Domains and WHOIS

How do I check if a domain name is available?

There are two questions hiding inside “is it available”: is it registered at all, and if it is, is anybody actually using it. WHOIS answers both, and a registrar search box answers neither honestly.

Run a WHOIS or RDAP lookup. If it returns “No match” or “NOT FOUND”, the domain is unregistered and you can buy it; if it returns a record with a creation date and a registrar, it is taken. That is the authoritative answer, straight from the registry. A registrar’s search box answers the same question but wraps it in upsells, suggested alternatives at inflated prices, and sometimes a “premium” label on a name that is simply for sale by its current owner.

Worked out 2026-09-10 (IST) · gTLD behaviour; ccTLD registries vary

Reading the answer

What a lookup result actually tells you
Result	Meaning	What to do
No match / NOT FOUND / Domain not found	Unregistered	Register it now, at standard price
Full record, status ok or client locks	Registered and normal	Check whether it is in use, then consider an offer
Record with parking name servers	Held by an investor or parked for ads	Expect a price, often four figures in dollars
Status redemptionPeriod	Expired, in the owner’s recovery window	Not available; it may still come back
Status pendingDelete	Dropping within about 5 days	Available soon, but backorder services are queuing
Reserved / restricted	Registry policy blocks it	Not obtainable

Taken, but is it used?

Four signals, in the order they are worth checking:

Name servers. A real host means a real site. Names containing parking, sedo, afternic, bodis or dan mean it is for sale.
MX records. Live mail exchangers mean somebody is receiving email there, which is the strongest evidence of an active business.
Creation date. Registered last month and parked is an investor. Registered in 2009 and parked is a business that folded.
Expiry date. A domain renewed ten years out is not for sale at any sensible price. One expiring in six weeks might simply lapse.

What availability costs

Prices are set by the registry and marked up by the registrar, so the first-year discount you see is not the number that matters — the renewal is. Indicative Indian retail as of 2026, per year, renewal rather than promotional:

Rough annual renewal cost by TLD
TLD	Typical renewal	Notes
.com	₹1,100–1,600	Registry price rises are contractually capped but regular
.in	₹700–1,000	NIXI registry; no local presence requirement
.co.in	₹500–900	Third level under .in, same registry
.org	₹1,200–1,800	No restriction on who may register
.net	₹1,200–1,800
.io	₹3,500–5,500	Expensive to renew; check before committing a brand
.ai	₹9,000–16,000	Registered in two-year blocks

Retail prices vary by registrar and change often; treat the table as a range to sanity-check a quote against, not a live price list.

Check your own numbers

Check registration status, and read the record if the name is already taken.

WHOIS LookupRegistrar, dates, name servers and status codes for any domain.

Frequently asked

What does "no match for domain" mean in WHOIS?

It means the registry has no record of that name, so it is unregistered and available to buy at standard price. Two caveats: a brand-new registration can take a few minutes to appear, and a handful of registries return the same message for names that are reserved rather than free - you will discover that at checkout.

Is it true that searching for a domain can get it registered by someone else?

Domain front-running is real but rare, and it is a breach of registrar accreditation rather than normal practice. The defensive habit is cheap: check with a neutral WHOIS or RDAP lookup rather than typing candidate names into a registrar search box, and register promptly once you have decided.

The domain is taken but the site is blank. Can I buy it?

Possibly. Read the record first. A recent creation date with parking name servers usually means a domain investor and a price. An old creation date with real name servers and a lapsed site usually means a dormant business, and those owners often do not reply. Check the expiry date too - if it is close, waiting may be cheaper than asking.

How do I check a .in or other country domain?

The same way. Country-code registries run their own WHOIS or RDAP service - .in is operated by NIXI - and any general lookup tool routes to the right one automatically. What differs is disclosure policy: some ccTLD registries publish far more registrant detail than gTLDs do, and a few publish far less.

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