Domain expiry monitoring

Domain expiry monitoring so a domain never slips into redemption

A domain that's allowed to lapse doesn't just go offline — it enters a redemption window where getting it back can cost many times a normal renewal, if it can be recovered at all. Domain expiry monitoring checks each domain's real registration status and warns long before that window opens.

Why a lapsed domain is worse than a lapsed subscription

Most renewals fail safely: a subscription lapses and you just re-subscribe, sometimes losing a discount. A domain is different. Once it expires, most registries hold it in a redemption period, often with a steep recovery fee, before it becomes available for anyone to register. A domain that's genuinely valuable to a business can be lost outright to whoever registers it the moment it's released.

The dates are also scattered by design. Domains get bought from whichever registrar had the best price at the time, renewal cycles run anywhere from one to ten years, and a company can easily accumulate a dozen or more domains — the main site, regional variants, defensive registrations, ones bought for a campaign that ended — each renewing on its own schedule with a different login.

What domain expiry monitoring should do

The details that separate a real safety net from a note made once at the registrar and never revisited.

Check the registry directly

A WHOIS lookup against the live registration finds the real expiry date, rather than trusting a note made when the domain was first bought.

Cover every domain in one place

Domains bought across different registrars and different years need one shared list, not one dashboard per registrar.

Check daily, not once

A domain renewed or transferred can change its expiry date; a daily check catches that without anyone re-entering anything.

Warn with enough runway

The warning needs to land well before the registry's own grace period starts counting down, not on the day it lapses.

Never gated behind a plan

The alert that prevents losing a domain shouldn't be a paid upsell.

Sit next to the certificates that depend on it

A domain and the SSL certificate serving it are two different expiry dates for the same outage risk — worth tracking together.

How RenewKeeper monitors domains

✓Checks the registry directly

Add a domain and RenewKeeper queries WHOIS directly and stores the real expiry date it finds.

✓Covers every domain

Domains from any registrar sit in the same Space as certificates, licences, and everything else — no separate dashboard per registrar.

✓Checks daily

Domain items re-check every day, so a renewal or transfer updates the countdown without manual entry.

✓Warns ahead of time

Alerts and the weekly digest are included on every plan, arriving with time to renew before any grace period starts.

✓Never paywalled

Live checks and alerts for domains run on Free, Pro, and Teams alike.

✓Sits next to related certificates

Domain and SSL certificate are separate built-in categories that can live in the same Space, so both risks to the same site are visible together.

Who this is for

Agencies & consultancies

Managing domains for several clients, each with its own registrar and its own renewal date.

IT & ops teams

Domains that route traffic to production, tracked with the same urgency as the servers behind them.

Freelancers & founders

One person holding a handful of domains bought over the years, with no single registrar to check.

Common questions

What is domain expiry monitoring?

It's a check, run on a schedule, of a domain's actual registration expiry, paired with a warning sent before that date, so a domain doesn't lapse into a registry's redemption period unnoticed.

How does it find the domain's expiry date?

By querying WHOIS directly, the public registry record for the domain, rather than relying on a date typed in when it was first registered.A domain with WHOIS privacy enabled may not expose an expiry date to check automatically, and needs the date entered manually instead.

How often is a domain checked?

Every day, so a renewal or a transfer to a new registrar is picked up automatically without anyone updating a date by hand.

What happens if a domain is allowed to expire?

Most registries hold it in a redemption period first, often recoverable only for a steep fee, before releasing it for anyone to register. Domain expiry monitoring is aimed specifically at warning before that window opens.

Is domain expiry monitoring free?

RenewKeeper's free plan checks domains automatically and sends alerts on every plan, including Free, for up to 10 items in one Space, with no card required.

Start monitoring domains for free.

10 items, 1 Space, no card required. Upgrade whenever your list outgrows it.