How to Check When Your Domain Expires (Free Tool + Auto Alerts)

Domain Expiry Checker — instant lookup

The fastest option for a one-off lookup. Go to lior-seats.github.io/domain-expiry-checker/, enter the domain (e.g. github.com), and click Check Expiry. Results appear immediately:

• Expiry date — exact date the domain registration ends
• Days remaining — color-coded: green (>60 days), yellow (15–60), red (<15)
• Registrar — who manages the domain registration
• Created date — when the domain was first registered
• Status — active, expired, or unknown

Data comes from RDAP (Registration Data Access Protocol), the modern replacement for WHOIS. It supports most gTLDs (.com, .net, .org, .io, .dev, .app) and a growing set of ccTLDs.

whois command (macOS / Linux)

If you prefer the terminal:

whois github.com | grep -i "expir"

Output varies by registrar. Common field names include:

• Registry Expiry Date:
• Expiration Date:
• Registrar Registration Expiration Date:

Example for github.com:

Registry Expiry Date: 2027-10-09T04:00:00Z

To convert the date to days remaining in bash:

EXPIRY="2027-10-09"
DAYS=$(( ( $(date -d "$EXPIRY" +%s 2>/dev/null || date -j -f "%Y-%m-%d" "$EXPIRY" +%s) - $(date +%s) ) / 86400 ))
echo "$DAYS days remaining"

macOS note: Use date -j -f syntax as shown. GNU date (date -d) is Linux-only.

rdap.org — structured RDAP lookup

RDAP returns machine-readable JSON, making it easier to parse than WHOIS:

curl -s "https://rdap.org/domain/github.com" | \
  python3 -c "
import json, sys
data = json.load(sys.stdin)
for e in data.get('events', []):
    if e.get('eventAction') == 'expiration':
        print('Expires:', e['eventDate'])
"

Expected output:

Expires: 2027-10-09T04:00:00Z

RDAP is rate-limited, so don't call it in tight loops. For batch checks across many domains, cache results for at least an hour.

Batch domain expiry check script

If you manage several domains, check them all at once:

#!/bin/bash
# check-domains.sh — check expiry for a list of domains

DOMAINS=("github.com" "example.com" "yourdomain.com")
WARN_DAYS=30

for domain in "${DOMAINS[@]}"; do
  expiry=$(whois "$domain" 2>/dev/null | grep -i "expir" | head -1 | awk '{print $NF}')
  if [ -z "$expiry" ]; then
    echo "UNKNOWN  $domain (WHOIS parse failed)"
    continue
  fi
  # Normalize date format (YYYY-MM-DD)
  clean=$(echo "$expiry" | grep -oE "[0-9]{4}-[0-9]{2}-[0-9]{2}")
  if [ -z "$clean" ]; then
    echo "UNKNOWN  $domain (date format: $expiry)"
    continue
  fi
  days=$(( ( $(date -d "$clean" +%s 2>/dev/null || date -j -f "%Y-%m-%d" "$clean" +%s) - $(date +%s) ) / 86400 ))
  if [ "$days" -lt 0 ]; then
    echo "EXPIRED  $domain (expired $((days * -1)) days ago)"
  elif [ "$days" -lt "$WARN_DAYS" ]; then
    echo "WARNING  $domain — $days days remaining ($clean)"
  else
    echo "OK       $domain — $days days remaining ($clean)"
  fi
done

Save as check-domains.sh, make it executable (chmod +x check-domains.sh), and run it. To run it on a schedule:

# Add to crontab — run every Monday at 9am
0 9 * * 1 /path/to/check-domains.sh | mail -s "Weekly domain expiry report" you@example.com

DomainWatch — automatic expiry alerts

If you manage more than a handful of domains, a shell script quickly becomes a maintenance burden. DomainWatch monitors domain expiry dates automatically and sends email alerts at 30, 14, 7, and 1 day before expiry — without any cron jobs or scripts to maintain.

Add your domains to the dashboard, and DomainWatch checks them daily. If an expiry date changes unexpectedly (including after a renewal), you get a notification immediately.