ontfly

See which domains for your business are actually free

Type the name you have in mind. We ask the domain registries directly which endings are free, and for the taken ones, when the registration runs out.

How to use it

  1. Type the business name, with or without an ending.
  2. We check .com first and then the endings a small business usually ends up on.
  3. Taken domains show when they were registered and when they expire, which tells you whether one is worth waiting on.

What it looks at

  • Live availability for each ending, from the registry itself over RDAP rather than guessed from a wordlist.
  • For a taken domain, the registration and expiry dates the registry publishes.
  • Variations on the name you typed when the exact one is gone.

What it will not tell you

Worth reading before the results, because a check that quietly skipped something is worse than one that says it did.

  • Availability is a moment in time. A domain free right now can be taken while you are reading.
  • We do NOT show prices. Registries do not publish them over this protocol, and a premium name can cost hundreds while looking identical to a standard one here. Check the price at a registrar before you plan around it.
  • We do not check trademarks. A free domain is not permission to trade under the name.
  • A registry that does not answer is reported as unchecked rather than as available, because guessing in that direction is the expensive way to be wrong.

Questions

Does searching here put the name at risk?

No. We query the registry through our own registrar account and do not sell, log or syndicate what you searched. Front-running searched domains is a real practice in this industry and it is not one of ours.

Where does the availability come from?

RDAP, the registries' own lookup protocol. It is the authoritative answer rather than a cached wordlist, which is why a domain that lapsed yesterday shows here as free.

Should I take the .com?

If it is free and affordable, usually yes, because customers type it by reflex. But a good name on another ending beats a bad name on .com, and plenty of real businesses run on .co and .io.

Read more

Ontfly builds the site, puts it on a domain and runs what sits behind it. If this turned up something worth fixing, describe your business and see what it makes.