WHOIS lookup
Type a domain and read its record: who owns it, who to contact, and where it is hosted.
Enter the domain with its extension, like example.com. If you enter just a name, we will add .com automatically.
How to read the answer
Four lines tell you almost everything about a domain.
WHOIS terms explained
Simple meanings for everyday words.
- WHOIS
- The public record of a domain. Anyone can look at it. Today it uses a newer system called RDAP, but people still call it WHOIS.
- Domain
- The web address people type to visit your site, like example.com. You don't buy it forever. You rent it by the year.
- Registry
- The group that manages an ending like .com or .de. They keep the main list of all names and share the WHOIS record.
- Registrar
- The company you rent your domain from, like Hostrena. The registry does not sell to you directly.
- Owner (registrant)
- The person or business that holds the domain. They make all the choices for it, like where to move it.
- Administrative contact
- The person who can make big changes, like renewing it or giving it to a new owner. This is often the owner.
- Technical contact
- The person who handles the technical setup, like the website hosting and DNS. This is usually your web developer.
- Billing contact
- The person who gets the bills. For most small sites, this is just the owner.
- Nameservers
- The computers that tell the internet where to find your website and emails. Changing these points your domain to a new host.
- Status codes
- Short notes from the registry showing what you can do with the domain right now. For example, clientTransferProhibited means it is locked to stop anyone stealing it. You unlock it when you want to move.
- DNSSEC
- A security lock for DNS. It proves that visitors are reaching your real website and no one tampered with the connection.
- Privacy protection
- A service that hides your name and address in the public record. Modern privacy rules already hide most of this by default.
- Expiry and renewal
- The date your rental ends. If you miss it, you get a short grace period. After that, anyone else can take the name.
- Transfer
- Moving your domain to a new company. To do this, you need to unlock it and get a secret code from your current company. You keep any years you already paid for.
Found the name you want?
Register it, or bring the one you already own over to us.
Questions about WHOIS
Why is the owner hidden on most domains?
Privacy law says personal details must not be published by default, so the registry replaces them. The record is still useful: the registrar, the dates, the nameservers and the status all stay public.
How do you show the owner of some domains, then?
For domains registered with us, we check contact records in our system instead of the public registry. If privacy is turned on, we do not show those details: that is what privacy is for.
Can I contact an owner I cannot see?
Yes, through the registrar in the record. Registrars pass a message on, and many publish a forwarding address for exactly this.
It says "not registered". Can I buy it now?
Almost certainly. No record means nobody holds the name. Search it on our register page to see the price and take it.
Why did my extension return nothing?
Every .com-style extension must publish a record. Some country extensions do not publish one at all, or only on their own site. When that happens we say so instead of guessing.
Do you keep the domains I look up?
No profile is built from your searches. The answer is cached for a few minutes so a repeat lookup is instant, and no account is needed to use the tool.