Whois LookupNetwork Tools
Registrar, domain status, name servers, and dates from the registry's RDAP record.
How to check who owns a domain and where the site is hosted
Before you buy a domain from a stranger, report a scam site, or chase a copied page, find out who registered the name and whose network serves it. The two answers often point to different companies.
The owner, the registrar, and the host are different answers
Every domain has a registration record, kept by the registry for its ending. It names the registrar, the status codes, the name servers, and the dates the name was registered and expires. Many owners pay for a privacy service, which replaces the registrant's name and address with the registrar's proxy. Some registries redact those fields on their own.
The website itself runs somewhere else. Its DNS points at IP addresses, and those addresses belong to a network, which may be a hosting company or a CDN. Mix these up and an abuse report or a legal letter goes to a company that only sells a service to the person you are looking for.
Read the registration, then follow the addresses
Start with the Whois Lookup. It reads the registry's RDAP record and lists the registrar, the status codes, the name servers, and the dates of registration, expiry, and last change when the registry has them. On 3 October 2026, RDAP for example.com showed it was registered on 1995-08-14 and expires on 2027-08-13. When the record is privacy protected, the page shows the proxy, because the tool has no second source for the hidden name. Some country-code endings return a short record over RDAP, or none.
Next, see where the site points with the Domain IP Checker. It lists every IPv4 and IPv6 address of the domain with the PTR name of each one, and adds a note when the addresses belong to Cloudflare, CloudFront, Akamai, or Fastly. Behind a CDN, the address of the server that runs the site isn't in DNS, so no lookup of this kind can show it.
Then put one of those addresses into IP to ASN. It shows the autonomous system number and the network name that announce the address, taken from the registry's RDAP record. 8.8.8.8, for example, is AS15169, Google. The network announces the address, and the site's operator can be its customer or a customer of a CDN on top of it.
Check who owns a domain and who hosts it
- Enter the domain in the Whois Lookup, without https:// or a path, tick the robot check, and press Check.
- Note the registrar, the expiry date, and whether the registrant is a privacy service.
- Enter the same domain in the Domain IP Checker and read the addresses and any CDN note.
- Copy one address into IP to ASN and read the network name.
- Take questions about the name to the registrar, and questions about the server to the network or the CDN.
What a lookup can't reveal
- A privacy service or a redacting registry hides the registrant. None of these tools can recover a hidden name.
- Some country-code endings return a short record, or none, over RDAP.
- Behind a CDN, the origin server's address is not in DNS.
- No tool here places an address on a map or guesses a city or a country.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the domain owner hidden in whois?
The registrant chose a privacy service, or the registry redacts those fields. The record then shows the proxy instead of the person.
Is the registrar the owner of the domain?
No. The registrar sells and manages the registration. The owner is the registrant, and that field is often hidden.
How do I find out who hosts a website?
Look up the domain's IP addresses in the Domain IP Checker, then check one in IP to ASN. The network name is the company that announces that address, which may be a CDN.
Is this the old whois on port 43?
No. The Whois Lookup reads the registry's RDAP record, which is JSON.
Related tools
Tools used in this guide
Domain IP CheckerInternet Tools
Every A and AAAA address of a domain, with the PTR name of each one.
IP to ASNNetwork Tools
ASN, network name, and registry for one public IPv4 or IPv6 address.
