A little clarity. Before renewal day.
Domain expiration
checker.
Your next renewal shouldn't be a surprise. Check when a domain expires, who's managing it, and what its public record says.
Check when a domain expires
YOUR DOMAIN RECORDS
Here's what the registry says.
Public expiration dates can differ from your registrar's billing or auto-renewal date. Confirm renewal and payment settings in your registrar account.
A CHECK, WITHOUT THE GUESSWORK
How to check a domain's
expiration date.
No account to create. No website to install anything on. Just the record published by the domain's registry.
- 01
Bring your domain.
Enter one domain, or paste up to 20. Use the registered domain, such as example.com, rather than a subdomain.
- 02
We ask the public registry.
Wardell reads its RDAP record and looks for the expiration event, registrar, status and nameservers.
- 03
Know what to follow up.
See the date, check the source, and export your results. If the date is missing, we'll say so.
READING THE RECORD
What your domain
results mean.
Most fields are simple. A few status codes are worth knowing, because they warn you before a domain is lost.
Published expiration is the date the registry holds for the current registration term. It moves forward by a year (or more) as soon as a renewal is processed. Registrar is the company the domain is registered through: that is where renewals, payment details and locks are managed. Nameservers decide where the website and email are hosted, so an unexpected change here is worth checking straight away.
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| client transfer prohibited | The registrar lock is on. The domain can't be moved to another registrar until the lock is removed. This is the normal, safe setting. |
| server … prohibited | A lock set by the registry itself, often for high-value or disputed domains. |
| auto renew period | The registry has just renewed the domain automatically. The registrar can still reverse it for a short time if it isn't paid. |
| redemption period | The domain has expired and been deleted by the registrar. It can usually still be restored, but only through the registrar and for an extra fee. |
| pending delete | The last stage. After about five days the registry releases the domain and anyone can register it. |
| client hold / server hold | The domain is not published in DNS. The website and email stop working until the hold is lifted. |
When Wardell sees one of the risky states, it shows a note above the record and lists that domain first.
ONE DATE, ONE IMPORTANT DISTINCTION
Expiration isn't your billing date.
A registry's expiration date tells you about the domain's registration record. Your registrar may charge you earlier, renew it automatically, or apply its own grace-period rules. Use this result as a prompt to check your account — especially when a renewal is coming up.
THE QUIET FAILURE
Why domain
auto-renew fails.
Most expired domains had auto-renew switched on. The renewal simply never went through.
The card on file expired
Registrars usually try to charge an auto-renewal weeks before the expiry date: Namecheap and Cloudflare start about 30 days ahead, Hostinger 27 days ahead. If the card has expired or the charge is declined, the registrar emails the account owner and tries again a few times. If nobody acts, the domain expires on schedule.
The reminders went to the wrong inbox
Renewal notices go to the email on the registrar account. For client sites that is often a former employee, a freelancer who has moved on, or an address nobody reads. The warnings were sent; nobody saw them.
Auto-renew was never on
Not every registrar turns it on by default. Gandi, for example, only renews automatically if you have switched it on yourself.
A simple check that catches all three
If a domain has 25 days or less left and the published expiration date hasn't moved, the usual auto-renewal charge has probably not gone through yet. That is the moment to log in to the registrar, confirm auto-renew is on and update the card. Wardell flags this automatically.
THE GRACE PERIOD AND AFTER
What happens after
a domain expires.
An expired domain isn't lost on day one. It moves through stages, and every stage gets more expensive to undo.
- Grace period. The registrar keeps the domain and you can usually renew at the normal price. The website may stop working part way through.
- Redemption period. Typically about 30 days. Recovery is still possible, but only with a restore fee on top of the renewal.
- Pending delete. About five days. Nothing can be done; then the registry releases the name.
The length of each stage depends on the registrar and the extension. Examples from registrar help pages, checked in November 2026 for .com domains:
| Registrar | After expiry |
|---|---|
| Spaceship | 30-day grace period; the domain stops resolving from day 8. Redemption usually 42 days; .com restore fee $41.40 plus renewal. |
| Cloudflare | 40-day grace period, with a parked page from day 31. Then 30 days of redemption. |
| GoDaddy | Standard renewal price until day 12. From day 26 the domain may be listed in an expired-domain auction; once someone bids, you can't renew it. |
| Porkbun | Usually 35–45 days of grace, then 30 days of redemption with a $200 restore fee. |
Country-code extensions often have shorter windows. Some registrars delete .de and .eu domains on the expiry day itself, while .uk domains can usually be renewed for 90 days. Check your registrar's own policy for each extension you use.
HONEST ABOUT THE GAPS
Why some domains show
no expiry date.
Public registration data varies by domain extension. Some registries provide an expiration date; others omit it or don't offer an RDAP service we can query. The registries for .de, .nl, .no, .au, .be and .ch don't publish expiration dates at all, by policy. For those, the renewal date in your registrar account is the only reliable source, and the status and nameservers are the best public signals to watch.
Wardell marks those records as date unavailable. A missing result doesn't mean a domain is available to register, renewed, or safe. Your registrar account is the place to confirm.
About registration data and RDAPWHERE THE DATA COMES FROM
Domain expiry checker
vs WHOIS vs RDAP.
Three ways to look up the same date, and why the newest one is the most reliable.
WHOIS is the original lookup service. Each registry formats its answer differently, many hide or trim fields, and for generic domains such as .com it is no longer the official source.
RDAP (Registration Data Access Protocol) is its replacement. It returns structured data in the same format from every registry that supports it, including standard event dates such as expiration and standard status codes. Since January 2025 it has been the official lookup for generic domains.
A domain expiry checker like this one finds the right RDAP service for each extension, asks it directly, and turns the answer into a date, a countdown and plain-language notes. Wardell links every result to the registry record it came from, so you can check the source yourself.
GOOD QUESTIONS
Domain expiration
checker FAQ.
The useful details behind a domain expiry lookup.
How do I check when a domain expires?
Enter the registered domain in the tool above. Wardell queries its public RDAP record and displays an expiration date if the registry publishes one. Confirm the renewal details in your registrar account.
Can I check several domains at once?
Yes. Choose “A few domains” and paste up to 20 domains, separated by new lines, spaces or commas. You can download the returned records as a CSV file.
What does “date unavailable” mean?
The public record didn't provide an expiration date, or a suitable RDAP service wasn't available. It doesn't establish whether the domain is registered, renewed or available to buy. Check with the registrar.
My domain was on auto-renew but still expired. Why?
Usually the charge failed: the card on file had expired or was declined, and the registrar's emails went to an inbox nobody reads. Registrars typically try to charge about 30 days before expiry, so if 25 days or fewer remain and the published date hasn't moved, check your payment method and renewal settings now.
Renewal notices went to a former employee. How do I stop losing domains?
Update the account email at the registrar to a shared address your team monitors, and add a second contact if the registrar allows it. Then check your domains' expiry dates here every few months, or keep a list with the dates and an owner for each domain.
Can I get a domain back after it expires?
Usually, if you act quickly. During the grace period most registrars let you renew at the normal price. In the redemption period that follows, recovery normally needs a restore fee. Once the status shows pending delete, the domain will be released within days.
How would I know if someone changed my nameservers?
Compare the nameservers shown in your results with the ones your host or DNS provider gave you. A one-time lookup only shows the current values; Wardell's planned monitoring for agencies will report changes as they happen.
Is domain expiration the same as SSL expiration?
No. A domain's registration and a website's SSL certificate have separate expiration dates. This tool checks domain registration records. SSL certificate checking is planned separately.
Can I check a URL or a subdomain?
Use the registered domain, for example example.com. A subdomain such as shop.example.com usually doesn't have its own registration record. The tool doesn't guess a parent domain, so using a subdomain may return no record.
Will Wardell remind me before renewal?
This free checker performs a one-time lookup. It doesn't enroll you in reminders or ongoing monitoring. We're developing those features for agency accounts.
I own lots of side-project domains. How do I decide which to renew?
Check them in a batch here to see which renewals are coming up, then compare that list with each site's traffic in your analytics or Search Console. Renew the ones with visitors or plans; let the rest go before the charge. The tool shows registration information only and doesn't make that decision for you.