WHOIS lookup

Look up registration and ownership details for a domain or IP.

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What is a WHOIS lookup?

A WHOIS lookup returns the registration record for a domain or an IP address: who registered it, through which registrar, when it was created and when it expires, its current status, and the nameservers it uses. The data comes from the registry responsible for that top-level domain or address range, increasingly over the newer RDAP protocol. This tool queries that record and presents the key fields in a readable form. Note that many personal details are now redacted for privacy under registrar policy, so contact information is often hidden. Enter a domain or IP to see what is public. Use it to check a domain expiry before it lapses, to confirm ownership or the registrar during a transfer, or to find the authoritative nameservers when you are debugging where a name is managed.

Key facts

A WHOIS record lists a domain's sponsoring registrar, its creation, updated and registry expiry dates, its authoritative nameservers and its status codes.
Since GDPR and ICANN's 2018 Temporary Specification, registrars redact registrant personal data by default across most gTLDs while registrar, dates, nameservers and status stay public.
RDAP (Registration Data Access Protocol) is the ICANN-mandated replacement for WHOIS, returning structured JSON over HTTPS instead of unformatted plain text.
Domain status codes are EPP codes, where client-prefixed codes such as clientTransferProhibited are set by the registrar and server-prefixed codes are set by the registry.
The .in domain registry operates under NIXI (National Internet Exchange of India), and its records return the same fields as gTLDs with registrant data redacted the same way.

What a WHOIS record actually contains

A WHOIS record is the registration file a registry or registrar publishes for a domain. The fields you can rely on are the sponsoring registrar and its IANA ID, the registrant contact block (often redacted), and three timestamps: the creation date (when the domain was first registered), the updated date (last change to the record), and the registry expiry date (when it lapses unless renewed).

It also lists the authoritative nameservers and one or more domain status codes. Nameservers tell you which DNS provider the domain currently delegates to - useful when a site resolves to the wrong place and you need to confirm whether the domain even points at your host. The status codes tell you what locks and states the registrar and registry have applied.

WHOIS answers 'who registered this, through whom, and when does it expire' - not 'what IP does it resolve to right now'. For live resolution use a DNS lookup instead; the two are complementary.

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Why owner details are redacted (GDPR and privacy)

If the registrant, admin and tech contacts show as REDACTED FOR PRIVACY, DATASHIELD or a proxy contact, that is expected. Since ICANN's Temporary Specification took effect in 2018 after GDPR, registrars mask personal data of registrants by default across most gTLDs, and many offer free WHOIS privacy that replaces your details with the registrar's proxy.

What stays public is non-personal: the registrar, the IANA registrar ID, the creation/updated/expiry dates, the nameservers and the status codes. So you can still tell when a domain expires, who sponsors it and where it is delegated - you just cannot pull a named individual off a public lookup the way you could before 2018.

To reach a redacted owner, most registrars provide a web contact form or an anonymised relay email in the record. There is no reliable free tool that reverses proper GDPR redaction; services claiming to reveal owners are usually selling stale pre-2018 or scraped data.

RDAP - the modern successor to WHOIS

WHOIS is a plain-text protocol from the 1980s with no standard format, no authentication and no internationalisation. RDAP (Registration Data Access Protocol) is its ICANN-mandated replacement: it returns structured JSON over HTTPS, supports differentiated access (redacted for the public, fuller for accredited requesters), and is consistent across registries.

Since 2025 ICANN has been sunsetting the legacy WHOIS port-43 requirement for gTLD registries in favour of RDAP, so RDAP is now the authoritative source for gTLD registration data. A good lookup tool queries RDAP first and only falls back to legacy WHOIS text where RDAP is not yet offered - typically some ccTLDs.

RDAP responses expose the same facts (registrar, dates, nameservers, status) but as machine-readable events and entities, which makes them far easier to parse in scripts and monitoring than scraping free-form WHOIS text.

Reading domain status (EPP) codes and .in specifics

Status codes are EPP (Extensible Provisioning Protocol) codes and split into two families. Client-prefixed codes are set by your registrar - clientTransferProhibited (transfer lock), clientUpdateProhibited, clientDeleteProhibited and clientHold (the domain is set to not resolve). Server-prefixed codes are set by the registry itself, e.g. serverTransferProhibited or pendingDelete. clientTransferProhibited on an active domain is normal and good: it blocks unauthorised transfers, and you clear it yourself before moving a domain.

Lifecycle states worth knowing: an expired domain enters a ~30-day renewal grace period, then redemptionPeriod (recoverable at a premium), then pendingDelete before it drops. If you see redemptionPeriod on your own domain, renew immediately.

For .in and other India domains, the registry is operated under NIXI (National Internet Exchange of India). WHOIS/RDAP for .in returns the same field shape via NIXI-accredited registrars, with registrant data redacted the same way. India ccTLD records can be rate-limited more aggressively, so a hosted lookup that queries the registry politely is more reliable than repeated command-line whois calls.

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Glossary

Registrar: A registrar is the ICANN-accredited company through which a domain is registered and managed, identified by an IANA ID in the record. It is distinct from the registry, which operates the TLD itself.
Registrant: The registrant is the person or organisation that holds the domain registration. Since GDPR and ICANN's 2018 Temporary Specification, registrant personal data is redacted by default across most gTLDs.
RDAP: RDAP (Registration Data Access Protocol) is the ICANN-mandated successor to WHOIS. It returns structured JSON over HTTPS instead of the older tool's unformatted plain text.
EPP status code: An EPP status code describes the locks and states applied to a domain. Client-prefixed codes such as clientTransferProhibited are set by the registrar, while server-prefixed codes are set by the registry.
Registry expiry date: The registry expiry date is the timestamp at which a domain lapses unless it is renewed. WHOIS also records the creation date and the last-updated date alongside it.
NIXI: NIXI (National Internet Exchange of India) operates the .in domain registry. Its WHOIS records return the same fields as gTLDs, with registrant data redacted the same way.

Questions, answered.

What does a WHOIS lookup tell me?+

It shows who a domain is registered through and its key dates: the sponsoring registrar, the creation, updated and expiry dates, the nameservers in use, and the domain's EPP status codes. It is the quickest way to check when a domain lapses, which provider controls it and where it is delegated. Personal owner details are usually redacted.

Why are the registrant/owner details hidden?+

Since GDPR and ICANN's 2018 Temporary Specification, registrars redact registrant personal data by default across most gTLDs, and many apply free WHOIS privacy that swaps your details for a proxy contact. The registrar, dates, nameservers and status codes stay public; the named person and their address are masked. To reach the owner, use the registrar's contact form or relay email shown in the record.

What is RDAP and how is it different from WHOIS?+

RDAP (Registration Data Access Protocol) is the modern replacement for WHOIS. It returns structured JSON over HTTPS instead of unformatted text, supports tiered access, and is standardised across registries. ICANN is sunsetting legacy port-43 WHOIS for gTLDs in favour of RDAP, so RDAP is now the authoritative source. It exposes the same facts but is far easier to parse in scripts and monitoring.

What do domain status codes like clientTransferProhibited mean?+

They are EPP status codes. Client-prefixed codes are set by your registrar (clientTransferProhibited locks transfers, clientHold stops the domain resolving, clientUpdateProhibited blocks edits). Server-prefixed codes are set by the registry. clientTransferProhibited on an active domain is normal and protective - it prevents unauthorised transfers, and you clear it yourself before moving a domain.

How do I check when a domain expires?+

The registry expiry date is listed in the WHOIS or RDAP result. If it is your own domain and expiry is close, renew well ahead - once it lapses it enters a renewal grace period, then redemptionPeriod (recoverable only at a premium), then pendingDelete before it drops and anyone can register it.

Can I WHOIS a .in domain, and is it different?+

Yes. The .in registry operates under NIXI (National Internet Exchange of India), and lookups via NIXI-accredited registrars return the same fields - registrar, dates, nameservers, status - with registrant data redacted the same way as gTLDs. India ccTLD servers can rate-limit repeated queries more aggressively, so a hosted lookup is more reliable than hammering the registry from a command line.

Can WHOIS give me the IP address a website uses?+

No. WHOIS returns registration data, not live DNS resolution. It shows the nameservers the domain delegates to, but not the current A/AAAA record. To see the actual IP a domain resolves to, use a DNS lookup, which queries the nameservers directly.

Does running this lookup expose my own IP or store my query?+

No. ServerCake runs the WHOIS/RDAP query from its own servers, so the registry sees our infrastructure, not your IP, and we do not store the domains you look up. The registry may still rate-limit heavy automated querying, which is a limit on the source data, not on this tool.

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