Lookups and data
RDAP
RDAP, the Registration Data Access Protocol, is the standard way to look up whether a domain is registered and its status. It replaced WHOIS.
What RDAP means in practice
An RDAP answer is structured data over the web. It includes the registration and expiry dates, the status (such as locked or pending delete), and the registrar. Personal details are normally hidden.
Registries such as Verisign run RDAP services. A name that returns "not found" there is not registered at that moment.
Why it matters
RDAP is the live check that confirms a name is free. The daily zone snapshot cannot, because it is a day old and misses names without nameservers.
Try it
- Availability Checker Check up to 50 names at once: taken, available, or about to drop.
- Domain Health Check Expiry date, transfer lock, DNS, SPF and DMARC email security, and blocklists for a .com.
- Drop Calendar Expiring names by estimated drop date, with filters and a live check.
Related terms
- WHOIS WHOIS is the older lookup service that shows who registered a domain and when. Since 2018 much of the personal data it showed is hidden, and RDAP replaces it.
- Registry A registry is the organisation that runs one top-level domain and keeps the master database of its names. Verisign is the registry for .com.
- Zone file A zone file is the registry's list of every domain in an extension that has nameservers, with those nameservers. The .com zone has well over 160 million names.