Bulk Domain Ownership Checker

Check registration dates, expiry, registrar, and availability status for any number of domains at once — without the one-at-a-time limitation of manual lookups. Uses RDAP (the modern, structured replacement for WHOIS) to pull live data directly from domain registries. No API keys. No proxies. Results in seconds.

Built for domain buyers, portfolio managers, brand protection teams, and sysadmins who need to check, monitor, or research domains at scale.

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What does Bulk Domain Ownership Checker return?

RDAP registration data

RDAP (Registration Data Access Protocol) is the standardised, JSON-based successor to WHOIS. Data comes directly from the authoritative registry — it cannot be falsified by brokers or marketplace listings.

• Registration date — when the domain was first created
• Expiration date — when the current registration expires
• Days until expiry — calculated in real time
• Domain age — total days since registration
• Registrar — who currently manages the domain
• Status flags — RDAP lifecycle flags: clientTransferProhibited, pendingDelete, redemptionPeriod, and others

Availability and lifecycle status

Beyond raw dates, the actor surfaces three derived flags particularly useful when researching domains to acquire:

Flag	What it means
isRegistered	false = domain appears available for registration right now
isPendingDelete	Domain is about to be released — watch for it to drop
isInRedemption	Domain recently expired; current owner can still renew before it becomes available

Expiry monitoring

Set an expiry warning threshold (default: 30 days). Any domain expiring within that window is flagged as isExpiringSoon: true. Useful for monitoring your own portfolio and catching renewals before they lapse.

Wayback Machine history (optional)

When enabled, queries the Internet Archive for the domain's earliest and most recent snapshot dates. Particularly useful when evaluating a domain you want to buy:

• How long was it actively used?
• When was it last live?
• Does the claimed history match what the archive actually shows?

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What can I do with domain ownership data?

Domain portfolio management

Running dozens or hundreds of domains across different registrars makes it easy to miss renewal windows. Paste your full portfolio into the actor. Any domain with isExpiringSoon: true needs immediate attention. Schedule it on a weekly cadence to catch renewals before they lapse.

Domain acquisition research

Before pursuing an expired or listed domain:

• Check isRegistered — is it actually available?
• Check isPendingDelete — if true, it is about to drop and will likely go to auction or first-come first-served
• Check isInRedemption — the current owner just expired it and has a limited window to reclaim it; not yet available
• Enable Wayback Machine to verify the domain has real history, not just parked pages

Brand protection monitoring

Check typosquatting variants, competitor domains, and brand keyword combinations in bulk. A domain showing isRegistered: true with a recent registrationDate and no Wayback history may have been registered specifically to impersonate your brand.

Pre-acquisition due diligence

RDAP registration dates come directly from domain registries and cannot be altered. Use registrationDate to verify the claimed age of any domain before paying for it.

Monitoring competitor domains

Track registration and expiry data for competitor domains over time. An approaching expiry on a key competitor domain may signal a business change worth noting.

Drop-catching and domain sniping

Filter for isPendingDelete: true across a list of target domains. Pending-delete domains are typically released 5 days after entering that status. Pair with the optional Wayback lookup to quickly assess whether the domain has backlink value or brand recognition worth pursuing.

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Why use Bulk Domain Ownership Checker instead of alternatives?

Feature	ICANN WHOIS / registrar lookup	Bulk Domain Ownership Checker
Bulk checking	One domain at a time	Any number of domains in one run
Data format	Unstructured text (WHOIS)	Structured JSON (RDAP)
Availability flag	Not calculated	isRegistered, isPendingDelete, isInRedemption
Expiry alerts	Manual	isExpiringSoon flag + configurable threshold
Wayback integration	Not available	Optional first/last snapshot dates
API key required	No	No
Export formats	Web UI only	JSON, CSV, Excel

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How to use Bulk Domain Ownership Checker

1. Add one or more domains to Domains to Check — any format works (example.com, https://example.com, www.example.com)
2. Optionally enable Wayback Machine History for acquisition research
3. Optionally adjust the Expiry Warning Threshold (default: 30 days)
4. Click Start — results appear within seconds
5. Export as JSON, CSV, or Excel

No API keys. No proxies. Pure RDAP queries and open archive APIs.

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How much will it cost?

Bulk Domain Ownership Checker uses only RDAP queries and optional Wayback Machine API calls — no browser, no proxy.

Typical costs:

• 1–10 domains: < $0.01
• 100 domains: < $0.05
• A batch of 50 domains completes in under 2 minutes

Cost tips:

• Enable Wayback Machine history only when doing acquisition research — it adds 2 extra API calls per domain
• For portfolio monitoring (expiry alerts only), Wayback is not needed and keeps cost near-zero

See the Apify pricing page for full pricing details.

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How does Bulk Domain Ownership Checker work?

For each domain, the actor runs checks in parallel:

1. RDAP query → rdap.org/domain/{domain} — structured registration data from the authoritative registry. A 404 response means the domain is not currently registered.
2. Wayback Machine (if enabled) → CDX API for first snapshot + Availability API for most recent snapshot

A 5-second timeout per external call ensures a single unresponsive source never blocks the run.

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Output fields

Field	Description
domain	The domain checked
isRegistered	true if registered, false if available, null if lookup failed
registrar	Registrar currently managing the domain
registrationDate	Date the domain was first registered
expirationDate	Date the current registration expires
lastChangedDate	Date the registration record was last modified
domainAgeDays	Days since registration
daysUntilExpiry	Days until expiry (negative = already expired)
isExpiringSoon	true if expiring within the warning threshold
isPendingDelete	true if domain is in pendingDelete lifecycle status
isInRedemption	true if domain is in redemptionPeriod — recently expired, owner can still renew
statusFlags	Full array of RDAP lifecycle status flags
hasWaybackHistory	(optional) true if the Internet Archive has snapshots
waybackFirstSeen	(optional) Date of the earliest Wayback Machine snapshot
waybackLastSeen	(optional) Date of the most recent Wayback Machine snapshot
waybackYearsActive	(optional) Years between first and last Wayback snapshot

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Understanding RDAP status flags

Flag	Meaning
clientTransferProhibited	Domain cannot be transferred to another registrar (standard lock)
clientUpdateProhibited	Domain record cannot be modified
clientDeleteProhibited	Domain cannot be deleted
pendingDelete	Domain is scheduled for deletion and will be released soon
redemptionPeriod	Domain registration expired; owner has a limited grace period to renew
pendingRestore	Owner has initiated a restore from redemptionPeriod
serverTransferProhibited	Registry-level transfer lock

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Frequently asked questions

Why RDAP instead of WHOIS? RDAP is the standardised successor to WHOIS, introduced by ICANN. It returns structured JSON data with consistent field names across all registries, better Unicode support, and defined access control. WHOIS responses vary by registry and are difficult to parse reliably.

What does isRegistered: false mean exactly? It means the RDAP registry returned a 404 (not found) response for the domain. In most cases this means the domain is available for registration. However, some TLDs have RDAP coverage gaps — verify availability at your registrar before relying on this field for a purchase decision.

Can I check domains I don't own? Yes. RDAP is a public protocol. All data returned is publicly available registration information — the same data accessible through any registrar's lookup tool.

Why is some owner/registrant contact data missing? RDAP contact data (registrant name, email, address) is subject to privacy regulations including GDPR. Most registrars now redact personal contact details from public RDAP responses. Registration dates, expiry dates, and status flags are always public.

How accurate is the expiry date? The expirationDate comes directly from the registry record. It is accurate as of the time of the query. Note that some registrars have grace periods after expiry before a domain enters redemptionPeriod.

What is the redemption period? After a domain expires, most registries enter it into a 30-day redemption period before deleting it. During this window, the original owner can still renew the domain — typically at a higher restoration fee. After the redemption period ends, the domain enters pendingDelete and is released.

Can I check hundreds of domains at once? Yes. The input accepts any number of domains. Domains are processed with all sources running in parallel per domain, completing in a few seconds each.

How do I use this for portfolio expiry monitoring? Schedule the actor on a weekly cadence in Apify Scheduler. Filter the output for isExpiringSoon: true and connect to a Slack or email notification via Apify webhooks or the Make/Zapier integration.

Can I use Bulk Domain Ownership Checker via the Apify API? Yes. Use the Run Actor endpoint with your actor ID and input JSON. Combine with webhooks to trigger alerts when domains are expiring or entering pending delete.

Can I use Bulk Domain Ownership Checker through an MCP Server? Yes. Via the Apify MCP server, you can call this actor from any MCP-compatible AI assistant (Claude, ChatGPT, etc.) to look up domain registration data in real time from a conversation.

Is querying domain registration data legal? Yes. RDAP is a public protocol designed for exactly this purpose. Domain registration data (dates, registrar, status) is public information by design. Personal contact data is now redacted under GDPR, but the fields this actor returns are always public.

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Related actors

• Domain History Checker — full historical security footprint: RDAP registration data, Wayback Machine history, URLHaus malware records (all time), ThreatFox IOC history (all time), 5 DNS blacklists, and risk scoring
• Domain Security Scanner — real-time active threat scan: URLHaus malware (live URLs only), ThreatFox recent IOCs (last 30 days), PhishTank phishing database, Sucuri multi-vendor blacklist scan, and 8 DNS blacklists
• Email Domain Blacklist Checker — 13 email blacklist checks (SURBL, SpamCop, Barracuda, URIBL) plus SPF, DMARC, MX, and PTR validation

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Changelog

2026-03-05 — v0.1.0

• Initial release
• RDAP registration data: registration date, expiry date, last changed, registrar, domain age, days until expiry
• Availability detection: isRegistered: false when domain not found in registry
• Lifecycle flags: isExpiringSoon, isPendingDelete, isInRedemption
• Configurable expiry warning threshold (default: 30 days)
• Optional Wayback Machine first/last snapshot and active years

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Your feedback

Found a bug or have a feature request? Open an issue or contact us through the Apify platform. Your feedback helps improve this actor for everyone.