Whois
Whenever a domain is registered, the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) requires that these individuals, businesses or organizations provide up-to-date personal contact information to their domain registrars. This information, which may include the name, address, email, phone number and associated IP addresses, is collected and displayed in the ICANN WHOIS Database, which acts similarly to an international address book for the public.
Utiliti uses Cloudflare's Whois API to return information about the domain name.
What is WHOIS?
WHOIS is a query and response protocol used to look up information about registered domain names. When someone registers a domain, they're required to provide contact information to their registrar. This information is stored in WHOIS databases and can be queried by anyone.
The WHOIS system has been in use since the early days of the internet and remains an essential tool for understanding domain ownership, investigating suspicious websites, and resolving technical issues.
How This Tool Works
Utiliti uses Cloudflare's WHOIS API to retrieve domain registration data. When you search for a domain, we query Cloudflare's service and display the results. The query is made from our server to protect your IP address from being logged by the WHOIS service.
Information Available in WHOIS
- Registrar: The company where the domain was registered (e.g., GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare)
- Registrant: The person or organization that owns the domain (may be privacy-protected)
- Registration Date: When the domain was first registered
- Updated Date: When the domain record was last modified
- Nameservers: The DNS servers authoritative for the domain
- Contact Information: Email and organization details (often redacted for privacy)
How to Use
- Enter a domain: Type the domain name you want to look up (e.g., "example.com")
- Click Search: The tool will query the WHOIS database
- Review results: See registrar, registrant, dates, and nameserver information
- Copy values: Use the copy buttons to grab specific information
Common Use Cases
- Domain Research: Check if a domain is available or when it might expire
- Fraud Investigation: Investigate suspicious websites or phishing domains
- Contact Domain Owners: Find contact information for domain purchases or legal matters
- Verify Legitimacy: Check how long a website has existed before trusting it
- Competitive Analysis: Research when competitors registered their domains
- Technical Troubleshooting: Verify nameserver configuration for DNS issues
WHOIS Privacy Protection
Many domain registrars offer WHOIS privacy protection (also called "domain privacy" or "WHOIS guard"). This service replaces the registrant's personal information with the registrar's proxy information, protecting the owner's identity from public view.
Additionally, GDPR and other privacy regulations have led many registries to redact personal information from WHOIS responses by default, especially for domains registered to individuals in the EU.
ICANN and Domain Registration
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) coordinates the global domain name system. ICANN requires registrars to collect and maintain accurate WHOIS data for all registered domains. However, the actual data displayed may vary depending on the registrar's privacy policies and applicable regulations.