# WHOIS Lookup — Domain Expiry, Age, Registrar & Nameservers (`northbell/whois-domain-lookup`) Actor

Bulk WHOIS / RDAP lookup for any list of domains or URLs: registrar, creation date, domain age, expiry date and days left, nameservers, status, DNSSEC, and whether it is registered. Covers .io, .co, .jp, .de via WHOIS. Flags renewals and transfers between runs.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/northbell/whois-domain-lookup.md
- **Developed by:** [Northbell](https://apify.com/northbell) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, SEO tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.80 / 1,000 domains

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

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 Lookup — Domain Expiry, Age, Registrar & Nameservers

Paste a list of domains (or URLs, or email addresses) and get one clean row per domain: **registrar, creation date, domain age, expiry date and days left, nameservers, status, DNSSEC**, and whether the domain is **registered at all**. Run it on a schedule and each row also tells you **what changed since the last run** — renewed, transferred to another registrar, nameservers changed, or no longer registered.

### What you get

| Field | What it is |
|---|---|
| `domain` | the registered domain (`docs.apify.com` is looked up as `apify.com`, `news.bbc.co.uk` as `bbc.co.uk`) |
| `registered` | `false` when the registry has no record — usually means the name is available |
| `registrar`, `registrarIanaId`, `registrarUrl` | who the domain is registered through |
| `createdAt`, `ageYears` | when it was first registered, and its age |
| `expiresAt`, `daysToExpiry` | when it expires, and how many days are left |
| `updatedAt`, `status` | last change, and lock / hold statuses (e.g. `client transfer prohibited`) |
| `nameservers`, `dnssec` | DNS hosting and whether the zone is signed |
| `changes`, `changedSinceLastRun` | `renewed`, `registrar-changed`, `nameservers-changed`, `status-changed`, `no-longer-registered` |
| `source` | `rdap` or `whois` |

**Privacy:** registrant names, addresses, emails and phone numbers are **not** collected — most registries redact them anyway. The registrar (a company) is.

### How it works

Most domains are read through **RDAP**, the registries' official JSON successor to WHOIS, using IANA's list of registry servers. Country domains without RDAP (`.io`, `.co`, `.me`, `.jp`, `.de`, `.cn` and others) are read from the registry's own **WHOIS** server. Some registries publish less: `.de` has no creation or expiry date, `.au` has no dates over RDAP.

Measured on October 7, 2026: 40 mixed domains (`.com`, `.io`, `.co.jp`, `.de`, `.cn`, `.co.uk` and unregistered names) in about 1.4 seconds.

### Use it for

- **Renewal checks** — every domain you own with its expiry date; set *Only domains expiring within N days* to 60 for a renewal list
- **Portfolio watch** — schedule weekly with *Only changed* and get alerted when a domain is transferred, renewed or dropped
- **Lead and vendor research** — domain age and registrar for a list of company websites
- **Availability** — which names in a list are not registered

### Input

```json
{ "domains": ["apify.com", "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news", "notion.so"], "expiresWithinDays": 90 }
```

### Pricing

**$1.00 per 1,000 domains**, plus $0.01 per run. Error rows and domains left out by your filters are free. The $0.01 run-start fee is the one charge every run pays, even one that returns nothing.

### For AI agents

`{"domains": ["example.com"]}` returns one row with `registered`, `registrar`, `createdAt`, `expiresAt` and `daysToExpiry`. Rows have `type`: `domain` or `error`.

# Actor input Schema

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

Domains, URLs or email addresses, one per line. Subdomains are looked up as their registered domain (docs.apify.com → apify.com).

## `expiresWithinDays` (type: `integer`):

For renewal checks: keep only domains whose expiry date is within the next N days. Others are not returned and not charged.

## `onlyChanged` (type: `boolean`):

From the second run on, return only domains that were renewed, transferred, changed nameservers or status, or stopped being registered. Schedule it to watch a portfolio.

## `useWhoisFallback` (type: `boolean`):

Some country domains (.io, .co, .me, .jp, .de, .cn …) have no RDAP service; they are read from the registry's WHOIS server instead.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "domains": [
    "apify.com",
    "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news",
    "notion.so"
  ],
  "onlyChanged": false,
  "useWhoisFallback": true
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `domains` (type: `string`):

Registrar, dates, nameservers and status per domain.

# 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",
        "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news",
        "notion.so"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("northbell/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",
        "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news",
        "notion.so",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("northbell/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",
    "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news",
    "notion.so"
  ]
}' |
apify call northbell/whois-domain-lookup --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,northbell/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/VAuqWVyF6baF0PQ3x/builds/aVHdFtYr1f2YhTrbc/openapi.json