WHOIS Lookup – Check Domain Registration

Run The Lookup

Look Up a Domain

Enter a domain name to see its real, current WHOIS registration record.

Every result comes from a live query to the domain’s own registry or registrar — over RDAP where it’s supported, falling back to WHOIS (port 43) otherwise — nothing shown here is invented or cached from a previous lookup. WHOIS/RDAP data availability varies by registry, registrar, domain extension and privacy settings.

Basics

What Is a WHOIS Lookup?

WHOIS is a public query protocol for asking “who registered this domain, and when?” and getting a structured answer back. Since January 2025, ICANN no longer requires gTLD registries and registrars to run it: most have moved to RDAP, its HTTPS/JSON successor, while WHOIS remains in wide use elsewhere. A WHOIS lookup is simply running that query — this tool tries RDAP first and falls back to WHOIS, sending it to the right server for the domain’s extension and showing you the record it returns, in seconds.

A WHOIS record can include the domain’s registrar, its registration, last-updated and expiration dates, its current status codes, its name servers, and — only when the registrar or registry has chosen to publish it — contact details for the registrant. Most registrars now redact those contact details by default, so a typical modern lookup tells you a great deal about a domain’s registration but little or nothing about the person or company behind it.

WHOIS is not the same thing as DNS. WHOIS answers “who registered this domain?”; DNS answers “where does this domain point?” See the WHOIS vs. DNS section below for the full comparison, or run a DNS Lookup directly.

Your Result

What Information Does a WHOIS Lookup Show?

Which of these actually appear depends on the registry, the registrar and the domain’s privacy settings — no single lookup shows all of them every time.

Domain Name & Status

The exact domain queried and its current status codes, such as active, locked against transfer, or pending deletion.

Registrar

The company the domain is registered through, and often a link to that registrar’s own site.

Registration Date

The date the domain was first created in the registry.

Updated Date

The date the domain’s record was last changed — a renewal, a name server change, a transfer.

Expiration Date

When the current registration period ends, if the registry publishes it.

Name Servers

The DNS servers currently authoritative for the domain.

Registry Information

The registry-level record ID and, where relevant, DNSSEC status.

Registrant Information

Organization, name, state and country — shown only when the registrar or registry has made them public.

Use Cases

When Should You Use a WHOIS Lookup?

Checking who a domain is registered through before you buy or transfer it.
Confirming a domain’s current registration and expiration dates.
Researching a domain before purchasing it from a private seller.
Identifying a domain’s name servers before making DNS changes.
Checking whether a domain is still registered or has become available.
Verifying a domain’s status — for example, whether it is locked against transfer.
Diagnosing a domain that stopped resolving, alongside a DNS Lookup.
General technical research — developers, IT admins and security researchers use WHOIS as a first step when investigating a domain.

Buying a domain? Pair this with a What Is My IP and Port Checker once it’s live, to confirm your own connection and that the server behind it is reachable.

Terminology

WHOIS vs. DNS: What’s the Difference?

WHOIS

Registration information: who registered the domain (when public), which registrar it’s with, its registration and expiration dates, and its current status. WHOIS tells you about the domain as a piece of property.

DNS

Resolution information: the IP addresses the domain points to (A/AAAA), its mail servers (MX), verification and policy records (TXT), aliases (CNAME) and more. DNS tells you where the domain actually sends traffic.

In short: WHOIS is about ownership and registration; DNS is about routing and resolution. A domain can have a perfectly normal WHOIS record and still be misconfigured in DNS, or vice versa — which is why they’re separate tools. Check a domain’s records with our DNS Lookup.

Privacy

Why Is WHOIS Information Sometimes Hidden?

WHOIS was designed in an era before modern privacy law, when registrant name, address, email and phone number were published for anyone to see. That changed with regulations like the EU’s GDPR, which require registrars to protect the personal data of registrants in covered regions — and most registrars now apply similar redaction globally rather than maintain two different systems.

In practice, that means registrant contact details are redacted by default on most domains today, replaced with a note like “REDACTED FOR PRIVACY” or the registrar’s own privacy-service contact. Some registrars additionally offer a paid WHOIS privacy or proxy service that substitutes their own details for the registrant’s across the board. Registry-level information — the registrar, key dates, status and name servers — is generally still published, since it doesn’t identify an individual.

Because of this, a WHOIS lookup is not a reliable way to identify who is personally behind a domain. Treat it as a source of registration facts, not a people-search tool.

Keep Diagnosing

More Network Tools

A domain’s registration is one piece of the picture. These tools look at the rest of your connection.

DNS

DNS Lookup

Check DNS records for any domain.

ResultA, AAAA, MX, TXT, NS & CNAME records

IP

What Is My IP

Find your public IP address instantly.

ResultPublic IPv4 / IPv6 address

Ports

Port Checker

Check whether a port is open and reachable from the Internet.

ResultOpen or closed status

IPv4

Subnet Calculator

Work out network ranges, subnet masks and usable host addresses from an IP address and CIDR prefix.

ResultNetwork, broadcast, mask & host range

Speed

Internet Speed Test

Check your download speed, upload speed and connection latency.

ResultDownload & upload in Mbps, ping in ms

Latency

Ping Test

Measure the response time between your device and our test server.

ResultRound-trip time in ms

WiFi

WiFi Speed Test

Test the performance of your WiFi connection.

ResultWiFi download & upload in Mbps

Capacity

Bandwidth Calculator

Estimate the bandwidth you need, or how long a file will take to transfer at a given speed.

ResultRequired Mbps or transfer time

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Short answers to the questions people ask most about WHOIS and domain lookups.

What is a WHOIS lookup?

A WHOIS lookup queries the public WHOIS database to show the registration details of a domain name — things like its registrar, when it was registered, when it was last updated, when it expires, its status and its name servers. Enter a domain above to run a real, live lookup.

How do I perform a WHOIS lookup?

Type a domain name into the box above (a bare domain like example.com, or a full URL — we’ll clean it up automatically) and press Enter or click Lookup WHOIS. The tool queries the domain’s registry in real time and shows whatever information is publicly available.

What information does WHOIS show?

When available, a WHOIS record can include the domain name, its status, registrar, registration date, last updated date, expiration date, name servers and DNSSEC status. Registrant contact details are shown only when the registrar or registry has made them public.

Can I find who owns a domain?

Sometimes, but not reliably. Most registrars now redact registrant name and contact details by default for privacy and legal reasons (including GDPR), so a WHOIS lookup will usually show the registrar and key dates but not a person’s name or address. Treat any visible registrant details as the exception, not the rule.

Is a WHOIS lookup free?

Yes. This tool is free to use, with no signup and no limit beyond normal fair use, and it queries the public WHOIS system directly — the same data a command-line whois client would return.

Can I check when a domain expires?

Yes, when the registry or registrar publishes it. Most gTLDs such as .com, .net and .org report an expiration date in their WHOIS record; some country-code extensions report less, or nothing beyond the domain’s current status.

Why is WHOIS information hidden?

Registrars and registries redact registrant contact details by default to comply with privacy laws such as GDPR and to reduce spam and abuse aimed at domain owners. Some registrars also offer WHOIS privacy as a paid add-on that replaces contact details with a proxy address.

What is the difference between WHOIS and DNS?

WHOIS shows who registered a domain and when — registrar, dates and status. DNS shows how a domain resolves — its IP addresses, mail servers and other records. Check DNS records with our DNS Lookup tool.

Can I use WHOIS to check an IP address?

WHOIS also covers IP addresses, but through the regional Internet registries (ARIN, RIPE NCC, APNIC and others) rather than domain registrars, and it returns ownership blocks and network ranges instead of domain registration details. This tool is built for domain name lookups.

How accurate is WHOIS information?

It is only as accurate as what the registrant entered and the registrar publishes. Dates, status and name servers are generally reliable since registries maintain them directly, but contact details can be outdated, redacted or replaced by a privacy service.

Get started

Look Up a Domain

Scroll up and enter a domain name to see its real WHOIS registration record.

Look Up WHOIS