How do I find out who hosts my website?
Look up the IP address your domain points to, then look up which company owns that address. The tool does both and names the company.
- The lookup: domain > A record (IP address) > network owner at the internet registry
- If your www address points to Shopify, Squarespace, Wix or a similar service, that service is the host.
- If the owner is Cloudflare, Cloudflare sits in front of the real host. Your Cloudflare account shows where it sends visitors.
Example: aimocs.com points to 216.198.79.1. ARIN lists that address under Vercel, Inc, so the site runs on Vercel.
Who is my domain registered with?
Your registrar is the company you pay to keep the domain, and the registry’s public RDAP record names it. ICANN requires RDAP, the replacement for WHOIS, on generic domains such as .com, .net and .org.
- The lookup: domain > the registry’s RDAP server from IANA’s list > the “registrar” entity and the “expiration” event
- Owner details are usually hidden for privacy. The registrar name and dates are public.
- On November 7, 2026, .us, .co, .io and .de were missing from IANA’s RDAP list. For those, the tool links to IANA’s page, which names the registry.
Example: the .com registry lists aimocs.com with Hostinger, registered August 8, 2024 and expiring August 8, 2027.
How do I find the email provider for my domain?
Read the domain’s MX records. They name the servers that receive your mail, and the server names point to the provider.
- smtp.google.com, or names starting with aspmx: Google Workspace
- Ending in mail.protection.outlook.com: Microsoft 365
- Naming Proofpoint, Mimecast or Barracuda: a spam filter in front of your mailboxes. The SPF record usually names the mailbox provider behind it.
- A server on your own domain, such as mail.yourbusiness.com: mail runs in a hosting account. The tool names the network that runs it.
Example: aimocs.com has one MX record, aimocs-com.mail.protection.outlook.com, so its email runs on Microsoft 365.
What happens if my domain expires?
The website and email go offline. ICANN’s renewal policy requires the registrar to cut off the domain’s DNS for at least the last eight days it can still be renewed.
- Reminders: about one month and one week before expiry, and one more within five days after
- Renewal: the registrar must let the owner renew while the DNS is cut off
- Who gets the reminders: the owner email on file. If that is a former developer’s address, nobody at the business sees them.
Country domains set their own rules. Example: a domain expiring in 45 days gets a red flag in the tool. Turn on auto-renew at the registrar and check the card on file.
What if I forgot who hosts my website?
Run the lookup, then search your card and bank statements for the company names it shows. The charge tells you which account to recover.
- Try a password reset at each company with every business email you have used.
- If a former developer holds the account, ask them to make you the owner.
- Write down each company and who holds each login.
Getting those accounts back under your business’s name is one of our fixes.
Questions
Is my domain registrar the same as my web host?
Often it is a different company. Many businesses buy the domain at one company, host the site at a second and run email at a third.
Why does it say Cloudflare?
Cloudflare sits in front of many sites to speed them up and block attacks. The real host is set in the Cloudflare account, under DNS.
Why are the owner details hidden?
Most registrars hide the owner name and email in public records. Log in to the registrar to see them and make sure they name your business.
Can I change who hosts my website?
Yes. Move the site to the new host, then point the DNS records at it. The domain can stay with its registrar.
Where does my domain go when I run the lookup?
Your browser asks public DNS services (Cloudflare, Google) and the public RDAP servers of the registries directly. Nothing is sent to us.
Sources
- Expired Registration Recovery Policy, ICANN,
- Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP), ICANN,
- RFC 9083: JSON Responses for the Registration Data Access Protocol, IETF,
- RDAP bootstrap file for domain names, IANA,
- Set up MX records for Google Workspace, Google,
- External Domain Name System records for Microsoft 365, Microsoft Learn,
