Our story

Checking whether a name is free shouldn't tip anyone off.

I'm Johnny Mobley. I started building systems for other people in 2000, when I was 16, and I've been doing it ever since. Along the way I automated most of my own work, and the tools I built for myself became these companies. Each one runs on rules I wrote down, not on paid AI calls, which is why it can cost so little.

Registrar search boxes have a long-documented habit of being watched: you search for a name, and it gets registered before you buy it. I built DomainWombat to ask the registry itself instead. Your browser queries the registry's own RDAP server, the same record any registrar reads, with no store's search box in between.

It also keeps a watchlist of names you want, including taken ones, so you can recheck them later and catch one that lapses. The watchlist stays in your browser and is never sent anywhere. It can't promise nobody is watching, and some registries (.io, .me) don't answer this kind of query yet; the page says which.

What works today

• Checks whether a domain is taken by asking the registry's own RDAP server, straight from your browser
• Checks one name across 12 common endings (.com, .net, .org, .ai, .dev and others) in one click
• Keeps a watchlist of names in your browser and rechecks them when you ask

What it doesn't do yet

Instant Domain Search still does things DomainWombat doesn't:

• Buying the domain. DomainWombat tells you it's free; you still register it at a registrar.
• A name generator and bulk checking of many names.
• Aftermarket search for names already for sale.
• WHOIS-style owner and expiry details, and trademark search.
• Alerts when a watched name lapses; today you press recheck.

What it costs

Instant Domain Search's price is from their pricing page as of October 29, 2026. Prices change, so check theirs before you compare.

— Johnny