# WHOIS Domain Lookup — Cheapest & Most Reliable, Bulk (`scrapersdelight/whois-domain-lookup`) Actor

Bulk WHOIS/RDAP domain lookup — registrar, IANA id, creation / updated / expiry dates, nameservers, DNSSEC, status and registry handle for a list of domains. Public RDAP with a port-43 WHOIS fallback for ccTLDs. No API key, no login.

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

## Pricing

$2.00 / 1,000 per domain resolveds

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/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md):

```bash
npm install apify-client
```

In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md):

```bash
pip install apify-client
```

In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md):

````bash
# MacOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash
# Windows
irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex
```bash

In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md).

If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).


# README

## 🌐 WHOIS Domain Lookup — Cheapest & Most Reliable, Bulk

**Bulk WHOIS / RDAP domain lookup — get the registrar, IANA id, creation / updated / expiry dates, nameservers, DNSSEC, status and registry handle for a whole list of domains in one run. Powered by the modern public RDAP protocol, with an automatic port-43 WHOIS fallback for country TLDs. No API key, no login.**

> 🕒 Last updated: 2026-07-09 · 🔌 RDAP + port-43 WHOIS fallback · 🚫 No API key or login · 💵 $2 / 1,000 domains · ⚡ IANA-bootstrapped, direct to each registry

Look up thousands of domains at once and get clean, structured **registration metadata** back — the kind of data domain investors, brand-protection, threat-intel, and SEO teams check constantly. This Actor uses **RDAP** (the JSON successor to legacy WHOIS) and bootstraps the authoritative RDAP server for each TLD straight from IANA, so you go direct to the registry (Verisign for `.com`, etc.). For the handful of country TLDs that don't run RDAP (like `.de`), it automatically falls back to a raw **port-43 WHOIS** query. Export to JSON, CSV, Excel, or Google Sheets, or pull via API.

---

### What it does

- 📋 **Bulk lookups** — paste a list of domains (or full URLs — the host is extracted) and get one clean record per domain.
- 🛰️ **Straight to the registry** — bootstraps each TLD's authoritative RDAP server from IANA, so results are as fresh and canonical as it gets.
- 🔁 **RDAP + WHOIS fallback** — RDAP first (structured JSON); if a ccTLD has no RDAP, it falls back to the registry's port-43 WHOIS server and normalizes the text into the same fields.
- 🔑 **No key, no login** — RDAP and WHOIS are public. A datacenter proxy rotates IPs per retry to glide past registry rate-limits.

### 📊 Output fields

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `domain` | the looked-up domain |
| `source` | `rdap` or `whois` (which protocol answered) |
| `registrar` | sponsoring registrar name |
| `registrar_iana_id` | registrar's IANA id |
| `registrar_url` | registrar website |
| `registrar_abuse_email` / `registrar_abuse_phone` | registrar abuse contact |
| `status` | EPP domain statuses (e.g. `clientTransferProhibited`) |
| `nameservers` | authoritative nameservers |
| `dnssec` | whether the delegation is DNSSEC-signed |
| `domain_handle` | registry domain id |
| `created_at` / `updated_at` / `expires_at` | registration, last-changed, and expiry dates (ISO 8601) |
| `error` | why a lookup failed (null on success; failed rows are **not** billed) |
| `raw` | full raw RDAP JSON / WHOIS text (optional) |

<details><summary>🌐 Sample domain record</summary>

```json
{
  "domain": "google.com",
  "source": "rdap",
  "registrar": "MarkMonitor Inc.",
  "registrar_iana_id": "292",
  "registrar_abuse_email": "abusecomplaints@markmonitor.com",
  "status": ["clientDeleteProhibited", "clientTransferProhibited", "serverUpdateProhibited"],
  "nameservers": ["ns1.google.com", "ns2.google.com", "ns3.google.com", "ns4.google.com"],
  "dnssec": false,
  "domain_handle": "2138514_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN",
  "created_at": "1997-09-15T04:00:00.000Z",
  "updated_at": "2019-09-09T15:39:04.000Z",
  "expires_at": "2028-09-14T04:00:00.000Z",
  "scraped_at": "2026-07-09T16:15:54.000Z"
}
````

</details>

***

### Who it's for

- 💰 **Domain investors & brokers** — bulk-check expiry dates and registrars across a portfolio or a drop list.
- 🛡️ **Brand protection & threat intel** — pull registration age, registrar, and nameservers on lookalike/suspicious domains.
- 📊 **SEO & research teams** — enrich a list of domains with registrar, age, and DNS metadata.
- 🛠️ **Developers** — a no-key WHOIS/RDAP endpoint you can schedule and pull via API into any pipeline.

### How to use it

1. Click **Try for free**.
2. Paste your **domains**, one per line (URLs work too — the host is extracted).
3. Click **Start**, then export from the **Dataset** tab, or pull via API.

#### Examples

Look up a batch of domains:

```json
{ "domains": ["google.com", "cloudflare.com", "apify.com", "openai.com"] }
```

RDAP only (skip the WHOIS fallback), with raw responses attached:

```json
{ "domains": ["example.org"], "whoisFallback": false, "includeRaw": true }
```

Pull via API (run-sync):

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/scrapersdelight~whois-domain-lookup/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "domains": ["google.com", "cloudflare.com"] }'
```

***

### ❓ FAQ

**Do I need an API key or login?** No — RDAP and WHOIS are public registry protocols. No account, no key.

**RDAP or WHOIS?** RDAP is the modern, structured (JSON) replacement for legacy WHOIS. This Actor uses RDAP first and only falls back to port-43 WHOIS for ccTLDs that don't run RDAP yet — either way you get the same fields.

**Which TLDs are supported?** All gTLDs (`.com`, `.net`, `.org`, `.io`, `.app`, …) via RDAP, plus ccTLDs — RDAP where available, WHOIS fallback where not. A few registries publish only thin data (e.g. `.de` returns status + nameservers), so some fields can be empty for those.

**Does it return the registrant's name, email, or address?** No. This Actor returns domain **registration metadata** (registrar, dates, nameservers, status, DNSSEC) — not registrant personal contact data, which registries redact under GDPR/ICANN policy anyway.

**How much does it cost?** $2 per 1,000 resolved domains — you pay only for domains that return data. Lookups that fail (not found / no server) are written to the dataset but **not** charged.

**Can I schedule it?** Yes — schedule the Actor to re-check a list on a cadence (e.g. watch expiry dates or nameserver changes).

**Are results accurate/fresh?** They come straight from each registry's authoritative RDAP/WHOIS server (bootstrapped from IANA), so they're as current as the registry publishes.

### Notes & fair use

This Actor reads public RDAP and port-43 WHOIS registry data. It returns domain registration metadata, not registrant personal contact information. You are responsible for complying with each registry's Terms of Service and with applicable data-protection law.

# Actor input Schema

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

The domains to look up, one per line. Full URLs are accepted too — the host is extracted (e.g. "https://www.google.com/" becomes "google.com"). Give registrable domains ("example.com"), not sub-domains.

## `whoisFallback` (type: `boolean`):

Some country TLDs (e.g. .de) don't run RDAP. When RDAP has no record, fall back to a raw port-43 WHOIS query on the registry's authoritative WHOIS server. Turn off to use RDAP only.

## `includeRaw` (type: `boolean`):

Attach the full raw RDAP JSON object (or raw WHOIS text) to each record under "raw". Larger output; off by default.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Cost/speed guard — cap on how many of the provided domains to look up this run. 0 = look up every domain in the list.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

RDAP is a clean public API, so a datacenter proxy is plenty — the Actor rotates to a fresh IP on each retry to dodge registry rate-limits (429). The WHOIS fallback always connects directly (port 43 can't be tunneled through an HTTP proxy).

## `requestConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

How many domains to look up in parallel. Higher = faster; keep modest to stay under registry rate-limits.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "domains": [
    "google.com",
    "cloudflare.com"
  ],
  "whoisFallback": true,
  "includeRaw": false,
  "maxItems": 0,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  },
  "requestConcurrency": 5
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `records` (type: `string`):

The dataset of domain registration records (one item 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": [
        "google.com",
        "cloudflare.com"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("scrapersdelight/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": [
        "google.com",
        "cloudflare.com",
    ] }

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

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).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": [
    "google.com",
    "cloudflare.com"
  ]
}' |
apify call scrapersdelight/whois-domain-lookup --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=scrapersdelight/whois-domain-lookup",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

```json
{
    "openapi": "3.0.1",
    "info": {
        "title": "WHOIS Domain Lookup — Cheapest & Most Reliable, Bulk",
        "description": "Bulk WHOIS/RDAP domain lookup — registrar, IANA id, creation / updated / expiry dates, nameservers, DNSSEC, status and registry handle for a list of domains. Public RDAP with a port-43 WHOIS fallback for ccTLDs. No API key, no login.",
        "version": "0.1",
        "x-build-id": "D9U95GUmB617AKTUN"
    },
    "servers": [
        {
            "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
        }
    ],
    "paths": {
        "/acts/scrapersdelight~whois-domain-lookup/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-scrapersdelight-whois-domain-lookup",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/scrapersdelight~whois-domain-lookup/runs": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "runs-sync-scrapersdelight-whois-domain-lookup",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK",
                        "content": {
                            "application/json": {
                                "schema": {
                                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/scrapersdelight~whois-domain-lookup/run-sync": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-scrapersdelight-whois-domain-lookup",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "components": {
        "schemas": {
            "inputSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "domains": {
                        "title": "Domains",
                        "type": "array",
                        "description": "The domains to look up, one per line. Full URLs are accepted too — the host is extracted (e.g. \"https://www.google.com/\" becomes \"google.com\"). Give registrable domains (\"example.com\"), not sub-domains.",
                        "items": {
                            "type": "string"
                        }
                    },
                    "whoisFallback": {
                        "title": "WHOIS fallback for ccTLDs",
                        "type": "boolean",
                        "description": "Some country TLDs (e.g. .de) don't run RDAP. When RDAP has no record, fall back to a raw port-43 WHOIS query on the registry's authoritative WHOIS server. Turn off to use RDAP only.",
                        "default": true
                    },
                    "includeRaw": {
                        "title": "Include raw response",
                        "type": "boolean",
                        "description": "Attach the full raw RDAP JSON object (or raw WHOIS text) to each record under \"raw\". Larger output; off by default.",
                        "default": false
                    },
                    "maxItems": {
                        "title": "Max domains",
                        "minimum": 0,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Cost/speed guard — cap on how many of the provided domains to look up this run. 0 = look up every domain in the list.",
                        "default": 0
                    },
                    "proxyConfiguration": {
                        "title": "Proxy",
                        "type": "object",
                        "description": "RDAP is a clean public API, so a datacenter proxy is plenty — the Actor rotates to a fresh IP on each retry to dodge registry rate-limits (429). The WHOIS fallback always connects directly (port 43 can't be tunneled through an HTTP proxy).",
                        "default": {
                            "useApifyProxy": true
                        }
                    },
                    "requestConcurrency": {
                        "title": "Request concurrency",
                        "minimum": 1,
                        "maximum": 20,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "How many domains to look up in parallel. Higher = faster; keep modest to stay under registry rate-limits.",
                        "default": 5
                    }
                }
            },
            "runsResponseSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "data": {
                        "type": "object",
                        "properties": {
                            "id": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "actId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "userId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "startedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "finishedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "status": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "READY"
                            },
                            "meta": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "origin": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "API"
                                    },
                                    "userAgent": {
                                        "type": "string"
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "stats": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "inputBodyLen": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2000
                                    },
                                    "rebootCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "restartCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "resurrectCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "computeUnits": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "options": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "build": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "latest"
                                    },
                                    "timeoutSecs": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 300
                                    },
                                    "memoryMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1024
                                    },
                                    "diskMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2048
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "buildId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultKeyValueStoreId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultDatasetId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultRequestQueueId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "buildNumber": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "1.0.0"
                            },
                            "containerUrl": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "usage": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "usageTotalUsd": {
                                "type": "number",
                                "example": 0.00005
                            },
                            "usageUsd": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "number",
                                        "example": 0.00005
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
```