Whois API

One access point. One data format. A world of possibilities.

Our unified Whois API provides a single, consistent, programmable interface to the Whois system. It takes your domain or IP address query, automatically contacts the correct Whois server, and returns consistent, automation-friendly results in XML or JSON.

This unified interface enables a wide variety of advanced applications:

• Investigating spam, fraud, intrusions, and other online misbehavior
• Tracking domain registrations
• Checking domain name availability
• Advanced Whois web pages
• Detecting fraud
• Researching Internet infrastructure and usage
• Locating users geographically

Key features

• Gets fresh records for whatever domain or IP address you specify. The Hexillion Whois API usually pulls records from origin Whois servers in real time, so you get up-to-the minute results. We cache some records for performance, but you can bypass the cache as needed.

• Cleans up the records and pulls them apart into well-defined fields. Our system normalizes character sets and line endings, pulls the various fields from the raw text, and puts the fields in a consistent, automation-friendly format (XML or JSON).

• Avoids query rate limits that you would encounter when doing Whois queries from your own IP address. Our system uses caching and a large pool of diverse IP addresses to minimize blockages and ensure that you get the records you need. Also, while we do have a rate limit of our own in place, it’s just a safety precaution. We can help you achieve whatever query rate you need, and your only real limit is your account balance.

• Works with almost any platform, language, and network configuration that can make Web requests and parse XML or JSON. Our REST-style API works the way the Web works, so it’s a mature and widely-supported standard that’s familiar to developers and easily reachable through your firewall.

• Protects the confidentiality of your queries by telling Whois servers nothing about you, mixing your queries with those of many other users, and sending the queries through a diverse array of IP addresses. Plus, you can use an encrypted connection to our site (via HTTPS) to protect your queries from your ISP, WiFi access point, or any other intermediate systems.

• Works with your Hexillion account and service units, just as our tools at CentralOps.net do—you can use your account for both the Whois API and the CentralOps tools.

Getting started

Try the API for yourself by entering something in the form on this page.

If you’d like to test the API further by calling it from your own code, you’ll need an account. Simply contact us, and we’ll set up an account for you with some free service units.

Beyond that, take a look at the account and pricing information and API documentation.