For decades, whois example.com was how you checked when a domain expires. That is changing. ICANN now requires every generic top-level domain (gTLD) registry and registrar to run RDAP, and since 28 January 2025 they are no longer required to run WHOIS, except for .com, .name and .post (ICANN).
What RDAP is
The Registration Data Access Protocol returns the same kind of data as WHOIS — registrar, important dates, status codes — but as structured JSON over HTTPS. That makes it consistent across registries and easy for tools to read, where WHOIS output was free text in a different format for every registry.
Reading a domain’s expiry date
An RDAP response lists events. The ones that matter for renewals:
| Event | Meaning |
|---|---|
registration |
When the domain was first registered |
expiration |
When the current registration period ends |
last changed |
When the registration record was last updated |
The registrar appears as an entity with the role registrar, usually with its IANA registrar ID. Prefer the ID over the name: names vary (“Example Inc.” and “Example, Inc.”), the ID does not.
Status codes worth watching
RDAP also shows EPP status codes. These protect a domain from unwanted changes:
client transfer prohibited— the domain cannot be moved to another registrar without unlocking.client delete prohibited— the domain cannot be deleted by mistake.client update prohibited— registration details cannot be changed.
A business domain without a transfer lock is easier to steal. Check that it is set.
When there is no RDAP
Not every country-code domain (ccTLD) publishes RDAP yet, because ccTLDs are not bound by ICANN’s gTLD rules. For those domains you may need the registry’s own lookup or the registrar account. Do not guess an expiry date — check it at the source.
What RDAP cannot tell you
Auto-renew is not in public registration data. It lives in the registrar account. A domain set to auto-renew can still lapse if the card on file expires or the account is closed. Keep the registrar account contact current, and watch the expiry date anyway.
Watchvera reads RDAP for every domain, alerts before registration expires, shows the registrar and lock status, raises a critical alert if the registrar changes, and says plainly when a registry publishes no RDAP data.
See how Watchvera handles this: Domain expiry monitoring.