Whois / RDAP Lookup

Look up domain registration data via RDAP-over-HTTPS.

Overview

The whois / RDAP lookup returns the registration data for any domain — registrar, registration date, expiry, nameservers, registrant contact (where not redacted by GDPR), and DNSSEC status. The query runs over RDAP (the modern HTTPS-based replacement for the legacy whois protocol), so the response arrives as structured JSON that the tool turns into a readable summary.

Brand-protection teams investigating a typo-squat, IT admins verifying a domain transfer succeeded, and security analysts tracing the registrar behind a phishing campaign all need a reliable whois alternative. Long-tail keywords covered: RDAP lookup for any domain, find domain registrar and expiry online, and check DNSSEC enabled on a domain.

How it works

Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP, RFC 7480-7484) is the IETF replacement for the legacy whois TCP-port-43 protocol. Each TLD's registry runs an RDAP server reachable over HTTPS, returning a standard JSON schema with the registrar, dates, nameservers, status flags, and contact entities. The IANA bootstrap registry tells clients which RDAP server to query for a given TLD; queries follow redirects from the registry to the registrar where additional detail lives.

GDPR and similar privacy regimes have redacted most personal contact data for individuals. Corporate registrants and gTLD registries typically still expose registrar contact and abuse channels. ccTLDs vary widely: some publish everything, some publish nothing.

Examples

example.com → registrar Reserved by IANA, registration date 1995, nameservers a.iana-servers.net and b.iana-servers.net, status clientDeleteProhibited.
A freshly-registered domain → creation date today, expiry one year out, registrar status addPeriod (the 5-day window during which a refund is possible).
A domain in pendingDelete status → 5 days away from being released into the open pool.
A domain with signedDelegation status → DNSSEC is active and validated upstream.

FAQ

Why is the registrant name redacted?

GDPR. ICANN required gTLD registrars to redact personal data for natural-person registrants in 2018; many ccTLDs followed. Corporate registrants are usually visible.

What is the difference between whois and RDAP?

Whois is unstructured text over port 43, defined in 1982 and barely updated. RDAP is HTTPS+JSON, standardised since 2015, supports internationalised names, and returns a predictable schema. Use RDAP for anything new.

Why does the data differ between RDAP and a third-party whois site?

Many third-party whois services scrape registrars at different intervals and merge their own enrichment. The RDAP response is the authoritative current state from the registry.

Can I look up an IP this way?

Yes — RDAP also serves IP and ASN data from the regional registries (ARIN, RIPE, APNIC, LACNIC, AFRINIC). This tool focuses on domains; use the BGP / ASN reference for ASN lookups.

Try Whois / RDAP Lookup