DNS Lookup
Look up A, AAAA, MX, TXT, CNAME, NS, and more for any domain. Run on the edge via DNS-over-HTTPS — your browser never makes the query and nothing is stored.
published
- [FREE]
- [NO_SIGNUP]
- [USES_SERVER]
⚠ Unlike most of the site, this tool runs one request on a server because your browser cannot make it directly. It keeps none of your input — see the tool and the privacy page.
A DNS lookup asks the Domain Name System what records a domain publishes — its IP addresses, mail servers, text policies, nameservers, and more. This tool queries them live and shows each record with its TTL.
Why this tool has a server (and most of the site doesn’t)
Almost every tool on this site runs entirely in your browser — nothing you type leaves your device. A DNS lookup is one of the few exceptions, for a simple reason: a browser has no way to make a raw DNS query. There is no navigator.dns API. The only way to resolve a name from a web page is to hand the query to a server that speaks DNS.
So this tool — and only tools like it — uses a small backend: a Cloudflare Pages Function at /api/dns that forwards your query to Cloudflare’s public DNS-over-HTTPS resolver (1.1.1.1) and returns the records.
What gets stored: nothing
This is a proxy, not a database. When you look up a domain:
- The domain is sent to the resolver to answer the request, then discarded.
- Nothing is written to any storage — no KV, no database, no file, no log of your queries.
- There is no account, no search history, and no cookie associating lookups with you.
That’s the difference between this tool and the URL shortener: the shortener has to store your link (that’s the whole point of a short link), so it carries a [SAVES_DATA] badge. This tool only relays a request and keeps nothing, so it carries [USES_SERVER]. Like any web host, Cloudflare may log standard request metadata (IP, timestamp) at the network layer — that’s true of every website and is outside this tool’s control.
Record types you can check
| Type | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| A / AAAA | The IPv4 / IPv6 addresses a domain points to. |
| CNAME | An alias pointing one name at another. |
| MX | Mail servers that accept email for the domain, with priority. |
| TXT | Free-form text: SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and verification strings. |
| NS | The authoritative nameservers for the domain. |
| SOA | Zone authority and refresh/expiry timers. |
| SRV | Service location records (e.g. SIP, XMPP). |
| CAA | Which certificate authorities may issue certs for the domain. |
| PTR | Reverse DNS — the name an IP address maps back to. |
Reading the result
Every record comes back with a TTL — how long a resolver may cache it before checking again. A status of NOERROR means the query succeeded (even if there are zero records of that type). NXDOMAIN means the domain itself doesn’t exist. If you just changed a record and don’t see the update, that’s caching: wait out the TTL and look again.
Related tools
- URL Shortener — the other server-backed tool here; it stores your link so it can redirect, and says so.
- CIDR Calculator — IPv4 subnet math, entirely in your browser.
- HTTP Status Code Reference — every status code with its meaning and RFC source.
Frequently asked questions
Why does a DNS lookup need a server when the rest of the site doesn't?
A web browser has no API for making a raw DNS query — there is no client-side way to ask "what are the MX records for example.com?". So this tool, unlike nearly every other tool here, runs the query on Cloudflare's edge using DNS-over-HTTPS and returns the result. It is the rare case where the work is physically impossible in the browser.
Does this tool store the domains I look up?
No. The domain you enter is forwarded to the DNS-over-HTTPS resolver to answer your request, then discarded. There is no database, no history, no account, and no cookie tying lookups to you. Like any web host, Cloudflare may log standard request metadata (such as IP address and timestamp) at the network layer — that applies to every website you visit and is outside this tool's control.
Which record types can I look up?
A and AAAA (IPv4 / IPv6 addresses), CNAME (aliases), MX (mail servers), TXT (SPF, DKIM, DMARC, verification strings), NS (nameservers), SOA (zone authority), SRV (service records), CAA (which CAs may issue certificates), and PTR (reverse DNS). Pick the type from the dropdown before you look up.
Why do the results sometimes differ from another DNS checker?
DNS records are cached at every layer with a TTL (time to live). A resolver returns whatever it has cached until that TTL expires, so right after you change a record different resolvers can disagree for minutes to hours. This tool also returns the TTL for each record, which tells you how long it can still be cached before a refresh.
Can I look up TXT records like SPF or DMARC?
Yes. Choose TXT to see SPF policies, domain-verification strings, and similar. For DMARC specifically, query the _dmarc subdomain (e.g. _dmarc.example.com) with type TXT. Underscore-prefixed names are supported.
Is it free?
Yes — no signup, no ads, no usage cap for normal use. It runs on Cloudflare's free tier and proxies to the public 1.1.1.1 DNS-over-HTTPS resolver.