Free tool
Is the name still free?
Type a name and see which extensions are available and which are taken, read from each registry as you search.
Free, no account. Live from the registries, never a guess.
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How we check
Every extension, .com, .ai, .io and the rest, is run by a registry that keeps the official record of which names exist. When you search, we ask that registry directly, for each extension at the same moment, and show the answers as they arrive.
Most registries answer over RDAP, the Registration Data Access Protocol (RFC 9083), which ICANN treats as the definitive source. A registered name returns its record, with the date it was first registered. A name that does not exist returns "not found". A few registries, such as .io, .me and .co, have no RDAP service, so we read their WHOIS server instead, using each registry's own wording for "not found". If the answer is anything else, we say we couldn't check.
A name with no record is not registered. That is not quite the same as buyable, because registries reserve names and sell some as premium. We say Not registered until a registrar confirms the name and its price.
Why guesses fail
DNS says nothing about ownership. A registered name with no website has no DNS records, and looks free to anything that only looks up DNS. AI assistants answer from memory or from a page indexed weeks ago, and names are registered every few seconds. Raw WHOIS text is easy to misread: each registry phrases "not found" differently, and a rate-limit message can look like an empty answer.
Found a name that is free? Check it also reads well to AI: how to check whether ChatGPT recommends a business. Want the age and Domain Rating of a taken name? Use the domain age checker. More in the guides.
Questions
About checking domain availability, and how we avoid the usual mistakes.
Is it free?
Yes. No account, no email and no card. Type a name and the extensions fill in. We limit how many searches one network can run in a few minutes so the registries keep answering everyone.
How do you know a name is free?
We ask the registry that runs the extension, the organisation that holds the official list of every .com, .ai or .io name, and we ask it now. Where a registry publishes RDAP we use that. Where it does not, we read its WHOIS server, one registry at a time. A name with no record is not registered. A name that does have one is taken, with the date it was registered.
What is the difference between "not registered" and "available"?
Not registered means the registry has no record of the name. It does not always mean you can buy it: some names are reserved, held back or priced as premium, and only a registrar can say. When a registrar confirms a name we show Available with its price. Until then we show Not registered, and never a guessed price.
Why not just check DNS, or ask an AI?
A name can be registered with no website and no DNS records at all, so a missing DNS answer proves nothing. An AI assistant answers from memory or from a page it read last month, and names are registered every second. Misread WHOIS text is the third trap: registries phrase "not found" a dozen ways. We read each registry's own wording, and when we cannot be sure we say Couldn't check instead of guessing.
What does "Couldn't check" mean?
The registry did not answer in time, asked us to slow down, or sent something we could not read with certainty. Press Retry on that row. We never fill the gap with a guess.
Do you cache results?
Never for a free name: every search asks the registry again, so a name that was just taken shows as taken. A name that is registered can be remembered for up to 24 hours, because a registered name rarely changes in a day.
Do you show who owns a taken domain?
No. Since 2018 most registries redact owner details, and we never show them even where a record still has them. For a taken name you see when it was registered, and the age and Domain Rating are one click away.
Can I buy the domain here?
No. Register links open a registrar's search page for that exact name, where you can compare the price and buy it. We do not sell domains.