Free tool
Domain expiry checker
A domain expiry checker shows the date a domain's registration ends. Type a domain and this one asks the registry that runs its extension — Verisign for .com, PIR for .org — and shows what the registry says right now: the expiration date, the days left, where the domain sits in the expiry lifecycle, and when it would drop if nobody renews it.
Updated · reads the registry live over RDAP
Straight from the registry, not from a copy
Most expiry checkers send your query to their own server, which asks a registry or a WHOIS service on your behalf and may hand you an answer it cached earlier. Usually that is fine. When it is not, it is wrong in the direction that matters: a domain renewed this morning can still read as expiring, and one that quietly lapsed can still read as active.
This one has no server in the middle. Your browser sends one RDAP request straight to the registry operator for that TLD, and the date you see is the registry's own record at the moment you pressed the button. That has two consequences:
- It is current. A domain renewed an hour ago shows its new date. There is no cache to go stale.
- We never see what you looked up. More on that below.
Your lookup does not touch our servers. RDAP endpoints permit cross-origin requests, so the query goes straight from your browser to the registry. We never see which domain you checked. That is a side effect of the design rather than a promise we are asking you to take on trust — open your network tab and watch.
Reading the result
The big number is days until the expiration date on the record. It is the right number to act on most of the time, and there are two situations where it lies, both of which this tool flags:
- A past expiry date is not always trouble. Registries auto-renew at expiry and give the registrar up to 45 days to cancel, so a domain showing
autoRenewPeriodwith a date last week is in a normal, safe state. - A future expiry date is not always safety. A domain carrying
clientHoldhas been pulled from DNS by its registrar — the site and email are already down — no matter how many months remain on the registration.
This is why the status codes are shown in full rather than reduced to a green tick.
Registry expiry date vs registrar expiry date
The registry's date is the one that decides what happens to the domain. Your registrar's dashboard may show a different one — usually a day or two off, or a year ahead during the auto-renew grace period, because some registrars bill on their own schedule. When the two disagree, the registry is right, and the registry's date is the one shown here.
What happens after the expiry date
For .com, .net, .org and the other gTLDs, ICANN policy sets the sequence. Only the length of the first stage is up to the registrar.
| Stage | How long | Who can renew | Shows in RDAP as |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auto-renew grace | Up to 45 days | The owner, at the normal price | autoRenewPeriod, or no change |
| Redemption | 30 days | The owner only, plus a restore fee | redemptionPeriod |
| Pending delete | 5 days | Nobody | pendingDelete |
| Dropped | — | Anyone, first come first served | no record |
If the domain you checked is past its expiry date, the result above estimates when it drops. The drop date checker explains how that estimate is made, and the lifecycle guide covers each stage in full.
Country-code domains follow their own registry's rules — .uk, for one, has no redemption stage at all — so for those the tool shows the stage and makes no date estimate. RDAP support by TLD lists which registries can be asked at all.
The status codes you will see most
| Code | What it means |
|---|---|
ok / active | Nothing pending. The normal state. |
clientTransferProhibited | The registrar has locked transfers. Normal, and a good sign. |
autoRenewPeriod | Past expiry and auto-renewed by the registry; the registrar has up to 45 days to cancel. Usually safe. |
redemptionPeriod | Deleted by the registrar. Only the owner can restore it, for a fee, within 30 days. |
pendingDelete | Five days from dropping. Cannot be renewed or restored. |
clientHold / serverHold | Pulled from DNS. The site and email are down, whatever the expiry date says. |
The status code guide covers the rest of the vocabulary, and which codes actually mean trouble.
When a lookup fails
Two honest limitations. Some TLDs — mostly smaller country codes — still publish no RDAP service at all, and there is nothing to query. And a registry can be temporarily unreachable, which from a browser looks identical to a domain that does not exist. Where those cannot be told apart, this tool says so rather than guessing, because a confident wrong answer about a domain you are worried about is worse than no answer.
Checking more than one, more than once
For a one-off portfolio check, paste up to 100 domains into the bulk domain expiry checker; it sorts the ones that need attention to the top.
A lookup is a snapshot. It tells you the state now and nothing about the state next Tuesday, which is the state that actually catches people out — the renewal notice goes to a mailbox nobody opens, and the first sign of trouble is the site being down.
That is the difference between this page and the product behind it. This checks one domain once. DropPerch re-reads the registry for every domain you give it, every day, and emails you at the thresholds you choose. It works across registrars and needs no transfer, because reading the registry needs no permission from anyone.
Common questions
How do I check a domain's expiry date?
Type the domain in the box above and press Check domain. The expiry date comes straight from the registry that runs its extension, together with the days left, the lifecycle stage and every status code. To check the expiry dates of many domains at once, use the bulk domain expiry checker.
How do I do a domain expiration lookup?
Type the domain above. Your browser runs the expiration lookup against the registry itself over RDAP, with no server or cache in between, and shows the expiry date, the days remaining, the lifecycle stage, the registrar and every status code on the record. No signup and no limit.
Is this domain expiry checker free?
Yes, and there is no signup, no account and no limit. The lookup runs in your browser and talks to the registry directly, so it costs us nothing to serve.
Where does the expiration date come from?
From the registry operator for that TLD, over RDAP, at the moment you press the button. Not from a cache and not from our database. You can verify any result with the whois command on your own machine.
Is this an RDAP lookup?
Yes. Every result comes from an RDAP query sent from your browser to the registry. RDAP is the protocol that replaced WHOIS as the requirement for gTLD registries on 28 January 2025.
Can I check when someone else's domain expires?
Yes. Expiry dates are public registry data for every registered domain, so you need no account and no permission, and the domain does not have to be yours.
When will an expired domain become available?
For .com, .net, .org and other gTLDs, roughly 35 to 80 days after the expiry date: up to 45 days of auto-renew grace, 30 of redemption and 5 of pending delete. The result above estimates it for any domain past its date, and the drop date checker explains the estimate.
Why does the expiry date look wrong?
Two common reasons. Registries auto-renew a domain at expiry and give the registrar up to 45 days to cancel, so a date in the recent past with an autoRenewPeriod status is normal. And your registrar may display its own billing date, which can differ from the registry date by a day or two, or by a year during auto-renew grace. The registry date is the authoritative one, and it is the one shown here.
Does this work for every TLD?
Most of them. RDAP is mandatory for all gTLDs such as .com, .org, .net and the newer extensions. Some smaller country-code registries still publish no RDAP service, and for those there is nothing to query; the tool will tell you rather than guess.
Do you store the domains I look up?
No. The request goes from your browser to the registry without passing through our servers, so there is nothing for us to store.
What is the difference between this and domain monitoring?
This checks one domain once. Monitoring re-reads the registry daily for every domain on your list and alerts you before expiry, which is what catches the lapse nobody noticed. DropPerch watches 25 domains free for the first 25 accounts, 5 after.
One lookup tells you today. Monitoring tells you in time.
DropPerch re-reads the registry for every domain you watch, every day, and emails you before it expires. Any registrar, no transfer, no card: 25 domains free for the first 25 accounts, 5 after.