NameDaemon

Tool 10 / 18

Availability Checker

An instant look-up against a snapshot of every registered .com, then a live registry check for the names that are missing from it.

    A name that is missing from our .com zone snapshot is not always free: it can be registered without nameservers, or registered since. Always confirm with your registrar before you buy, and check that a name does not infringe a trademark. The first ten names that are not in the snapshot are confirmed live; use the button for the rest.

    Watch a name

    Taken today? Get one email when it becomes available. Free for one name. Pro subscribers can watch up to 50 names and also get a heads-up when a name is about to be released, on Telegram too if they have connected it.

    We check once a day, so this is a head start, not a guarantee: popular names are registered within seconds by automated services. We use your address only for this watch, the confirmation email comes first, and every email has a link that stops it.

    Questions about the Availability Checker

    How many domains can I check at once?

    You can check up to 50 .com names in one go, one name per line.

    What do taken, available and about to drop mean?

    Taken means the name is in the .com zone. Available means it is missing from the zone and the live registry check found no registration. About to drop means it is in redemption or pending delete and is expected to be released.

    Can I be told when a taken name becomes available?

    Yes. Press Watch next to a name that is taken or dropping and enter your email. You get one email when it becomes available, free for one name. Pro subscribers can watch up to 50, get a heads-up before release, and receive the alerts on Telegram too.

    Is the check live?

    The first answer is an instant look-up in the daily .com snapshot. Names missing from it are then checked live against the registry (RDAP).

    Terms used on this page

    • Domain name A domain name is the human-readable address of a website or email service, such as example.com, that points to servers through the DNS.
    • Registrar A registrar is a company accredited to sell domain names and manage them for you, such as GoDaddy or Namecheap. You register and renew a domain through one.
    • 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.
    • Pending delete Pending delete is the last stage before a domain is released: a period of about five days when the owner can no longer restore it and it is about to be deleted.
    • Nameserver A nameserver is a server that holds a domain's DNS records and answers questions about it. A domain lists at least two so one can fail.
    • 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.
    • 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.
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