Free tool
Who owns a domain, when it expires, whether it can be transferred or whether it's free to register.
Reference
Each extension has a registry that keeps the list of its domains. WHOIS is the public part of that list: what can be known about a domain without being its registrant.
The dates
The creation date says how old the domain is and the last update, when it was last changed. The expiry date is the day it stops working if nobody renews it: the website and email go down with it.
The three dates
exampleCreation Date
registered: the domain has existed since then
Updated Date
last change of registrar, DNS or contacts
Registry Expiry Date
expires: paid up to here
The statuses
The statuses come in English and in jargon. Some are a good sign, such as the transfer lock, and others call for action now.
EPP statuses
clientTransferProhibited
nobody can take it
clientUpdateProhibited
changes locked
redemptionPeriod
expired: still recoverable
clientHold
suspended: doesn't resolve
The holder
Since the GDPR, the registrant's name, email and phone number are almost never public: the registry hides them or provides a contact form. What you can see is the registrar, and they're the one who can pass a message on to the registrant. With .es domains there's something more: Red.es doesn't open its WHOIS to everyone, so we show you what can be known from outside and link you to its official lookup.
What's public
Register
who manages it
Name Server
where its DNS is
Registrant Name
the registrant
Registrant Email
their email
WHOIS tells you which registrar manages it, since when it has existed and when it expires, but almost never who the registrant is: since the GDPR that data is hidden. If you need to contact the owner, the way is through the registrar, which usually has a form to forward messages to them. For a .es domain, Red.es only shows the data in its official lookup.
Red.es, the .es registry, doesn't have an open WHOIS: its port 43 service only answers authorised addresses and it doesn't publish RDAP. What we can tell you is whether the domain is available, by asking the registrar, and which DNS servers it's delegated to. The full record is in Red.es's official lookup.
It's the modern replacement for WHOIS. Classic WHOIS returns free text that each registry writes in its own way; RDAP returns the same data in a standard format and over HTTPS. Since 2025 it has been the official route for generic domains (.com, .net, .org). We query RDAP and, if the extension doesn't have it, the traditional WHOIS.
It means the domain has the transfer lock on: nobody can take it to another registrar, not even with the authorisation code. That's recommended. If you're the registrant and want to transfer it, first remove the lock at your registrar and then request the transfer. If you see serverTransferProhibited, the lock is set by the registry itself: that's normal for the 60 days following a registration or a transfer.
It stops resolving: the website and email stop working. For generic domains (.com, .net, .org) there's usually a 30-day grace period during which it renews at the normal price, then about 30 days of redemption during which only the registrant can recover it by paying a surcharge, and about five more days until it's deleted and free for anyone. Other extensions, such as .es, have their own deadlines: don't wait until the date to renew.
