How to use the WHOIS Lookup
- Enter a domain name (example.com) or a public IP address.
- Click Look up. The tool finds the responsible registry and queries its RDAP service.
- For domains, read registrar, registration and expiry dates, status, nameservers and DNSSEC.
- For IPs, see the network range, the owning organisation and the regional registry record.
WHOIS and RDAP
WHOIS has listed domain registration data since the 1980s, but as unstructured text in a different format for every registry. RDAP (Registration Data Access Protocol) replaces it with structured JSON over HTTPS, and since 2025 ICANN no longer requires gTLD registries to run the old WHOIS service. This tool uses the IANA bootstrap to find the right registry for each domain or IP and reads its RDAP data directly.
What the fields mean
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Registrar | The company the domain is registered through (where you renew and manage it) |
| Created / Expires | Registration date (domain age) and the date it must be renewed |
| Status | EPP codes like clientTransferProhibited (transfer lock — good) or redemptionPeriod (expired, can still be restored) |
| Nameservers | Where the domain’s DNS is hosted (Cloudflare, your registrar, a hosting provider…) |
| DNSSEC | Whether DNS answers are cryptographically signed |
Why owner details are hidden
Since the GDPR took effect in 2018, registries and registrars redact personal data of registrants. You’ll usually see the registrar and an abuse contact instead. To reach a domain owner, use the registrar’s contact form; for legal matters, registrars can disclose data on legitimate request.
Some country-code domains (for example .de) don’t offer public RDAP yet — use the registry’s own website for those. Related: DNS Lookup, DNS Propagation Checker, SSL Checker and SPF, DKIM & DMARC Checker.
Tools that pair well with the WHOIS Lookup
- Website Down Checker — Find out in seconds whether a website is down for everyone or just for you — with status code, response time and troubleshooting tips.
- Ping Test — Measure how fast a server responds: enter a host and get the round-trip latency, jitter and failed attempts over several pings — measured from our server with a TCP ping to the port you choose.
- Port Checker — Test whether a server accepts connections on specific ports — web (80/443), mail (25/587/993), SSH, databases or remote desktop — and see which are open, closed or filtered by a firewall.
- User Agent Parser — Decode any User-Agent string into browser, engine, operating system and device — and find out whether it belongs to a search engine, AI crawler or script.