RDAP vs. WHOIS: The 2025–2026 Timeline and What Changed

RDAP vs. WHOIS is no longer a hypothetical question for anyone who looks up domain or IP registration data. ICANN has already replaced WHOIS with RDAP across nearly every generic top-level domain. The shift happened faster than most IT professionals realized.

This guide covers exactly when the switch happened and how fast it moved. It also covers what changes for anyone checking who owns a domain, an IP block, or an AS number.

When Did WHOIS Actually End?

ICANN ended the requirement for gTLD registries to run WHOIS on port 43 on January 28, 2025. A short exception applied to .com, .name, and .post. Every other gTLD moved to RDAP as its default source of registration data that day.

The date came from ICANN’s own announcement, published the day before the change took effect. RDAP had been available alongside WHOIS since 2019. January 28, 2025 is when it became the primary, and often only, source of gTLD data.

The .com, .name, and .post exception exists because Verisign’s registry agreements required it to keep WHOIS running a bit longer. That does not mean WHOIS is safe everywhere else. Most registries treated the deadline as a hard cutoff.

How Fast Are Registries Actually Dropping WHOIS?

Registries dropped WHOIS quickly once the requirement ended. Seventy-four gTLDs shut off WHOIS within the first month. By September 2025, 374 gTLDs had disabled it completely, and RDAP query volume had already passed WHOIS in June 2025.

The query-volume numbers are the clearest signal. The IETF’s own tracking of ICANN’s monthly registry reports shows the shift. WHOIS queries across gTLD registries fell sharply. They dropped from about 122 billion per month in January 2025 to about 49 billion by August 2025. That is a 60 percent drop in seven months.

RDAP moved the opposite direction over the same stretch. Monthly RDAP queries rose from roughly 7 billion in January 2025 to about 65 billion by August 2025. The two lines crossed in June 2025, and RDAP has stayed ahead since.

Month	WHOIS queries/mo	RDAP queries/mo
January 2025	~122 billion	~7 billion
June 2025	Crossover point	Crossover point
August 2025	~49 billion	~65 billion

What Is RDAP, and How Is It Different?

RDAP is the Registration Data Access Protocol, the IETF’s structured replacement for WHOIS. It returns clean JSON instead of unformatted text and supports authentication. It works the same way for domains, IPs, and AS numbers.

The IETF published the first RDAP specification as RFC 7480 through RFC 7484 in 2015. A consolidated version followed in 2023 as RFC 9082, RFC 9083, and RFC 9224.

WHOIS never had a standard response format. Every registry formatted its text output a little differently, which made automated parsing fragile. RDAP fixes that with one JSON structure everywhere. A bootstrap system routes each query to the correct authoritative server.

RDAP also supports differentiated access. A general public query returns a baseline of redacted data. Authenticated parties like law enforcement can request more through proper channels. WHOIS never had a built-in way to do that.

Is RDAP Compliance Actually Enforced?

Yes. ICANN terminated registrar Brennercom’s accreditation in January 2026. Its breach notice listed failure to deploy RDAP as the first violation, alongside unpaid fees and missed data escrow deposits. RDAP compliance is now a real contractual requirement, not a suggestion.

ICANN sent Brennercom a notice of breach on December 19, 2025. The notice named four failures. Brennercom had no working RDAP directory service, missed data escrow deposits, unpaid accreditation fees, and missing website disclosures.

Brennercom did not cure the breaches by the January 9, 2026 deadline. ICANN followed with a notice of termination on January 12, 2026, effective January 28, 2026. Brennercom’s domains moved to another registrar under ICANN’s standard transition process.

The case was small. Brennercom managed roughly 40 domains at the time. The size does not matter here. It shows ICANN is willing to pull a registrar’s contract over RDAP alone, not just over unpaid fees.

Are ccTLDs Like .de and .cn Required to Switch?

No. ICANN’s RDAP mandate only covers gTLDs like .com, .org, and .net. Country-code domains such as .de, .cn, and .jp are run by national registries outside ICANN’s contracts. Many ccTLDs have adopted RDAP anyway, but WHOIS-only lookups are still normal there.

Roughly 60 percent of ccTLDs had deployed an RDAP server as of late 2025. That is up from about 48 percent in January 2025. Adoption is voluntary and moves at each registry’s own pace. If you regularly look up ccTLD domains, expect WHOIS to stick around longer there than for gTLDs.

What This Means If You Just Use a WHOIS Tool

If you use a WHOIS lookup tool today, it may already be RDAP underneath. Many tools kept the familiar WHOIS branding while quietly switching their data source. The output looks similar, but the protocol, and often the level of detail, has changed.

This matters for a few practical reasons. Some fields you used to see by default are now redacted more consistently. That includes a registrant’s name or email, under RDAP’s privacy rules. REDACTED FOR PRIVACY is normal output now, not a broken lookup.

It also means the data is more current. RDAP uses bootstrap routing to reach the actual authoritative registry. You are less likely to hit a stale cache or an outdated third-party mirror of registration data.

How to Check RDAP Data Yourself

Use a lookup tool that queries RDAP directly instead of scraping old WHOIS text. NetworkCheckr’s WHOIS Lookup tool queries rdap.org and supports domains, IP addresses, and AS numbers. It also shows the raw JSON response and which authoritative server answered.

Run a lookup with our WHOIS Lookup tool on any domain, IP address, or AS number. For a walkthrough of what each field in the results actually means, see how to read a WHOIS lookup.

Related Tools & Resources

NetworkCheckr’s WHOIS Lookup tool covers domains, IP addresses, and AS numbers in one place. Pair it with the DNS Record Checker and Reverse DNS Lookup for the full picture. The ASN Lookup tool has more AS number detail.

Cross-reference a domain’s RDAP registration data against its live records with our DNS Record Checker. Trace an IP back to a hostname with Reverse DNS Lookup. Dig into AS-level detail with our ASN Lookup tool. For background on address types referenced throughout this guide, see public vs. private IP addresses.

Frequently Asked Questions

These are the questions readers ask most about the WHOIS-to-RDAP transition. Each answer stays short and direct, covering timing, enforcement, ccTLD status, and what changes for everyday domain and IP lookups.

References

These sources back every date, statistic, and enforcement action cited in this guide. They include ICANN’s own announcements and compliance notices, plus the IETF’s independent tracking of RDAP adoption industry-wide.