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What is WHOIS?

Last updated .

WHOIS is a long-standing protocol for asking a registry or registrar who registered a domain, which name servers it uses, when it was created and when it expires. It answers with plain text, and each registry formats that text differently, so reading it by program means writing a parser for every registry.

Definition
WHOIS
An older text protocol for looking up domain registration data whose format varies by registry, being replaced by RDAP.

Why it is fading

ICANN announced that from 28 January 2025 the Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP) is the definitive source for generic top-level domain registration data, in place of sunsetted WHOIS services. Privacy rules have also reduced what WHOIS shows: contact details are often redacted.

What it still tells you

The registration and expiry dates, status codes (such as a transfer lock or a redemption period) and the registrar are usually still visible. For country-code domains WHOIS may remain the only service.

An example

whois example.com prints lines such as Registry Expiry Date: 2027-08-13T04:00:00Z, Registrar: ... and Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited, which is the transfer lock. The layout differs between registries, so a script written for one registry’s text fails on another’s. Where the registry offers RDAP, prefer it: the same facts arrive as structured data with a documented date format.

Registrar dashboards sometimes show a renewal date that differs from the registry’s expiry date, for example when a renewal has been paid but not yet recorded. For alerts the registry’s value is the safer one, and a difference between the two is worth a question.

What to check

The expiry date and status from the registry rather than the registrar’s marketing page, and a tool that reads RDAP where it exists and reports “unknown” where it does not.

Sources

Read on . Standards and vendor pages change; confirm the current text before you rely on it.

Guides that use this term

  • RDAPRDAP is the standard, JSON-based way to look up domain registration data, including the expiry date. How it differs from WHOIS and what its events list contains.
  • RegistrarA registrar is the company through which a domain is bought and renewed. What it controls, what the registry does and why the registrar account matters for client sites.
  • Domain expiryDomain expiry is the date a domain registration ends unless renewed. What happens in the days after it, why reminders fail and how to monitor the date.

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