WHOIS Inspector
Look up WHOIS domain registration data — registrar, dates, contacts, and name servers.
What is a WHOIS Inspector?
A WHOIS inspector queries the WHOIS protocol to retrieve domain registration information from regional Internet registries. This data includes the domain registrar, registration and expiration dates, name servers, and (where available) registrant contact details. WHOIS data is the authoritative source for understanding who owns a domain and when it was registered.
HTTPSense's WHOIS Inspector presents raw WHOIS data in a structured, easy-to-read format. It extracts key dates, registrar information, domain status codes, name servers, and contact records — saving you from parsing verbose plain-text WHOIS output manually.
How to Use the WHOIS Inspector
- Enter a domain name or URL in the search bar and click Inspect WHOIS.
- Review the Overview tab for registrar, registration / expiry dates, DNSSEC status, and EPP status flags (hover any flag to see what it means).
- Open the Contacts tab to see registrant, admin, and tech contacts where the registry returns them.
- Browse Name Servers for the authoritative DNS servers recorded with the registry.
- Use the Raw tab to copy or download the unparsed WHOIS response and full JSON.
How the WHOIS Inspector Works
We extract the registered domain (eTLD+1) from your input, then resolve the authoritative WHOIS server. Well-known TLDs use a built-in fast-path map; for any other TLD we query whois.iana.org for that TLD’s record and read the whois: field that points at the registry’s server. Discovered servers are cached in-memory so subsequent lookups skip the IANA round-trip.
Once we have the registry response, we look for a registrar referral (Registrar WHOIS Server / Whois Server / ReferralServer). If present, we run a second query to that registrar’s WHOIS server and merge the response, which is what produces thick data (registrar fields, contact blocks where not redacted) for thin registries like Verisign’s .com and .net.
The combined response is parsed into structured fields: registrar, registration / expiration / last-updated dates, status flags, name servers, DNSSEC, and contact blocks. EPP status codes are decoded inline so you can hover a flag to see what it does. The full raw text is preserved in the Raw tab.
WHOIS is a domain-level concern: the URL path and query are ignored. We never persist registrant personal data even when it is returned by a registry.
Key Features
- Universal TLD coverage — Built-in map for the common gTLDs and ccTLDs plus IANA discovery for everything else.
- Registrar referral follow — Automatically chases the registrar’s WHOIS server for thin-registry TLDs (.com / .net) so registrant fields are not lost.
- Structured WHOIS parsing — Converts raw WHOIS text into clean, navigable sections instead of a wall of text.
- Expiration tracking — Surfaces domain expiry with a relative “in N days” hint so you can monitor renewals.
- EPP status decoding — Hover any status flag (clientTransferProhibited, serverDeleteProhibited, redemptionPeriod, …) to read its meaning.
- Contact extraction — Parses registrant, admin, and tech contacts when registries provide them.
- Name server listing — Lists all authoritative name servers as recorded by the registry.
- Raw output preserved — Copy or download both the raw WHOIS text and the full JSON response.
Common Use Cases
- Domain investors — Research registration dates, expiration windows, and registrar history for potential acquisitions.
- Brand protection teams — Identify who registered a confusingly similar domain and gather evidence for dispute resolution.
- Security analysts — Investigate suspicious domains by checking registration age, registrar, and contact patterns.
- System administrators — Monitor domain expiry dates and verify name server delegation matches expected values.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are the contact details blank?
Most modern registries redact registrant data due to GDPR and ICANN policy. The registrar, key dates, name servers, and status flags should still be visible.
Why doesn’t it work for some TLDs?
A handful of country-code TLDs return non-standard formats or block automated WHOIS lookups. We support the common gTLDs and ccTLDs (.com, .net, .org, .io, .dev, .uk, .de, and more).
How is this different from running whois on the command line?
We parse the raw response into structured fields, surface key dates clearly, handle several registry-specific formats, and integrate with the Domain Intelligence Report.
How fresh is the data?
As fresh as the registry returns it. We do not cache aggressively; lookups go to the authoritative WHOIS server for each TLD.
Is it free? Do I need to sign up?
Yes, the WHOIS Inspector is free and requires no signup or API key.