How AvailableWhois checks domain availability

1. Ask the registry. Every TLD is run by a registry. AvailableWhois queries it directly over RDAP, the structured successor to WHOIS. No record means nobody owns the name.GET rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/yourname.com → 404
2. Cross-check with DNS. A few registries don’t offer public RDAP, or time out. For those, AvailableWhois checks DNS instead: nameservers mean it’s taken, a clean NXDOMAIN means it’s probably free.
3. Show the verdict and its source. Each result says Available, Taken or Unsure, and whether the answer came from the registry or from DNS. For taken names you also see the registrar and expiry date when the registry publishes them.

Available

The registry has no record of the name, or (for TLDs without RDAP) DNS has no trace of it.

Taken

The registry has a record, or the name has live nameservers. Someone owns it.

Unsure

The registry timed out, rate-limited us, or answered with something we can’t read. We say so instead of guessing.

New to RDAP? It’s explained in the FAQ.

No front-running. We’re not a registrar. We never register, reserve or resell names you look up.

No accounts. Nothing sold or shared. Results may be cached briefly so repeat checks are fast.

No signup. Open the page, type a name, get answers.

100+ TLDs

Type a name once and see .com, .ai, .io, .dev and dozens more as results stream in. Not sure which to pick? See the TLD guide.

Live data

Answers come from the registry at search time, not from a stale list.

Expiry dates

For taken names: who registered it, when, and when it expires, so you know whether it’s worth waiting.

Domain hacks

Names that use the TLD as part of the word, like youtu.be. How domain hacks work.

Name ideas

Variations on your name, already checked, for when the obvious one is gone.

Keyboard first

Search, move, shortlist and copy without touching the mouse.