPS directly by the registry. No text-parsing errors, no stale mirrors, consistent field names across TLDs.
What do the EPP status codes mean?
They describe what operations are allowed on the domain. clientTransferProhibited is a routine anti-hijacking lock. redemptionPeriod or pendingDelete mean the domain is expiring and may become available soon — worth tracking in the expiry checker.
Can I find out when a domain will become available?
The expiration date tells you when registration lapses, but owners can renew up to the last moment, and after expiry the domain passes through grace and redemption periods (typically 30–75 days) before deletion. Use the domain expiry checker to monitor a list of domains you're waiting on.