domainr.com

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

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.

Domainr is suitable for enterprise domain search if you need a real-time, programmatic way to check domain availability across every TLD, and you want to embed that capability directly into your own product or internal tooling. It is built for developers and platforms rather than for someone manually buying a single domain. The core of the offering is the Fastly Domain Research API, and Domainr is positioned as part of Fastly, running on its edge cloud platform.

What Domainr actually provides

Domainr is an ICANN-accredited domain status API provider. According to its site, it is "the only ICANN-accredited domain status API provider," which matters because it means direct, privileged access to domain registry data rather than scraping or guessing.

The practical result: when you query a domain, you get a status back in milliseconds — available, premium-priced, or for sale in a major aftermarket — and the site claims no false positives. That accuracy claim is the main reason enterprises consider it over a generic availability checker.

It also supports instant, per-keystroke search and context-aware suggestions. Instead of only answering "is this exact domain free?", it can surface relevant alternative TLDs when the .com is taken, which is useful inside a signup or naming flow.

Where it fits in an enterprise stack

The API is designed to be embedded, not used as a standalone website. Two integration paths are described:

• API integration — call the Fastly Domain Research API from your own application.
• Drop-in tag — use a ready-made tag with "little to no code" if you want search without building it yourself.

Customization is a stated strength: you can filter by extension, registrar, location, or language, with full IDNA and Unicode support. That matters for international products where domain names include non-Latin characters.

The security and supply-chain use case

Domainr explicitly targets security providers and teams managing a software supply chain. In that context, the value is not just checking availability once — it is monitoring critical domains, getting alerted to status changes, and uncovering at-risk domains before they change hands.

If your concern is typosquatting, expired brand domains, or infrastructure domains that could be re-registered by someone else, continuous status monitoring is the relevant capability. This is a different job from "help a customer pick a name," and Domainr's page presents both as supported.

When Domainr is a good fit

• You are building domain search into an app, website builder, registrar, or hosting product.
• You need availability data across many or all TLDs, not just .com.
• You want to monitor a portfolio of domains for status changes.
• You need Unicode/IDNA support and filtering by language or location.
• You prefer an API-first vendor backed by an edge platform (Fastly) over a standalone lookup tool.

When it may not be the right choice

• You only need to register one domain yourself — a registrar's own search is simpler.
• You want a consumer-facing domain marketplace rather than an API.
• You need pricing, contract, or SLA details confirmed before deciding — the source page does not publish pricing or plan tiers, so you would need to request a Fastly API token and confirm commercial terms directly.

How to evaluate it

1. Get a Fastly API token, as the site directs, to access the Domain Research API.
2. Test accuracy against domains you already know the status of — available, premium, and aftermarket — to verify the "no false positives" claim in your own context.
3. Test latency under per-keystroke conditions if you plan to use instant search.
4. Check IDNA/Unicode behavior with the specific languages your product supports.
5. If monitoring is the goal, confirm how status-change alerts are delivered and how often status is refreshed.

The deciding factor is usually whether you need embedded, accurate, multi-TLD status data at scale. If yes, Domainr's ICANN accreditation and Fastly backing are the strongest arguments. If you just need to buy a domain, it is more infrastructure than you need.

Domainr's domain status API checks whether a domain is available by querying domain registry data directly, rather than inferring availability from WHOIS or DNS lookups. According to Domainr, it is the only ICANN-accredited domain status API provider, and its Fastly Domain Research API returns results in milliseconds with no false positives. It's aimed at products that need to embed domain search — registrars, website builders, naming tools — and at security teams monitoring domain status changes.

What the API actually does

The core function is a status check on a given domain string. Instead of a binary available/taken answer, it returns a status that distinguishes between several outcomes:

• Available — registrable at standard pricing
• Premium-priced — registrable, but at a registry-set premium price
• For sale in an aftermarket — listed by a third party rather than the registry
• Taken — registered and not currently listed

This distinction matters because "available" and "cheap" are different questions. A domain can be registrable and still cost far more than a standard registration, and a taken domain can still be acquirable through an aftermarket listing.

Why direct registry access changes the result

Most domain availability checks work by querying WHOIS or DNS and interpreting the response. That approach produces false positives: a domain can appear unregistered in WHOIS while actually being reserved, blocked, or in a grace period. Domainr's claim is that direct, privileged access to registry data eliminates this class of error — the status reflects the registry's own record rather than a derived signal.

The practical consequence is that you can act on the result without a confirmation step. If the API says a domain is available, a registration attempt should succeed; if it says premium, the price is a registry price rather than a guess.

Search and suggestion behavior

Beyond single-domain lookups, the API supports per-keystroke search. As a user types, it returns availability for the typed string and suggests alternative top-level domains when the .com (or whatever was typed) is taken. The suggestions are context-aware — they surface TLDs relevant to the input rather than an arbitrary list.

This is what makes it usable as an embedded search box rather than a batch-checking tool. The intended flow is: user types a name, sees availability across several extensions at once, and can keep iterating without submitting a form.

Filtering and customization

The API is described as filterable by:

It also supports full IDNA and Unicode, so internationalized domain names work without pre-conversion on your side. Domainr notes a drop-in tag option for teams that want search without building the integration themselves.

Who it's for

Two distinct audiences are named:

1. Product teams embedding domain search — registrars, app builders, naming or branding tools. The value is conversion: a fast, accurate search that keeps users in the flow instead of sending them to a separate lookup.
2. Security and supply-chain teams — monitoring critical domains, getting alerted to status changes, and identifying at-risk domains before they change hands. Here the API is used as a monitoring feed rather than an interactive search.

What to check before adopting

• Access: the API is part of Fastly and requires a Fastly API token. Domainr's page does not state pricing, so treat cost and rate limits as things to confirm with Fastly directly rather than assuming a free tier.
• Coverage: the claim is "every TLD," which is worth verifying against the specific extensions your users care about.
• Latency expectations: "milliseconds" is the stated figure for a status check; per-keystroke search has different performance characteristics, so test it under your own load if you plan to wire it to an input field.
• Monitoring semantics: if you're using it for security, confirm what triggers an alert — a status change, a registrar change, or an expiry event — since those are different signals.

Domainr helps you find available domain names by checking domain status in real time through an ICANN-accredited API, then suggesting alternative names and top-level domains (TLDs) as you type. It is best suited to product teams, registrars, and security or supply-chain teams that need fast, accurate availability data rather than a manual, one-name-at-a-time lookup.

Instant, per-keystroke search

Domainr turns a domain search into a conversation. Instead of submitting a full name and waiting, the search responds as each character is entered, so results update continuously while you refine the name.

The practical effect: you can test many candidate names in the time it would normally take to check one, which is useful during early naming or brainstorming sessions.

Context-aware suggestions, including when .com is taken

The suggestion engine is context-aware: it surfaces relevant TLDs based on what you have typed. This matters because a strong name is often unavailable on .com but open on another extension. Rather than stopping at "taken," Domainr keeps the search moving by proposing related alternatives.

According to Domainr's own description, this is designed so customers "find the perfect name—even if the .com is taken."

Accurate status, not just a yes/no

Domainr states it is the only ICANN-accredited domain status API provider, with direct, privileged access to domain registry data. That access is what it uses to report status without false positives.

When you check a name, the result can distinguish between several states:

Because the check runs in milliseconds, it fits into live search interfaces where users expect immediate feedback.

Built for integration, not just manual lookup

Domainr is part of Fastly and is powered by its edge cloud platform. The Fastly Domain Research API is the underlying product, and it is customizable: you can filter by extension, registrar, location, or language, with full IDNA and Unicode support.

Two integration paths are described:

• API — for teams building domain search into their own product or workflow.
• Drop-in tag — for adding search with little to no code.

If you are a security provider or manage a software supply chain, the same API can monitor critical domains, alert you to status changes, and surface at-risk domains before they change hands.

Who this fits

Domainr is a reasonable choice if you need:

• Real-time availability checks at scale, not occasional manual lookups.
• Suggestions that keep working after .com is ruled out.
• Programmatic access with filtering by extension, registrar, location, or language.
• Monitoring of domains you depend on, with alerts on status changes.

It is less relevant if you only need to check a single name once, or if you want a registrar to complete the purchase — Domainr provides search, suggestion, and status data, and its own materials point to getting a Fastly API token to use the API.