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.org domain: registry, rules and WHOIS

Non-profits, communities, open-source projects

Facts

Type
Generic top-level domain (gTLD)
Registry operator
Public Interest Registry (PIR)
Added to the root zone
1985
RDAP
Yes (rdap.publicinterestregistry.org)
WHOIS server
whois.publicinterestregistry.org
Registration
Open to anyone
IDN support
Yes
Typical use
Non-profits, communities, open-source projects

RDAP availability is taken from the IANA RDAP bootstrap file published on 2026-09-16; WHOIS server and delegation year from the IANA root zone database. Registry policies change: check the registry's own policy before relying on an eligibility rule.

What is .org?

.org is one of the original 1985 generic top-level domains, created for organisations that did not fit the other categories. It is strongly associated with non-profits, open-source projects and communities. Since 2003 it has been run by Public Interest Registry, a non-profit organisation.

Who can register it

Despite its reputation, .org is unrestricted: individuals and companies can register it as freely as a non-profit can. No proof of status is asked for.

WHOIS, RDAP and privacy

An RDAP service for .org (rdap.publicinterestregistry.org) is published in the IANA RDAP bootstrap file. OrbitProbe reads registration data from it first, as structured JSON: registrar, creation and expiry dates, EPP status codes and nameservers. For gTLDs, personal contact data has been largely redacted from public output since the rules ICANN introduced in 2018 in response to the GDPR. In most lookups you will see redacted fields or the details of a privacy service instead of a registrant name. OrbitProbe only ever shows the organisation name and country.

Look up a .org domain

FAQ

Who can register a .org domain?

Despite its reputation, .org is unrestricted: individuals and companies can register it as freely as a non-profit can. No proof of status is asked for.

How do I run a WHOIS lookup for a .org domain?

Type the name, in the form example.org, into the form on this page. OrbitProbe first queries the RDAP service of the .org registry (rdap.publicinterestregistry.org). The result shows where the data came from and when it was observed.

Does .org support RDAP?

Yes. The IANA RDAP bootstrap file dated 2026-09-16 publishes rdap.publicinterestregistry.org for .org. The classic WHOIS server is whois.publicinterestregistry.org.

Does .org support internationalised domain names (IDN)?

Yes, names containing non-ASCII characters can be registered under .org. Which characters are allowed is defined by the registry's IDN table. In the DNS such names are stored in Punycode form starting with "xn--"; OrbitProbe accepts either form.