AM Every registered domain has a public record: which registrar manages it, when it was first registered, when it expires, which name servers it uses and which locks are on it. This tool reads that record from the registry's official RDAP service and turns it into plain fields, including the domain's age in years, months and days.
It is useful before you buy an expired or aftermarket domain, when you vet a supplier or a store before paying, when you check how long a competitor has been around, or when you need to know where your own domain is registered and when it renews. You get 20 free lookups a day, and a domain looked up in the last 12 hours is answered from a saved copy without using one.
How to look up a domain
- Type or paste the domain. Full URLs, www addresses and subdomains all work:
https://shop.example.co.uk/pageis looked up asexample.co.uk, and the tool tells you it did that. - Press Look up. The request goes to the RDAP service for that extension.
- Read the four summary cards: domain age, created date, expiry date with days left, and registrar.
- Check the status codes. Each one has a badge (OK, Info, Check or Alert) and a plain explanation.
- Look at the name servers. The tool names the DNS provider when it recognizes it, such as Cloudflare, GoDaddy, Namecheap, Shopify, Wix or Squarespace.
- Use the buttons to open the raw RDAP source, see the domain's history in the Wayback Machine, or copy all details as text.
The page address updates with ?domain=, so you can bookmark or share a lookup.
What each field means
| Field | Example | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Registrar | A company accredited to sell domains | Where the domain is managed and where to send abuse or transfer requests |
| Created | 2014-03-09 | When the current registration began |
| Domain age | 12 years, 6 months, 15 days | Time since the creation date, also shown in days |
| Expires | 2027-03-09, 531 days left | When the registration must be renewed; red under 30 days |
| Last updated | 2026-02-11 | When the record last changed, such as a renewal or DNS change |
| Status | client transfer prohibited | Locks and lifecycle state of the domain |
| Name servers | ns1.example-dns.com | Which DNS service answers for the domain |
Domain age counts from the creation date of the current registration. If a domain expired, was deleted and was registered again, the date resets. A young creation date on a domain with a long Wayback Machine history usually means it changed hands after dropping.
Worked examples
Vetting an online store before paying
A shopper finds branded sneakers at 70% off on an unfamiliar .shop site. The lookup shows the domain was created 23 days ago, no owner details are published, and the name servers point to a generic DNS service. A hidden owner is normal, but a store three weeks old with prices that good is a strong reason to pay only with a method that offers buyer protection, or not at all.
Checking your own renewal
A business owner enters the company domain. The expiry card is red: 21 days left. The registrar is not the company that hosts the website, which is why the renewal emails went to an old address. She logs into the registrar, turns on auto-renew and updates the contact email the same day.
Buying an expired domain for a niche site
A niche site builder is offered a domain with "15 years of history". The lookup shows it was created 4 months ago. The Wayback Machine shows a hobby blog from 2011 to 2024, then a gap. So the domain dropped and was re-registered; its old links may still exist, but the history is not continuous. He checks the old pages for spam before buying.
RDAP replaced WHOIS
WHOIS was a text protocol from the early internet. Each registry formatted answers differently, it had no standard way to handle privacy, and it ran over an old unencrypted port. The Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP), published by the IETF in 2015, returns structured JSON over HTTPS with standard field names and supports different levels of access.
ICANN made the switch official for generic top-level domains. Since January 28, 2025, RDAP is the definitive source of registration data for gTLDs such as .com, .net, .org, .shop and .store, and registries and registrars are no longer required to run the old WHOIS services. People still search for "WHOIS lookup", and this tool answers that search, but the data comes from RDAP.
Why the owner's name is usually hidden
Since the EU's GDPR took effect in 2018, most registrars redact personal contact data by default, and many offer free privacy services. So for most domains you will see the registrar, dates and name servers but not a name, email or address. To reach an owner, use the contact form or relay address the registrar provides. For legitimate legal or security needs, requests for redacted data go to the registrar, and ICANN's Registration Data Request Service routes those requests for many gTLDs.
Note: A hidden owner is normal and does not mean a site is suspicious. A very new domain combined with prices that look too good is a better warning sign.
Status codes and the expiry cycle
- active (ok in older output): no special restrictions.
- client transfer prohibited: the registrar lock that blocks unauthorized transfers. Normal and recommended.
- server transfer prohibited: a registry lock, common on high-value domains and for 60 days after a registration or transfer.
- client hold or server hold: the domain does not resolve, often because of non-payment, a dispute or an abuse case.
- add period: newly registered, within the 5-day add grace period.
- auto renew period: past its expiry date and renewed by the registry, but the registrar may still delete it.
- redemption period: deleted after expiry. For gTLDs this lasts 30 days, and the last owner can usually restore it for a fee.
- pending delete: about 5 days before the domain is released for anyone to register.
Registrar grace periods before deletion vary, so an expiry date in the past does not mean the domain is available yet.
Who uses it
- Online shoppers and buyers checking how long a store or supplier has existed.
- E-commerce sellers vetting a dropshipping supplier or wholesale site before sending money.
- Niche site builders and domain investors checking age, drops and expiry before buying.
- Agencies and freelancers finding a client's registrar and DNS host before a migration.
- Business owners confirming their own renewal date and registrar lock.
Troubleshooting
- "No registration record was found." The domain may be unregistered and available, or its registry does not publish RDAP data. Confirm at a registrar before you celebrate.
- Country-code domains return little or nothing. ICANN's RDAP rule covers generic domains. Registries for extensions such as .uk, .de, .ca or .pk set their own rules; many publish RDAP, some only offer a lookup on their own site.
- The registrar is "Not listed". Some registries publish the registrar in a different part of the record. Open the RDAP source to see the raw data.
- The subdomain I typed was replaced. Subdomains have no separate registration, so the tool looks up the main domain.
- The dates look a day off. Dates are shown in UTC, the time zone registries use.
Domain age and SEO
Google's John Mueller has said publicly that domain age does not help rankings. An old domain ranks when it has content and links that earn it, not because of its date. Age is still useful for due diligence: compare the creation date with the Wayback Machine history, run the live site through the website SEO checker, and trace its old URLs with the redirect checker.
Privacy: lookups query public registry data only. We keep a copy of each result for 12 hours and do not record who looked up which domain.
If you are choosing a niche before a domain, AM Jarvis Niche Research mines real Google autocomplete searches and scores how open the results are. The guides on finding a niche and rank and rent cover what to check before you buy, and the store name generator helps when you need a new brand name.