# Domain WHOIS Lookup: Bulk RDAP, Age & Expiry (`waags/domain-whois-lookup`) Actor

Bulk WHOIS lookup through the official RDAP protocol: registrar, creation, update and expiry dates, domain age, days until expiry, status, nameservers, DNSSEC, registrant organization/country and abuse contacts. Paste domains, URLs or emails. No API key.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/waags/domain-whois-lookup.md
- **Developed by:** [Andres Garcia](https://apify.com/waags) (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

Pay per event

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

## Domain WHOIS Lookup: Bulk RDAP, Domain Age, Expiry & Registrar

Look up **WHOIS data for thousands of domains** in one run: **registrar**, **creation, update and expiration dates**, **domain age**, **days until expiry**, **EPP status codes**, **nameservers**, **DNSSEC**, **registrant organization, state and country** (when published) and the registrar's **abuse contact**. Paste **domains, URLs or even email addresses**. Each one is reduced to its registrable domain (`https://shop.acme.co.uk/x` → `acme.co.uk`).

It uses **RDAP**, the ICANN-mandated JSON successor to WHOIS, routed through the **official IANA bootstrap registry**, and follows each registry's link to the **registrar's RDAP server** for the details thin registries (.com/.net) leave out. ccTLDs without RDAP (.io, .co, .us, .so…) automatically fall back to classic **WHOIS (port 43)**. No API key needed.

### What you get

| Field | Example |
| --- | --- |
| `registered` | `true` / `false` (unregistered domains are reported, not skipped) |
| `registrar`, `registrarIanaId` | `MarkMonitor Inc.`, `292` |
| `createdDate`, `updatedDate`, `expiresDate` | ISO 8601 |
| `domainAgeDays`, `domainAgeYears` | `6931`, `19` |
| `daysUntilExpiry` | `740` |
| `status` | `client delete prohibited`, `client transfer prohibited`… |
| `nameservers`, `dnssec` | `["dns1.p08.nsone.net", …]`, `false` |
| `registrantOrganization`, `registrantState`, `registrantCountry` | `GitHub, Inc.`, `US` (privacy proxies are hidden) |
| `abuseEmail`, `abusePhone` | `abusecomplaints@markmonitor.com` |
| `source`, `sourceUrl` | `rdap` or `whois` and the exact server queried |

### Use cases

- 🧑‍💼 **Lead qualification:** domain age is a strong signal of company maturity. Filter out brand-new or parked domains.
- 🛡️ **Fraud & security:** flag newly registered domains in sign-ups, emails and links. Find abuse contacts fast.
- 📅 **Domain portfolio monitoring:** schedule weekly runs and alert on `daysUntilExpiry < 30`.
- 🛒 **Domain investing:** check availability (`registered: false`) and expiry dates in bulk.
- 🔎 **Competitive & M\&A research:** registrar, registrant organization and infrastructure (nameservers, DNSSEC).

### How to use it

1. Click **Try for free**. Sample domains are prefilled, so the first run works in one click.
2. Paste domains, URLs or emails (one per line), **or** pick an **Input dataset** (for example our [Website Contact Extractor](https://apify.com/waags/website-contact-extractor) output, field `domain`).
3. Click **Start** and export to **CSV, Excel or JSON**, or call it from the API, Zapier, Make or n8n.

#### Input example

```json
{
    "domains": ["apify.com", "https://www.github.com/apify", "jane@stripe.com", "bbc.co.uk", "notion.so"],
    "includeRegistrarDetails": true,
    "maxItems": 10000
}
```

#### Output example

```json
{
    "domain": "github.com",
    "tld": "com",
    "registered": true,
    "registrar": "MarkMonitor Inc.",
    "createdDate": "2007-10-09T18:20:50.000Z",
    "expiresDate": "2028-10-09T18:20:50.000Z",
    "domainAgeYears": 19,
    "daysUntilExpiry": 740,
    "registrantOrganization": "GitHub, Inc.",
    "registrantCountry": "US",
    "abuseEmail": "abusecomplaints@markmonitor.com",
    "source": "rdap",
    "sourceUrl": "https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/github.com"
}
```

The **WHOIS overview** view shows domain, registered, registrar, dates, age, days to expiry, nameservers, DNSSEC, registrant org/country and abuse email.

### Pricing

Pay-per-event: a tiny start fee plus a fixed price per domain successfully looked up, currently **about $2.00 per 1,000 domains** (see the **Pricing** tab). Domains whose registry cannot be reached are listed with an `error` and **never charged**. There is no compute charge on top.

### FAQ

**WHOIS or RDAP, what's the difference?** RDAP is the modern, structured (JSON) replacement for WHOIS that ICANN requires of all gTLD registries and registrars since 2025. It is more reliable to parse and rate-limits less. For ccTLDs that haven't adopted RDAP yet, we query their official WHOIS server, discovered through IANA.

**Why is the registrant often empty?** Since GDPR, most registrars redact personal registrant data, and privacy/proxy services are hidden on purpose. Organization and country are returned whenever the registrar publishes them.

**Which TLDs are supported?** All 1,200+ TLDs listed in the IANA RDAP bootstrap, plus ccTLDs that run a public WHOIS server. A few registries (e.g. .de) return minimal public data by policy.

**How fast is it?** Hundreds of domains per minute, with polite per-registry concurrency to avoid rate limits.

### Related actors by WAAGS

- [Website Contact Extractor](https://apify.com/waags/website-contact-extractor) · [Website Tech Stack Detector](https://apify.com/waags/website-tech-stack-detector)
- [Bulk Email Validator](https://apify.com/waags/bulk-email-validator) · [US Phone Number Validator](https://apify.com/waags/us-phone-number-validator)

# Actor input Schema

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

Domains, URLs or email addresses, one per line. Subdomains and URLs are reduced to the registrable domain (shop.acme.co.uk becomes acme.co.uk). Duplicates are merged.

## `inputDatasetId` (type: `string`):

Pick another Apify dataset, e.g. the output of a lead scraper or our Website Contact Extractor, whose domains should be looked up. Set the field name in "Domain field".

## `domainField` (type: `string`):

Name of the field holding a domain, URL or email in the input dataset (dot notation supported, e.g. company.website).

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

For .com/.net and other "thin" registries, also query the registrar's RDAP server for registrant organization/country and abuse contacts. Slightly slower.

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

Maximum number of domains to look up. You are charged only for successful lookups, so this also caps your cost.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "domains": [
    "apify.com",
    "github.com",
    "stripe.com",
    "openai.com",
    "bbc.co.uk",
    "notion.so"
  ],
  "domainField": "domain",
  "includeRegistrarDetails": true,
  "maxItems": 50
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (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",
        "github.com",
        "stripe.com",
        "openai.com",
        "bbc.co.uk",
        "notion.so"
    ],
    "maxItems": 50
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("waags/domain-whois-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",
        "github.com",
        "stripe.com",
        "openai.com",
        "bbc.co.uk",
        "notion.so",
    ],
    "maxItems": 50,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("waags/domain-whois-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",
    "github.com",
    "stripe.com",
    "openai.com",
    "bbc.co.uk",
    "notion.so"
  ],
  "maxItems": 50
}' |
apify call waags/domain-whois-lookup --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,waags/domain-whois-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/cczQrFTcDdn6f0Htk/builds/TBjHeKL9KLdTqD6jI/openapi.json