2026 Pricing Guide

Domain API Pricing Comparison

Transparent pricing comparison of 20+ providers. Compare free tiers, packaging, and tradeoffs for real-world domain intelligence workloads.

Quick Comparison

Provider Free Tier Starting Price Positioning
DomScan Recommended Free: 10,000 credits/month Pay-as-you-go from $10 Modern Domain Intelligence API
WhoAPI 10,000 requests for new clients $52/month for 40,000 requests Established Domain Availability & WHOIS API
Domainr 10,000 requests/month per Fastly Domain Research API meter Status from $0.0005/request after the free allowance Fastly-backed Domain Search API
DNSimple $0 Solo base plan; zones and DNS queries are usage billed From $0.50/hosted zone/month plus DNS query usage Registrar API with DNS Hosting & Automation
WhoisXML API 500 WHOIS queries, no card required $30/month for 2,000 WHOIS queries Enterprise Domain, IP & DNS Intelligence
JsonWhois 250 WHOIS calls/month and 500 availability calls/month WHOIS from $0.0085/call after the free allowance Simple WHOIS API
WhoisFreaks 500 signup credits, no card required $75/month for 50,000 credits WHOIS & DNS Intelligence API
IP2WHOIS 500 Domain WHOIS queries/month with attribution $49/month for 5,000 Domain WHOIS queries WHOIS API with IP2Location Integration
Host.io 1,000 requests/month $99/month for 10,000 requests Domain Intelligence and Technology Detection API
Whoxy Signup test credits; general allowance not publicly stated $2 one-time for 1,000 WHOIS lookups WHOIS history, reverse WHOIS, and bulk lookup API
WHOISJSON 1,000 requests/month, no card required $10/month for 30,000 requests WHOIS, DNS, SSL, and availability API with a lightweight free plan
Atom Connect Limited free intelligence API access; approval may be required Custom pricing Domain valuation, trademark screening, and discovery APIs
BuiltWith Free single-site lookups and selected free APIs $295/month Basic plan Website technology intelligence and historical stack data API
Wappalyzer 50 technology lookups/month; API credits require a paid plan $450/month Business plan with 20,000 API credits Technology lookup, company enrichment, and alerts API
urlscan.io Free plan; 30-day commercial-plan trial available $5,000/year Automate plan URL scanning, phishing analysis, and brand monitoring API
FullHunt 10 API credits/month $149/month Builder plan External attack surface, subdomain, and typo-monitoring API
Netlas Community plan, free forever $49/month Freelancer plan Internet-wide scanning, DNS, SSL, and WHOIS datasets
Robtex 500 API requests/month on the Basic plan $19/month Pro plan Passive DNS, domain reputation, and infrastructure lookup API
RDAP API Seven-day free trial on every plan $9/month Starter plan RDAP-first domain, IP, and ASN lookup API
Censys Free tier with limited searches and lookup API access Prepaid credits from $100 Internet Intelligence and Attack Surface Platform
Shodan Free account; academic Membership upgrade available $49 one-time Membership or $69/month Freelancer Internet Exposure Search for Devices and Services
VirusTotal Noncommercial Public API: 500 requests/day and 4 requests/minute $75,000/year Google Threat Intelligence Standard Domain & URL Threat Intelligence
ViewDNS 250 sandbox queries, no card required $29/month for 1,000 queries DNS, WHOIS, and Reverse Lookup Toolkit
MxToolBox Free weekly blacklist monitoring for one domain $129/month Delivery Center Email Security & DNS Diagnostic Tools
HackerTarget Free IP Tools API, generally 50 calls/day $10/month Starter, billed annually Security Testing & DNS Reconnaissance
DNSlytics Limited free calls; API access capped at 2,500 requests/day €79 one-time for 10,000 credits Reverse DNS Analytics and Tracking Code Discovery
GoDaddy API No separate API subscription fee Live per-domain registration, renewal, and transfer pricing Domain Registrar API
Namecheap API Free unrestricted sandbox Production requires 20 domains, a $50 balance, or $50 recent spend Domain Registrar API
Name.com API API token and development environment; no API access fee Variable per-domain and TLD transaction pricing Domain Registrar REST API
Dynadot API API available to all accounts; sandbox supported Variable per-TLD domain transaction pricing Registrar API for Bulk Investors and Resellers
Porkbun API DNS and read-only API calls have no separate fee Variable per-domain transaction pricing Low-cost registrar API with DNS and SSL automation
DomainTools Free Novice account with limited web lookups; no API $99/month individual membership, web access only Enterprise Domain Intelligence & Threat Research
SecurityTrails No current public free-tier terms Contact sales DNS & Domain Intelligence for Security Research
Gandi API No separate API fee; paid operations use account pricing Variable per-TLD pricing at Rate A European Registrar API with LiveDNS
Cloudflare Registrar No separate Registrar API fee Registry wholesale domain cost with no markup At-Cost Registrar with Beta API Workflows
OpenSRS No free tier; $95 activation becomes account credit Essential reseller tier with variable domain pricing Reseller-focused domain API for large portfolios

Detailed Pricing Breakdown

WhoAPI

$52/month for 40,000 requests
Free: 10,000 requests for new clients
Free 10,000 requests for new clients (Variable)
Starter $52/month for 40,000 requests (Variable)
Enterprise $499/month for 100,000 requests; enterprise custom (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • Higher pricing for comparable features
  • No AI/MCP integration
  • Welcome credits do not renew monthly
Positioning: WhoAPI provides domain availability checking and WHOIS lookup APIs with a focus on accuracy and bulk operations.

Domainr

Status from $0.0005/request after the free allowance
Free: 10,000 requests/month per Fastly Domain Research API meter
Fastly free tier $0 (10,000/month)
Status-Precise $0.001/request (After 10,000 monthly requests)
Status-Estimated $0.0005/request (After 10,000 monthly requests)
Enterprise Published volume pricing; enterprise quote available (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • Original Domainr API is deprecated
  • Precise and estimated status checks have different usage rates
  • No valuation or OSINT features
Positioning: Domainr is now part of Fastly. New integrations use the Fastly Domain Research API for domain search and availability; the original Domainr API documentation and endpoints are deprecated.

DNSimple

From $0.50/hosted zone/month plus DNS query usage
Free: $0 Solo base plan; zones and DNS queries are usage billed
Free $0 Solo base plan; zones and DNS queries are usage billed (Variable)
Starter From $0.50/hosted zone/month plus DNS query usage (Variable)
Enterprise Teams $29/month plus usage; enterprise custom (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • Higher cost for availability-only needs
  • Usage-based zone pricing can add up quickly
  • Broader registrar stack than availability-only buyers need
Positioning: DNSimple combines registrar operations, DNS hosting, certificates, and automation in a polished REST API aimed at teams managing domains end-to-end.

WhoisXML API

$30/month for 2,000 WHOIS queries
Free: 500 WHOIS queries, no card required
Free 500 WHOIS queries, no card required (Variable)
Starter $30/month for 2,000 WHOIS queries (Variable)
Enterprise $3,600/month for 2 million queries; unlimited custom (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • Pricing and quota structure varies by product
  • Overkill for simple availability checks
  • More platform than most startup teams need
Positioning: WhoisXML API offers product-specific WHOIS, DNS, IP, and threat data packages plus annual enterprise bundles for research, fraud, and security teams.

JsonWhois

WHOIS from $0.0085/call after the free allowance
Free: 250 WHOIS calls/month and 500 availability calls/month
Free 250 WHOIS calls/month and 500 availability calls/month (Variable)
Starter WHOIS from $0.0085/call after the free allowance (Variable)
Enterprise Published volume rate reaches $0.001/call above 100,000 calls (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • Limited to WHOIS only
  • No DNS or availability features
  • No bulk operations
Positioning: JsonWhois provides a straightforward API for WHOIS lookups with JSON responses at budget-friendly pricing.

WhoisFreaks

$75/month for 50,000 credits
Free: 500 signup credits, no card required
Free 500 signup credits, no card required (Variable)
Starter $75/month for 50,000 credits (Variable)
Enterprise Enterprise volume and rate limits are custom (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • Free credits are one-time, not monthly
  • MCP server requires local setup
  • Credit costs vary by API product
Positioning: WhoisFreaks offers WHOIS lookup, DNS records, and domain intelligence APIs with a focus on historical data and reverse lookups.

IP2WHOIS

$49/month for 5,000 Domain WHOIS queries
Free: 500 Domain WHOIS queries/month with attribution
Free 500 Domain WHOIS queries/month with attribution (Variable)
Starter $49/month for 5,000 Domain WHOIS queries (Variable)
Enterprise $499/month for 150,000 Domain WHOIS queries (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • No DNS lookup features
  • Limited bulk and historical workflows
  • Limited to WHOIS data
Positioning: IP2WHOIS provides parsed WHOIS lookups, hosted-domain context, and ecosystem integrations for teams already using IP2Location services.

Host.io

$99/month for 10,000 requests
Free: 1,000 requests/month
Free 1,000 requests/month (Variable)
Starter $99/month for 10,000 requests (Variable)
Enterprise $999+/month for 500,000+ requests (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • No domain availability API
  • Monthly data updates, not true real-time refresh
  • Lighter WHOIS depth than specialist providers
Positioning: Host.io focuses on technology fingerprints, related-domain discovery, DNS data, and web market intelligence rather than registrar workflows.

Whoxy

$2 one-time for 1,000 WHOIS lookups
Free: Signup test credits; general allowance not publicly stated
Free Signup test credits; general allowance not publicly stated (Variable)
Starter $2 one-time for 1,000 WHOIS lookups (Variable)
Enterprise $10,000 one-time for 25 million WHOIS lookups (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • No domain valuation workflow
  • Limited AI or modern workflow integrations
  • Narrower feature set outside WHOIS and DNS research
Positioning: Whoxy focuses on live WHOIS, historical WHOIS, reverse WHOIS, and batch lookup workflows for researchers, resellers, and brand-protection teams.

WHOISJSON

$10/month for 30,000 requests
Free: 1,000 requests/month, no card required
Free 1,000 requests/month, no card required (Variable)
Starter $10/month for 30,000 requests (Variable)
Enterprise $600/month Atlas plan; higher volume custom (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • Less historical depth than larger intelligence platforms
  • Smaller ecosystem and fewer enterprise references
  • Limited threat-intel and monitoring depth
Positioning: WHOISJSON packages WHOIS, DNS, SSL certificate, and availability lookups into a lightweight API for teams that need practical lookup coverage without enterprise overhead.

Atom Connect

Custom pricing
Free: Limited free intelligence API access; approval may be required
Free Limited free intelligence API access; approval may be required (Variable)
Starter Custom pricing (Variable)
Enterprise Custom pricing (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • Not built for WHOIS history or DNS investigations
  • Pricing is not broadly self-serve
  • Less useful for security and infrastructure teams
Positioning: Atom Connect leans into appraisal, naming, and domain discovery with APIs for valuation, trademark checks, semantic search, and marketplace inventory.

BuiltWith

$295/month Basic plan
Free: Free single-site lookups and selected free APIs
Free Free single-site lookups and selected free APIs (Variable)
Starter $295/month Basic plan (Variable)
Enterprise $995/month Team plan; Team Ultra custom (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • Not a WHOIS, RDAP, or DNS lookup specialist
  • Less relevant if you need registrability or valuation
  • Infrastructure security workflows are not the core product
Positioning: BuiltWith specializes in current and historical web technology detection plus lead and company enrichment rather than domain registration data.

Wappalyzer

$450/month Business plan with 20,000 API credits
Free: 50 technology lookups/month; API credits require a paid plan
Free 50 technology lookups/month; API credits require a paid plan (Variable)
Starter $450/month Business plan with 20,000 API credits (Variable)
Enterprise $850+/month Enterprise plan (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • No core WHOIS or RDAP workflow
  • Not aimed at valuation or registrar operations
  • Domain security depth is lighter than dedicated intel tools
Positioning: Wappalyzer focuses on website technology detection, company enrichment, subdomain discovery, and change alerts for sales, research, and security teams.

urlscan.io

$5,000/year Automate plan
Free: Free plan; 30-day commercial-plan trial available
Free Free plan; 30-day commercial-plan trial available (Variable)
Starter $5,000/year Automate plan (Variable)
Enterprise $5,000/month or $50,000/year Ultimate plan (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • Not designed for valuation or registrar operations
  • Coverage is scan-driven rather than registry-first
  • Bulk lookup and enrichment differ from classic domain APIs
Positioning: urlscan.io is built for scanning web pages, indexing observed infrastructure, and detecting phishing or brand abuse from captured page data.

FullHunt

$149/month Builder plan
Free: 10 API credits/month
Free 10 API credits/month (Variable)
Starter $149/month Builder plan (Variable)
Enterprise $1,499/month Scale; OEM and enterprise custom (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • Not focused on domain valuation or registrar buying flows
  • Pricing is more sales-led than simple self-serve APIs
  • Some teams only need lighter domain lookups than a full ASM platform
Positioning: FullHunt combines internet asset discovery with subdomain enumeration, DNS intelligence, typo monitoring, and security automation for attack-surface management.

Netlas

$49/month Freelancer plan
Free: Community plan, free forever
Free Community plan, free forever (Variable)
Starter $49/month Freelancer plan (Variable)
Enterprise $830/month Corporate when billed annually; enterprise custom (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • Not built around valuation or registrar actions
  • Coverage breadth can be overkill for simple product use cases
  • Self-serve developer messaging is less streamlined than lightweight APIs
Positioning: Netlas combines search, internet-wide scan data, DNS records, SSL certificates, IP WHOIS, and domain WHOIS through structured APIs and bulk datasets.

Robtex

$19/month Pro plan
Free: 500 API requests/month on the Basic plan
Free 500 API requests/month on the Basic plan (Variable)
Starter $19/month Pro plan (Variable)
Enterprise $99/month Mega plan (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • Less polished for product-led buyer journeys
  • Not focused on valuation or registrar workflows
  • Broader threat and monitoring stack is lighter than newer platforms
Positioning: Robtex is an established passive DNS and infrastructure intelligence tool focused on DNS history, reverse lookups, and domain reputation signals.

RDAP API

$9/month Starter plan
Free: Seven-day free trial on every plan
Free Seven-day free trial on every plan (Variable)
Starter $9/month Starter plan (Variable)
Enterprise $199/month Business plan (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • No valuation, threat monitoring, or naming workflow
  • Limited DNS and enrichment depth compared with broader platforms
  • Smaller market footprint than established incumbents
Positioning: RDAP API centers on RDAP lookups for domains, IP ranges, and ASNs for teams that want structured registration data without buying a larger intelligence platform.

Censys

Prepaid credits from $100
Free: Free tier with limited searches and lookup API access
Free Free tier with limited searches and lookup API access (Variable)
Starter Prepaid credits from $100 (Variable)
Enterprise Core and Adversary Investigation are custom priced (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • Not focused on domain availability
  • WHOIS and registrar context are secondary
  • Primarily for security use cases
Positioning: Censys delivers internet-wide scanning, certificate intelligence, and external attack surface discovery for security teams and researchers.

Shodan

$49 one-time Membership or $69/month Freelancer
Free: Free account; academic Membership upgrade available
Free Free account; academic Membership upgrade available (Variable)
Starter $49 one-time Membership or $69/month Freelancer (Variable)
Enterprise $1,099/month Corporate; enterprise custom (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • No domain availability checking
  • WHOIS and domain data are secondary
  • Better for asset exposure than domain operations
Positioning: Shodan indexes internet-facing devices, banners, vulnerabilities, and exposed services, making it a strong complement to domain-focused threat tools.

VirusTotal

$75,000/year Google Threat Intelligence Standard
Free: Noncommercial Public API: 500 requests/day and 4 requests/minute
Free Noncommercial Public API: 500 requests/day and 4 requests/minute (Variable)
Starter $75,000/year Google Threat Intelligence Standard (Variable)
Enterprise $1.1 million/year Enterprise+ (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • Security-only focus
  • No domain registration features
  • Rate limits on free tier
Positioning: VirusTotal analyzes domains, URLs, and files for malware and malicious activity using 70+ antivirus engines and security tools.

ViewDNS

$29/month for 1,000 queries
Free: 250 sandbox queries, no card required
Free 250 sandbox queries, no card required (Variable)
Starter $29/month for 1,000 queries (Variable)
Enterprise $549/month for 100,000 queries; enterprise custom (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • Basic API compared to competitors
  • No domain availability checking
  • API is lighter than dedicated intelligence platforms
Positioning: ViewDNS.info offers a broad toolbox of DNS, reverse IP, reverse MX, WHOIS, and IP history lookups for investigators and operators.

MxToolBox

$129/month Delivery Center
Free: Free weekly blacklist monitoring for one domain
Free Free weekly blacklist monitoring for one domain (Variable)
Starter $129/month Delivery Center (Variable)
Enterprise $399/month Delivery Center Plus (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • Email-focused, not general domain
  • No WHOIS lookup
  • Higher pricing for API access
Positioning: MxToolBox specializes in email deliverability tools including MX lookups, blacklist monitoring, SPF/DKIM/DMARC validation, and DNS diagnostics.

HackerTarget

$10/month Starter, billed annually
Free: Free IP Tools API, generally 50 calls/day
Free Free IP Tools API, generally 50 calls/day (Variable)
Starter $10/month Starter, billed annually (Variable)
Enterprise Enterprise from $100/month (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • Limited WHOIS capabilities
  • No domain availability API
  • Basic API documentation
Positioning: HackerTarget provides security-focused DNS tools including subdomain discovery, reverse DNS, vulnerability scanning, and attack surface analysis.

DNSlytics

€79 one-time for 10,000 credits
Free: Limited free calls; API access capped at 2,500 requests/day
Free Limited free calls; API access capped at 2,500 requests/day (Variable)
Starter €79 one-time for 10,000 credits (Variable)
Enterprise €1,399 one-time for 1 million credits (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • API v2 coverage is still narrow in beta
  • No domain availability API
  • WHOIS data is not its core strength
Positioning: DNSlytics emphasizes reverse lookups, tracking-code pivots, and DNS research, with a newer API v2 beta focused on datasets.

GoDaddy API

Live per-domain registration, renewal, and transfer pricing
Free: No separate API subscription fee
Free No separate API subscription fee (Variable)
Starter Live per-domain registration, renewal, and transfer pricing (Variable)
Enterprise No public API plan tiers (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • Requires 50+ domains for API access
  • Not designed for availability-only use
  • Limited to GoDaddy ecosystem
Positioning: GoDaddy provides domain availability and management APIs for customers with existing GoDaddy accounts and domain portfolios.

Namecheap API

Production requires 20 domains, a $50 balance, or $50 recent spend
Free: Free unrestricted sandbox
Free Free unrestricted sandbox (Variable)
Starter Production requires 20 domains, a $50 balance, or $50 recent spend (Variable)
Enterprise Special pricing at 50+ domains; amounts not public (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • IP whitelisting required
  • XML responses (not JSON)
  • Requires account qualification
Positioning: Namecheap provides domain availability and management APIs for developers integrated with their registrar services.

Name.com API

Variable per-domain and TLD transaction pricing
Free: API token and development environment; no API access fee
Free API token and development environment; no API access fee (Variable)
Starter Variable per-domain and TLD transaction pricing (Variable)
Enterprise Gold is the highest published reseller pricing tier (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • Fewer TLDs
  • Lower rate limits (20 req/sec)
  • Registrar-focused, not intelligence
Positioning: Name.com provides a RESTful API for domain registration, transfer, and management with volume-based pricing.

Dynadot API

Variable per-TLD domain transaction pricing
Free: API available to all accounts; sandbox supported
Free API available to all accounts; sandbox supported (Variable)
Starter Variable per-TLD domain transaction pricing (Variable)
Enterprise Super Bulk is the highest published API rate tier (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • Higher throughput only unlocks after spend thresholds
  • Single concurrent API call limit
  • Docs and operational quirks require extra care
Positioning: Dynadot offers REST and legacy APIs with 120+ actions covering registration, transfers, DNS, aftermarket workflows, and bulk investor tooling.

Porkbun API

Variable per-domain transaction pricing
Free: DNS and read-only API calls have no separate fee
Free DNS and read-only API calls have no separate fee (Variable)
Starter Variable per-domain transaction pricing (Variable)
Enterprise No public API subscription tiers (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • Not a domain intelligence or valuation platform
  • Fewer enterprise controls than large reseller systems
  • Coverage is registrar-centric rather than research-centric
Positioning: Porkbun gives developers registrar automation plus DNS record management, domain operations, and certificate tooling at budget-friendly registrar pricing.

DomainTools

$99/month individual membership, web access only
Free: Free Novice account with limited web lookups; no API
Free Free Novice account with limited web lookups; no API (Variable)
Starter $99/month individual membership, web access only (Variable)
Enterprise API and enterprise access are custom priced (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • Enterprise-only pricing
  • Overkill for simple availability checks
  • Limited fit for developer-first or low-volume projects
Positioning: DomainTools focuses on high-end security workflows with passive DNS, reputation scoring, historical data, and enterprise investigation products.

SecurityTrails

Contact sales
Free: No current public free-tier terms
Free No current public free-tier terms (Variable)
Starter Contact sales (Variable)
Enterprise Custom pricing (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • Enterprise pricing not transparent
  • Limited free tier
  • Security-focused, not for domain registration
Positioning: SecurityTrails provides comprehensive DNS intelligence, passive DNS data, subdomain enumeration, and WHOIS history for security researchers and threat intelligence teams.

Gandi API

Variable per-TLD pricing at Rate A
Free: No separate API fee; paid operations use account pricing
Free No separate API fee; paid operations use account pricing (Variable)
Starter Variable per-TLD pricing at Rate A (Variable)
Enterprise Rate E begins at $12,000 annual spend (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • No free API tier
  • Complex pricing structure
  • Higher base prices than budget registrars
Positioning: Gandi pairs registrar automation with LiveDNS, certificates, and graduated reseller pricing that favors teams with meaningful annual volume.

Cloudflare Registrar

Registry wholesale domain cost with no markup
Free: No separate Registrar API fee
Free No separate Registrar API fee (Variable)
Starter Registry wholesale domain cost with no markup (Variable)
Enterprise No subscription tiers; pricing varies by TLD (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • Registrar API is still in beta
  • Requires Cloudflare account, token, and registrant setup
  • No renewal, transfer, or contact-update endpoints in the beta
Positioning: Cloudflare Registrar charges registry list prices and offers a beta API for search, authoritative availability and pricing checks, and registration on supported extensions. Checks can surface premium pricing, but the beta does not currently support premium registration. Future support will require explicit fee acknowledgement. Renewals, transfers, and contact updates are not yet available in the beta.

OpenSRS

Essential reseller tier with variable domain pricing
Free: No free tier; $95 activation becomes account credit
Free No free tier; $95 activation becomes account credit (Variable)
Starter Essential reseller tier with variable domain pricing (Variable)
Enterprise Enterprise tier requires $100,000 annual spend and volume (Variable)

Watch Out For:

  • Not a modern domain intelligence or threat-data platform
  • Commercial model is aimed at resellers rather than indie developers
  • Developer experience is less product-led than newer APIs
Positioning: OpenSRS targets resellers and hosting providers with APIs for registration, transfers, DNS, and portfolio-scale domain operations.

Key Pricing Insights

Best Free Tier

DomScan includes 10,000 free credits that renew every month.

Best Value

DomScan Pro is a $30 one-time pack with 250,000 credits ($0.00012 per credit).

Enterprise Choice

DomainTools provides custom enterprise threat-intelligence plans; DomScan offers self-serve domain intelligence.

Start with 10,000 Free Credits

No credit card required. Get instant API access with the most generous free tier in the industry.

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