# WHOIS Domain Lookup & Availability Checker (RDAP) - Bulk (`bar-lab/whois-domain-lookup`) Actor

Bulk WHOIS lookup for any number of domains via the official RDAP protocol: registrar, creation and expiry dates, days until expiry, status, nameservers, DNSSEC, abuse contact. Also tells you which domains are free to register. No API key, pay per domain.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/bar-lab/whois-domain-lookup.md
- **Developed by:** [Bartosz Golis](https://apify.com/bar-lab) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, SEO tools, Lead generation
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## WHOIS Domain Lookup & Availability Checker

**Bulk WHOIS for any number of domains** — registrar, creation and expiry dates, days until expiry, status, nameservers, DNSSEC and the abuse contact — through **RDAP**, the official successor of WHOIS that every gTLD registry must run. It also tells you which domains are **free to register**.

### Why this lookup

- **Official RDAP, routed by IANA's own registry list** — the same source registrars use; no scraping of WHOIS websites, no captchas, no API key.
- **Bulk** — thousands of domains per run, in parallel; paste domains or full URLs.
- **Clean JSON instead of WHOIS text** — dates in ISO 8601, a ready `daysUntilExpiry` number, nameservers as a list.
- **Availability check included** — domains the registry doesn't know come back as `registered: false`.
- **Monitored every 3 hours** — the source endpoints are checked automatically, so a change is caught and fixed fast.

### What you get

- domain, registered (true / false / null when unknown)
- registrar and its IANA ID, abuse contact e-mail
- created, last updated and expiry dates, **days until expiry**
- EPP status codes (e.g. `client transfer prohibited`)
- nameservers, DNSSEC
- registrant organisation and country **when the registrar publishes them** (most hide them for privacy)

### How to use

1. Paste domains or URLs.
2. Optionally return only **available** domains, or only domains **expiring within N days**.
3. Run and export to JSON, CSV, Excel, or pull the data via API / integrations (Make, Zapier, n8n, Google Sheets).

#### Example input

```json
{
  "domains": ["apify.com", "openai.com", "wp.pl", "my-new-startup-idea-2026.com"],
  "includeRegistrarDetails": true
}
```

#### Example output

```json
{
  "domain": "openai.com",
  "registered": true,
  "status": [
    "client delete prohibited",
    "client transfer prohibited",
    "client update prohibited"
  ],
  "createdAt": "2007-01-19T19:28:24+00:00",
  "updatedAt": "2024-10-17T22:20:04+00:00",
  "expiresAt": "2029-01-19T19:28:24+00:00",
  "daysUntilExpiry": 810,
  "registrar": "MarkMonitor Inc.",
  "registrarIanaId": "292",
  "abuseEmail": "abusecomplaints@markmonitor.com",
  "nameservers": [
    "ns1-02.azure-dns.com",
    "ns2-02.azure-dns.net",
    "ns3-02.azure-dns.org",
    "ns4-02.azure-dns.info"
  ],
  "dnssec": false,
  "registrantOrganization": null,
  "registrantCountry": null,
  "rdapServer": "https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1",
  "note": null
}
```

### Use cases

- **Domain investors & brand protection** — find expiring domains and check which name variants are still free.
- **Security & threat intelligence** — registration age, registrar and abuse contact of suspicious domains.
- **Sales & lead generation** — company domains with registrar, age and hosting (nameservers) signals.
- **IT & agencies** — never miss a client's domain renewal: schedule weekly with **Expiring within (days)** = 60.

### Use it with AI agents

This actor works as a tool for AI agents and LLM apps through the [Apify MCP server](https://mcp.apify.com) (Claude, Cursor, VS Code and other MCP clients) and through Apify's integrations for LangChain, LlamaIndex, Make, Zapier and n8n. Ask your agent for the data in plain words; it fills the input for you.

### Related scrapers

- [Wayback Machine Scraper](https://apify.com/bar-lab/wayback-machine-scraper) — the history of a domain's website
- [Shopify Store Products Scraper](https://apify.com/bar-lab/shopify-products-scraper)
- [Career Site Jobs Scraper](https://apify.com/bar-lab/ats-jobs-scraper) — who is hiring at a company

### Pricing

Pay per result: you are charged only for domains saved to the dataset.

### FAQ

**Which domain endings are supported?** Every ending with an RDAP service in IANA's registry — over 1,200, including .com, .net, .org, .ai, .dev, .app, .pl, .uk, .fr and most new gTLDs. A few country endings (e.g. .io, .de, .co) run no public RDAP service; those come back with `registered: null` and a note.

**Why is the registrant often empty?** Since GDPR most registrars redact owner details. The lookup returns them whenever they are public.

**How do I check if a domain is available?** Look at `registered` — `false` means the registry has no record of it. Turn on **Only available** to get just the free ones.

**Is it legal?** RDAP is the public service registries are required to provide for exactly this purpose.

**Something broke or you need a field?** Open an issue on the Issues tab — we usually respond within a day.

# Actor input Schema

## `domains` (type: `array`):

Domain names or URLs, e.g. `apify.com` or `https://www.example.org/page`. Paste as many as you like.

## `onlyAvailable` (type: `boolean`):

Return only domains the registry doesn't know — free to register.

## `expiringWithinDays` (type: `integer`):

Return only registered domains that expire in the next N days.

## `includeRegistrarDetails` (type: `boolean`):

For registries that point to the registrar's RDAP server (e.g. .com, .net), also read it for the registrant's organisation and country when they are public.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

How many domains to look up at the same time.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "domains": [
    "apify.com",
    "openai.com",
    "wp.pl",
    "my-new-startup-idea-2026.com"
  ],
  "onlyAvailable": false,
  "includeRegistrarDetails": true,
  "maxConcurrency": 10
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

## `runSummary` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "domains": [
        "apify.com",
        "openai.com",
        "wp.pl",
        "my-new-startup-idea-2026.com"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("bar-lab/whois-domain-lookup").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "domains": [
        "apify.com",
        "openai.com",
        "wp.pl",
        "my-new-startup-idea-2026.com",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("bar-lab/whois-domain-lookup").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "domains": [
    "apify.com",
    "openai.com",
    "wp.pl",
    "my-new-startup-idea-2026.com"
  ]
}' |
apify call bar-lab/whois-domain-lookup --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,bar-lab/whois-domain-lookup"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/DL2pcsBj9CdkwFcdy/builds/Dw3elOd0gmeQ59HbJ/openapi.json