Look up WHOIS information for any domain or IP address. Find registrar details, registration dates, expiration dates, nameservers, and ownership information. Try domains like google.com or IPs like 8.8.8.8.
Since GDPR went live in 2018, most EU-TLD WHOIS records are redacted — making registrar identification, expiry monitoring, and brand-protection workflows harder than they used to be. DNSai's Free WHOIS Lookup queries the authoritative registry for any domain, returns the unredacted fields (registrar, creation date, expiry, name servers), surfaces GDPR redactions with context rather than hiding them, and links to the RDAP workflow when lawful access is needed. Free, no signup, supports gTLDs, ccTLDs, and the newer RDAP registries side-by-side.
WHOIS queries flow through a hierarchy: registrant → registrar → registry. When you enter a domain, DNSai queries the authoritative registry (Verisign for .com, Public Interest Registry for .org, etc.) rather than a cached third-party database.
Different TLDs return different fields — .com includes full registrar details while some ccTLDs only return nameservers. Our tool normalizes these variations into a consistent view.
GDPR Impact: Since May 2018, ICANN's Temporary Specification requires gTLD registrars to redact personal data of EU-resident registrants. We show you exactly which fields are redacted and why.
WHOIS is the IETF-standard protocol for querying domain-registration metadata — who registered a domain, when, where, and through which registrar. It runs over TCP port 43 in its legacy form (RFC 3912) and is being superseded by the modern RDAP protocol (RFC 9082), which returns structured JSON. Both protocols serve the same data; RDAP is more machine-friendly and carries the registry's GDPR-redaction policy in-band.
Since May 2018, ICANN's Temporary Specification requires gTLD registrars to redact personal data of EU-resident registrants from public WHOIS output to comply with GDPR. Name, email, phone, and postal address are the most common redacted fields. The underlying data still exists at the registrar and can be disclosed under a lawful-access request (trademark enforcement, law-enforcement subpoena, or the registrar's own disclosure policy).
The registry is the organisation that operates a TLD and maintains the authoritative database (Verisign for .com, Public Interest Registry for .org, Afilias for .info). The registrar is the customer-facing company that sells domains and updates records on behalf of registrants (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Google Domains). One registry serves many registrars; one registrar serves many registrants. WHOIS data flows registrant → registrar → registry and out to public queries.
Three paths, escalating in cost and complexity. (1) Check historical WHOIS archives (DomainTools, WhoisXML API, SecurityTrails) that recorded the pre-redaction record — useful for domains registered before May 2018. (2) Inspect DNS for disclosed identity (company-name in MX hosts, SPF includes, website copyright). (3) File a lawful-access request with the registrar; ICANN's Registrar Accreditation Agreement requires response for disclosure requests with a legitimate purpose.
Near-real-time. Registrars push record changes to the registry within minutes; the registry publishes to its public WHOIS/RDAP endpoint within an hour (often seconds). DNS propagation — the name-server values visible in WHOIS — then takes TTL-bound minutes to hours to roll out to public resolvers. Expiry dates are updated immediately on renewal; a pendingDelete status appears within 30 days of the expiry if not renewed.
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This product includes IP2Location LITE data from lite.ip2location.com