WHOIS & DNS Lookup Tool — Domain Intelligence in One Call

Get WHOIS registration data, every DNS record type, and SPF/DMARC email security for any list of domains — in a single run, with no API keys, no rate-limit juggling, and no login.

Perfect for:

• 🔎 Domain research & due diligence — who owns it, when it was registered, when it expires
• 🛡️ Security audits — map DNS infrastructure, spot missing SPF/DMARC before attackers do
• 📧 Email deliverability — verify SPF and DMARC are present and sane across client domains
• 🏢 Competitive & brand intelligence — monitor competitor domains and expiry dates
• 🧰 SEO / infrastructure analysis — name servers, CDN/IP footprint, CAA policies

What you get per domain

Block	Contents
WHOIS	Registrar, creation / update / expiry dates, registrant org & country, name servers, domain status codes
DNS	A, AAAA, MX, NS, TXT, CNAME, SOA, CAA, SRV — every record returned as a list
Security	SPF record (parsed from TXT) and DMARC record (_dmarc. lookup)
IP	Quick A-record resolution (resolvedIP)

Input

Paste domains as a list (or a comma-separated string):

{
  "domains": ["example.com", "anthropic.com", "github.com"],
  "includeWHOIS": true,
  "includeDNS": true,
  "includeSecurity": true
}

Field	Type	Default	Description
domains	array	required	Domain names to look up
includeWHOIS	boolean	true	WHOIS registration data
includeDNS	boolean	true	All DNS record types
includeSecurity	boolean	true	SPF + DMARC check

Turn blocks off to make large batches faster — DNS-only runs skip the WHOIS servers entirely.

Output

One dataset item per domain:

{
  "domain": "example.com",
  "resolvedIP": "93.184.216.34",
  "whois": {
    "registrar": "RESERVED-Internet Assigned Numbers Authority",
    "creationDate": "1995-08-14 04:00:00",
    "expirationDate": "2026-08-13 04:00:00",
    "nameServers": ["a.iana-servers.net", "b.iana-servers.net"],
    "status": ["clientDeleteProhibited", "clientTransferProhibited"]
  },
  "dns": {
    "A": ["93.184.216.34"],
    "MX": ["0 ."],
    "NS": ["a.iana-servers.net", "b.iana-servers.net"],
    "TXT": ["v=spf1 -all"],
    "SOA": ["ns.icann.org. noc.icann.org. 2025081403 7200 3600 1209600 3600"]
  },
  "security": {
    "spf": "v=spf1 -all",
    "dmarc": null
  }
}

A null field means the registry/zone doesn't publish that record — the run keeps going and the rest of the item is still filled in.

Real-world workflows

Security audit: your whole domain portfolio

Feed the Actor your full list of registered domains with includeSecurity: true. The dataset tells you at a glance which domains are missing SPF or DMARC — the two records most commonly absent before a spoofing incident. Export to CSV, sort by security.dmarc == null, and you have your remediation backlog.

Expiry monitoring for brand protection

Run the Actor weekly over your brand domains plus common typo-squats (yourbrand.com, yourbrand.io, yourbrand.co). Filter the dataset for whois.expirationDate within 60 days — that's your renewal and squatting watchlist. Dropping name servers or a changed registrant on a domain you don't own is often the first sign of a takeover attempt.

DNS migration verification

Before and after moving a site to a new host, run includeWHOIS: false, includeDNS: true. Compare A records, NS records, and CNAME targets across the two datasets to confirm the cutover propagated — no more waiting and guessing at dig prompts.

Email deliverability triage

Client complaining about deliverability? Run their domain through includeSecurity: true. If SPF is missing or DMARC is null, that's usually the headline finding. The parsed records drop straight into your report.

Monitor domains on a schedule

Point a saved task at your portfolio and run it daily/weekly from the Apify Scheduler — expiry dates, name-server changes, and DMARC drift show up as dataset diffs. Typical alerts people build on top:

• Domain expires in < 30 days
• Name servers changed (possible hijack or migration)
• DMARC record disappeared

Use it from the API

curl -s "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/darknezz~whois-dns-lookup/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"domains": ["example.com", "github.com"]}'

Works the same from the Apify SDK (JS/Python), Zapier/Make via the Apify integration, or any MCP-enabled AI agent.

Python SDK

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("darknezz~whois-dns-lookup").call(
    run_input={"domains": ["example.com", "anthropic.com"], "includeSecurity": True}
)
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item["domain"], item["whois"]["registrar"], item["security"])

JavaScript SDK

import { ApifyClient } from "apify-client";
const client = new ApifyClient({ token: "YOUR_TOKEN" });
const run = await client.actor("darknezz~whois-dns-lookup").call({
  domains: ["example.com", "github.com"],
});
const items = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();

Pricing

Pay per event: $0.005 per domain looked up, plus Apify's standard compute. Checking 1,000 domains costs about $5 in event fees — no subscription.

FAQ

Which TLDs are supported? Anything with a public WHOIS server — gTLDs (.com/.net/.org/.io/…) and most ccTLDs. Some ccTLD registries redact or throttle WHOIS; DNS blocks still return fully.

Why is whois sometimes sparse? GDPR/privacy-redacted registrations hide registrant details. Registrar, dates, and name servers usually survive redaction.

Does it support subdomains? DNS blocks work for subdomains; WHOIS is registry-level, so query the registrable domain (e.g. example.co.uk, not www.example.co.uk).

How many domains per run? Batches of hundreds are fine — items stream to the dataset as they finish, so partial results are available immediately. For thousands, split into multiple runs or schedule them.

Is there a rate limit? No per-key limits — the Actor uses standard public WHOIS servers and public DNS. WHOIS servers occasionally throttle heavy bursts; the Actor retries those domains and reports failures clearly rather than dropping them silently.

What about IDN / punycode domains? Pass domains in their native form or punycode — both work. Results return as queried.

Enjoying the lookups? A quick review on the Apify Store helps others find this tool.