Domain registration

Never let a domain expire by accident. We start warning you 30 days ahead.

What domain registration checks do

Domain registration checks track the WHOIS registration record for your domain (registrar, renewal date, nameservers, and status). Domains usually expire by accident, because a credit card on file expired or someone turned off auto-renew by mistake. If your domain lapses, your entire site goes offline and a domain squatter could register it. DomainDash queries your domain's public WHOIS data and starts warning you 30 days before the renewal date.

On the site page, the Domain registration card opens the Domain registration page, where you'll find these details.

What we track

We look up your domain's public registration information and show it in three cards (Registration details, Nameservers and Check history):

• Registrar: the company your domain is registered with (like Namecheap, GoDaddy, or Cloudflare)
• Organisation: the organisation listed as the domain owner, if available
• Registered date: when the domain was first registered
• Expiry date: when the domain registration runs out
• Last updated: when the registration details were last changed
• DNSSEC: whether DNS Security Extensions are enabled, adding an extra layer of protection against DNS tampering
• Nameservers: the servers currently responsible for your domain's DNS records

The page also shows a Registration progress bar: how far through your current registration period you are, with the number of days left.

Expiry warnings

The warnings are the same on every plan:

Time remaining	What you'll see
More than 30 days	Status shows as Active. Everything is fine.
30 days or fewer	Status changes to Expiring, and the site's card on the dashboard shows Renews · N days. No incident opens yet.
7 days or fewer	Status changes to Expiring soon, the site page header shows Domain expiring while uptime is healthy, and DomainDash opens an incident at Worth knowing.
1 day or less	The incident rises to Needs a look, and the header shows Domain expiring unless the site is Down or Recovering.
Expired	Status shows as Expired, the site page header shows Domain expired, and a separate expired incident opens at Needs fixing.

Renews · N days gives way to a more serious badge: Down, Security problem, Alert or Needs attention. Once the 7-day incident opens, the site's card on the dashboard reads Alert in its place.

Expiry incidents aren't Urgent, so they don't send an immediate alert. They appear in the app and in the daily digest, which goes out by email and, on Starter and above, by Slack.

While the domain is expiring or expired, the site also counts towards the Needs attention filter on your dashboard. An expiring domain never makes a site Down by itself. See domain health check for which badge appears when.

Once a domain has expired, recovery is possible but expensive. ICANN's Expired Registration Recovery Policy gives gTLD registrants a brief grace period after expiry, but most registrars then move the domain into redemption before it's released for anyone to register. Recovery from redemption typically costs £60 to £160 on top of the renewal price, depending on the registrar. Renewing before the expiry date is cheapest, which is why we warn you 30 days out.

Turn on auto-renew

The best way to avoid domain expiry is to turn on auto-renew with your registrar. Most registrars offer it. DomainDash will still warn you if the domain gets close to expiry, which can happen if the renewal payment fails.

When something needs attention

When your domain moves into a warning state, the Domain registration page leads with an Insights summary explaining the renewal and what to do.

Plan availability

Insights is available on Starter, Pro and Business. See the plan comparison.

Check history

DomainDash keeps a history of every registration lookup we've run. Each entry shows the status at the time of the check, the registrar, and when it was checked. Use it to see when a renewal date shifted or a registrar transfer went through. How far back the history goes depends on your plan.

Frequently asked questions

How early does DomainDash warn me before my domain expires?

30 days. At 30 days or fewer the status changes from Active to Expiring and the site's card on the dashboard shows "Renews · N days" unless a more serious badge applies. At 7 days or fewer the status is Expiring soon, the site page header shows "Domain expiring" while uptime is healthy, DomainDash opens an incident at Worth knowing, and the dashboard card reads "Alert" in place of "Renews · N days". At 1 day or less the incident rises to Needs a look, and the header shows "Domain expiring" unless the site is Down or Recovering. Once the domain expires, the status is Expired, the header shows "Domain expired", and a separate expired incident opens at Needs fixing.

What is WHOIS data?

WHOIS is the public registration record for a domain name. It includes the registrar (the company you registered the domain with), the registration and expiry dates, the nameservers, and (when not redacted) contact details for the registrant. DomainDash uses WHOIS to track when your domain expires.

Does DomainDash check WHOIS for every TLD?

DomainDash supports WHOIS lookups for the major TLDs (.com, .net, .org, .io, .dev, etc.) plus most country-code TLDs, including .co.uk. A few obscure TLDs have unreliable WHOIS servers. If a lookup fails, the card says "Something went wrong looking up your domain. We'll try again soon." and the status stays as it was. See WHOIS lookup failed.

Can DomainDash renew my domain automatically?

No. DomainDash checks your domain and warns you when renewal is due, but renewal has to happen with your registrar. Turn on auto-renew there, and DomainDash will still warn you if auto-renew fails (for example, because the credit card on file expired).

How often does DomainDash run domain registration checks?

Registration (WHOIS) checks run daily, and every 12 hours on Business. Registration data changes infrequently, so a daily check still gives you weeks of warning before a renewal is due.

Does DomainDash send domain registration alerts?

Yes, in the daily digest. Expiry incidents aren't Urgent, so they don't send an immediate alert. They appear in the app and in the daily digest, which goes out by email and, on Starter and above, by Slack.

Related

• Domain health check for how the uptime, SSL, DNS, and registration checks fit together
• DNS health for checking your domain's routing records
• Domain registration troubleshooting for step-by-step guides when a domain registration check fails
• Domain expired — your registration has lapsed and your site is down
• Domain expiring soon — your domain is within 30 days of its renewal date
• Domain suspended or on hold — your registrar has placed a hold on the domain
• WHOIS lookup failed — DomainDash can't query the registration record