What Is Domainr?

Updated

Domainr is a domain search and status-checking service that tells you whether a domain is available, premium-priced, or listed for sale in an aftermarket. It is best suited to people who need fast, accurate availability checks across many top-level domains (TLDs) — either through its search interface or by integrating its API into their own product. Domainr is part of Fastly and describes itself as the only ICANN-accredited domain status API provider, which is the basis for its claim of direct, privileged access to registry data and no false positives.

What Domainr actually does

At its core, Domainr answers one question quickly: what is the status of this domain? According to its site, it checks availability in milliseconds and distinguishes between three states:

  • Available — the domain can be registered.
  • Premium-priced — available, but at a higher registry price.
  • For sale in an aftermarket — already registered but listed for resale.

It also supports instant, per-keystroke search with context-aware suggestions. That means as a user types, Domainr surfaces relevant TLDs — useful when the .com is taken and you want to see what else fits the same name.

Who it is for

User Why Domainr fits
Developers building a domain search or registration flow Drop-in API and a tag that requires little to no code
Registrars and hosting products Availability checks that avoid false positives, so customers aren't shown wrong results
Security teams / software supply chain managers Monitor critical domains, get alerted to status changes, and spot at-risk domains before they change hands
Anyone brainstorming a name Fast per-keystroke suggestions across all TLDs

The API side

Domainr's main product is the Fastly Domain Research API. Key points from the site:

  • It covers every TLD and is described as the only API for every TLD.
  • It is highly customizable — you can filter by extension, registrar, location, or language.
  • It has full IDNA and Unicode support, so internationalized domain names work.
  • You can supercharge an existing domain search or drop in the provided tag with little to no code.

To use it, the site directs you to get a Fastly API token and try it out. The site does not state pricing for the API or the search tool, so treat cost and access terms as something to confirm with Fastly directly rather than assuming it is free or open.

How to use it

For a quick check (search interface):

  1. Go to domainr.com.
  2. Type a name into the search field.
  3. Read the status shown for each suggested domain — available, premium, or for sale.
  4. Adjust the name or TLD based on the suggestions until you find a workable option.

For integration (API):

  1. Obtain a Fastly API token as directed on the site.
  2. Call the Domain Research API with the domain you want to check.
  3. Apply filters (extension, registrar, location, language) to narrow results.
  4. Use the returned status to drive your own UI — availability, premium pricing, or aftermarket listing.

Expected result in both cases: a fast status answer you can act on, without the false positives that come from stale or indirect registry data.

Common sticking points

  • "Available" is not the same as "cheap." A domain can be available and premium-priced, so check the status, not just availability.
  • Aftermarket listings are not registrations. A "for sale" result means someone else holds it and is offering it — a different process from registering a free name.
  • API access is gated. You need a Fastly API token; don't assume you can call it anonymously.
  • Pricing and plan limits aren't stated on the page. Confirm those with Fastly before committing to an integration.

If your goal is a one-off name search, the website is enough. If you're building domain search into a product or monitoring domains at scale, the API — with its registry-level data and filtering — is the part that matters.