# Check Domain Availability — Free Live RDAP Lookup Tool

Canonical HTML: https://domainsearchking.com/verify

Availability: this text is an editorial snapshot, not a current registration guarantee. Use the [live domain checker](https://domainsearchking.com/verify) or [MCP](https://domainsearchking.com/mcp) before treating a name as available. Registry errors mean unknown, not available.

[Home](https://domainsearchking.com/) / Verify a domain

Updated November 1, 2026

In [our 2026-09-01 test](https://domainsearchking.com/ai-hallucination-index) of 10 AI models through their APIs, 69.5% of 2,449 suggested domains were already registered. Paste the name you were given and we check it against the registry now.

We ask the registry when you click, skipping the keyword cache our search page uses. If no answer arrives within 9 seconds the page stops and shows "Check failed, try again"; a timeout is never shown as available. Register links are affiliate links, so we may earn a commission at no cost to you.

## What each result means

The full method, including what a check cannot tell you, is on [how we check availability](https://domainsearchking.com/how-we-check-availability).

The tool reads registration records through RDAP, the JSON successor to WHOIS that [ICANN describes here](https://www.icann.org/rdap). Every check ends in one of three states:

| Result | Meaning | Next step |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Registered | The registry holds a record for the name, or its WHOIS server says the name is reserved or sold at a premium price. Reserved and premium answers get their own wording in the result box. | Pick another name, or look up who owns it. |
| Available | The registry has no record. On .com and .net an RDAP "not found" is enough. On extensions whose registries keep reserved or premium names behind that same "not found", the tool also asks the registry's WHOIS server; the extension table further down lists which ones. | Open the registrar and confirm the price before you pay. |
| Unknown | The registry did not answer, answered something the tool could not read, or a required WHOIS confirmation failed. | Wait a minute and retry, or ask the registrar directly. |

## How the check runs, step by step

The box calls our `/api/rdap` route. Most readers only need the result table above; the five steps the route takes are below for anyone who wants to know why a result came out the way it did.

### Show the five steps

1.  **Clean the input.** The page lowercases what you paste and strips a leading `http://` or `https://`, a leading `www.` and everything after the first slash. Pasting `https://www.DashCarry.com/shop` checks `dashcarry.com`.
2.  **Check the shape.** Each label has to start and end with a letter or digit, with hyphens allowed only in the middle. The name must be _name.extension_, or a name under one of 24 second-level suffixes such as co.uk, com.au and co.nz. A subdomain like `blog.google.com` is refused before any registry is asked. Registries only hold records for registrable names: when we sent `blog.google.com` straight to Verisign's .com RDAP server on 2026-10-15 it returned HTTP 404, the same "not found" a free name gets, so passing it through would have shown a subdomain of a taken domain as available.
3.  **Find the registry.** Our server asks our own RDAP proxy for a fresh answer first. If the proxy is down or does not carry the extension, the server goes to the registry itself, using a short pinned list (.com, .net, .org, .io, .ai, .co, .info, .xyz) or [IANA's RDAP bootstrap file](https://data.iana.org/rdap/dns.json), which mapped 1,203 extensions to RDAP servers in its 2026-09-30 publication.
4.  **Read the answer.** HTTP 404 means no record and HTTP 200 means a record exists. A rate-limit reply gets one retry after a short pause. If RDAP is rate-limited or unreachable on both tries, or the extension has no RDAP server, the server asks the registry's WHOIS server on port 43. IANA's file had no RDAP entry for .de, .us, .me, .gg, .sh or .eu when we checked on 2026-10-15, so those go to WHOIS. The server finds the right WHOIS host by asking `whois.iana.org`, which on 2026-10-15 pointed .de to `whois.denic.de`, .us to `whois.nic.us`, .gg to `whois.gg` and .eu to `whois.eu`. For .me and .sh, whose registry WHOIS does not answer our hosting provider, the query is relayed through our own server.
5.  **Confirm before saying available.** On most extensions a "not found" gets a second look, described in the next section.

## Which extensions get a second check

A "not found" from a registry only proves that nobody has registered the name. Several registries also hold names back: words reserved by the registry operator, and premium names priced far above the normal fee. Their RDAP servers can answer "not found" for both. A known case is `yacht.xyz`, which RDAP reports as unregistered while the CentralNic WHOIS server says it is reserved by the registry. The tool sorts extensions into four groups:

| Group | When the tool says available |
| --- | --- |
| .com, .net | Verisign's RDAP returns "not found". No WHOIS step. |
| Two-letter country codes without a premium tier, such as .de, .us, .uk, .fr, .nl | RDAP returns "not found", or, where the registry has no RDAP, its WHOIS says not found (DENIC answers "Status: free" for .de). |
| Strict list: .io, .ai, .xyz, .tv, .cc, .me, .ly, .sh, .gg, .vc | RDAP "not found" and a WHOIS answer saying the name is free. If WHOIS is silent the result is Unknown, never Available. |
| Every other generic extension (.org, .app, .dev, .shop, .store, .tech and the rest), plus .co | RDAP "not found", then WHOIS. A reserved or premium WHOIS answer turns the result into Registered. Some of these registries have switched off port-43 WHOIS. For those the result box shows Available with a warning underneath: the name is unregistered, but the tool could not see whether the registry charges a premium price for it. Treat that result as unpriced until the registrar's cart shows a figure. |

Google Registry's .app and .dev are in that last case: on 2026-10-15 both returned "not registered; registry premium price not verifiable (no WHOIS)" for a random test name. For help choosing an extension, see [our .io vs .com comparison](https://domainsearchking.com/io-vs-com) and [the .co vs .com guide](https://domainsearchking.com/co-vs-com).

## Results from the tool on 2026-10-15

We ran these through the same `/api/rdap` route on 2026-10-15. Times are wall-clock from a single connection and will differ for you. `qzvplorbinx` is a made-up string chosen so that nobody should own it.

| Domain | Result | How it was decided | Time |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| dashcarry.com (the example in the box) | Registered | RDAP record exists | 0.6 s |
| qzvplorbinx.com | Available | RDAP not found, trusted on .com | 0.6 s |
| example.de | Registered | DENIC WHOIS (no RDAP for .de) | 0.9 s |
| qzvplorbinx.us | Available | Registry WHOIS (no RDAP for .us) | 0.9 s |
| yacht.xyz | Registered (reserved) | RDAP not found, WHOIS says registry-reserved | 1.5 s |
| qzvplorbinx.io | Available | RDAP not found, WHOIS not found | 2.3 s |
| qzvplorbinx.app | Available, premium price unverified | RDAP not found, registry has no WHOIS | 1.6 s |
| qzvplorbinx.co.uk | Available | Nominet RDAP not found | 1.1 s |
| blog.google.com | Refused | Subdomain, not registrable | 0.8 s |

## What an available result does not tell you

-   **The price.** Registrars set their own first-year and renewal prices, and registry premium names cost more again. Compare renewals before you commit; [our 5-year .com cost comparison](https://domainsearchking.com/cheapest-com-domain-registrar) shows how far they spread.
-   **Trademark clearance.** An unregistered name can still clash with a registered trademark. Our [domain trademark check guide](https://domainsearchking.com/domain-trademark-check) covers what to search before buying.
-   **That it will still be free in ten minutes.** The answer describes one moment. Nothing is held for you, so register promptly once you have decided.
-   **When an expired name comes back.** A name that has expired but sits in its grace or redemption period still has a registry record, so it shows Registered until the registry deletes it.

For a manual walk-through using registrar search boxes and WHOIS lookups, read [how to check if a domain name is taken](https://domainsearchking.com/how-to-check-if-a-domain-name-is-taken).

## Why AI-suggested names fail this check

A language model writes names that sound plausible. Unless it has been given a lookup tool, it does not ask a registry whether they are free. On 2026-09-01 we asked 10 models through their APIs for domain ideas and RDAP-checked all 2,449 suggestions: 30.5% were available. The best model in that run, claude-sonnet-5, reached 50.5% (n=287); the worst, claude-haiku-4.5, reached 8.2% (n=282). The per-model table is on the index page linked below.

**75 of 76** names from Domain Search King's own MCP were available on recheck in our June 2026 test, a small sample; a name can still be taken before you buy

Method, prompts and the raw CSV are on the [AI Domain Hallucination Index](https://domainsearchking.com/ai-hallucination-index). Names that AI tools keep suggesting can attract registrations by third parties, which we cover in [our phantom squatting write-up](https://domainsearchking.com/phantom-squatting). If your favourite suggestion came back taken, [the AI-suggested-domain rescue page](https://domainsearchking.com/ai-suggested-domain-taken) lists what to try next.

## Checking many names, or checking from code

The box above calls one public route, `GET /api/rdap?d=example.com`, which returns JSON such as `{"domain":"yacht.xyz","available":false,"note":"registry-reserved"}`. The `available` field is `true`, `false`, or `null` for unknown. When a name is not registered but its registry premium price could not be checked, the response also carries `"priceVerified":false`. For lists of names, [the domain availability API page](https://domainsearchking.com/domain-availability-api) documents the batch route. AI agents can call the same checks through [our MCP server](https://domainsearchking.com/mcp), so the assistant proposes names it has already checked. If you would rather start from a keyword than a finished name, [the main search](https://domainsearchking.com/) generates candidates and shows the ones the registry reported available.

## FAQ

### Why do I need to double-check a domain an AI gave me?

Chat models predict names that sound right and, without a lookup tool, do not query a registry, so a suggestion can read well and already be owned. Check it here before you pay for a logo or print anything with the name on it.

### Does an available result mean I can buy the name?

It means the registry had no record when you clicked. The registrar sets the price, and some registries add a premium on top, so confirm the figure in the registrar's cart before paying.

### Why does a registrar call a name premium or unavailable after this tool said available?

The usual causes: someone registered it after your check, the registry prices it as premium on an extension whose WHOIS is switched off (the result box warns you in that case), or that registrar does not sell the extension.

### Can I paste a full URL or a subdomain?

A full URL is fine: the page strips https://, www. and any path. A subdomain such as blog.google.com is refused with a "not a registrable domain" message, because only name.extension, or a name under a suffix like co.uk, can be registered.

### How is this different from the main search?

The search builds candidate names from a keyword and checks them in bulk, and for popular keywords its first results can come from a check up to about 30 hours old. This page checks one name you already have, fresh, each time you click.

### Does checking a name reserve it or tell a registrar?

No. Nothing is reserved and nothing goes to a registrar; the only outside query is the lookup sent to the registry's RDAP or WHOIS server. The check is free. Our server writes a log line with the domain, the result and which page sent it, for our own usage counts. It holds no account or email address. We do not publish a retention period for these logs.

### What if the domain is taken?

The result links to a search for the same keyword, which shows names the registry reported available, built by our AI naming engine. You can also [see 7 ways to work around a taken name](https://domainsearchking.com/domain-taken).

## Related tools & guides

[AI taken rescue](https://domainsearchking.com/ai-suggested-domain-taken) [7 fixes when taken](https://domainsearchking.com/domain-taken) [Hallucination index](https://domainsearchking.com/ai-hallucination-index) [Live search](https://domainsearchking.com/) [AI domain generator](https://domainsearchking.com/ai-domain-name-generator) [AI business names](https://domainsearchking.com/ai-business-name-generator) [AI agency names](https://domainsearchking.com/ai-agency-name-generator) [Shopify names](https://domainsearchking.com/shopify-name-generator) [Namelix alternative](https://domainsearchking.com/namelix-alternative) [Catchy ideas](https://domainsearchking.com/catchy-domain-name-ideas) [One-word .coms](https://domainsearchking.com/available-one-word-domains) [How to choose](https://domainsearchking.com/how-to-choose-a-domain-name) [How to check taken](https://domainsearchking.com/how-to-check-if-a-domain-name-is-taken) [MCP for agents](https://domainsearchking.com/mcp) [Niche ideas](https://domainsearchking.com/ideas) [Features](https://domainsearchking.com/features) [About](https://domainsearchking.com/about) [Shopify name taken?](https://domainsearchking.com/is-shopify-store-name-taken)