Free WHOIS Lookup
Look up the registrar, registration and expiry dates, status codes and nameservers for any domain — straight from the authoritative registry.
What is WHOIS?
WHOIS is the decades-old protocol that answers a simple question: who is responsible for this domain? Every top-level domain has a registry that publishes ownership and administrative records over a plain TCP service on port 43. This tool asks IANA which server is authoritative for the domain's TLD, then queries that registry directly and shows you both a parsed summary and the full raw response.
It's the fastest way to confirm who a domain belongs to, whether a name you want is taken, when it expires, and which DNS provider it points at.
When to use a WHOIS lookup
- Checking whether a domain is available before you buy it.
- Finding a domain's expiry date to plan renewals or catch a drop.
- Identifying the registrar to start a transfer or file an abuse report.
- Confirming the nameservers a domain currently uses.
How to use it
- 1Type a domain name such as example.com into the box.
- 2Press Lookup — we query IANA and then the authoritative registry.
- 3Read the parsed summary for registrar, dates and nameservers.
- 4Expand the raw response for every field the registry returns.
Frequently asked questions
What is a WHOIS lookup?+
A WHOIS lookup queries the public registration database for a domain name. It returns who registered the domain (or the privacy service protecting them), which registrar manages it, when it was created and when it expires, its status codes, and the nameservers it uses.
Why is some WHOIS data hidden or redacted?+
Since GDPR, most registrars redact personal contact details behind a privacy service, so you'll often see 'REDACTED FOR PRIVACY' instead of a name or email. Administrative fields like registrar, dates, status and nameservers remain public.
How do I check when a domain expires?+
Run the lookup and read the 'Registry Expiry Date' field. Domains typically enter a grace and redemption period after expiry before they are released, so the expiry date is the start of that window, not the exact drop date.
Is this WHOIS tool free?+
Yes. It's completely free with no account required. We query the authoritative WHOIS servers directly over port 43 and follow the IANA referral to the correct registry.