Is it legal to scrape whatsmydns.net?

Scraping public DNS records is generally legal as they are considered public infrastructure data. However, you should ensure your scraping frequency does not overwhelm their servers and follow their robots.txt guidelines to remain in compliance with their terms of use.

Does whatsmydns.net have an official API?

There is no publicly documented developer API for third-party use. The site uses an internal JSON-based API that requires a browser environment, valid cookies, and Cloudflare clearance to access successfully.

How do I handle the Cloudflare protection on whatsmydns.net?

To bypass Cloudflare, it is recommended to use a headless browser like Playwright or Puppeteer that can solve JavaScript challenges. Additionally, using a proxy service that handles bot detection (like residential proxies) will significantly improve your success rate.

Can I scrape all DNS record types at once?

Each query on whatsmydns.net is specific to one record type (A, MX, TXT, etc.). To get all records, you will need to trigger multiple requests by changing the URL hash for each type you are interested in.

What is the best format to save DNS propagation data?

CSV or JSON formats are ideal for this data. JSON is particularly useful if you are capturing complex records like TXT or MX where there might be multiple values or priority levels associated with a single location.

Why do some servers show a red 'X' during scraping?

A red 'X' usually indicates that the DNS query timed out or the record does not exist on that specific global resolver. When scraping, you should capture this status to distinguish between 'no record' and 'query failed'.

How often should I run my scraper for DNS monitoring?

For standard monitoring, once every 15 to 60 minutes is usually sufficient. During a critical migration, you might increase this frequency to every 5 minutes to get near real-time updates on propagation progress.

What are the most stable selectors for scraping the results?

The most stable way to extract data is by targeting the `.results-table tr` rows. Within those rows, classes like `.location` and `.value` are consistent identifiers for the data fields you need.

How to Scrape whatsmydns.net: A Complete Guide to DNS Data

Learn how to scrape global DNS propagation data from whatsmydns.net. Extract real-time A, MX, CNAME, and TXT records from worldwide servers automatically.

Start Scraping Free

whatsmydns.netMedium

Coverage:GlobalUnited StatesUnited KingdomGermanySingaporeAustraliaBrazil

Available Data6 fields

TitleLocationDescriptionImagesCategoriesAttributes

All Extractable Fields

Server LocationCity NameCountry NameDNS Record TypeResolved Value/IPPropagation Status IconMX Priority LevelCNAME Target DomainTXT Record ContentResponse Time MillisecondsMap Coordinates

Technical Requirements

JavaScript Required

No Login

No Pagination

No Official API

Anti-Bot Protection Detected

CloudflareRate LimitingJavaScript ChallengesUser-Agent FilteringTurnstile

About whatsmydns.net

Learn what whatsmydns.net offers and what valuable data can be extracted from it.

Global DNS Propagation Infrastructure

whatsmydns.net is a premier online utility designed for system administrators and developers to track DNS propagation across the globe. By querying dozens of DNS servers located in various geographic regions, it provides a comprehensive view of how a domain resolves for users in different countries. This visibility is essential for ensuring that DNS changes, such as IP migrations or mail server updates, have been successfully applied worldwide.

Comprehensive DNS Record Tracking

The platform supports a wide array of DNS record types, including A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, PTR, SOA, and TXT. For each query, the site returns a detailed list of server locations, the resolved values, and the status of the propagation. This data is critical for troubleshooting technical issues that only appear in specific regions due to ISP caching or misconfigured local resolvers.

Strategic Data Value

Scraping this data allows organizations to automate technical audits and monitor infrastructure health. Instead of manually checking propagation, businesses can build automated systems that verify record accuracy every few minutes. This is particularly valuable during high-stakes events like website migrations or security updates where any delay in DNS updates can lead to downtime or service interruption for a subset of global users.

Why Scrape whatsmydns.net?

Discover the business value and use cases for extracting data from whatsmydns.net.

Real-time monitoring of global DNS migrations for enterprise clients

Competitive intelligence to identify CDNs used by top competitors

Automated verification of SSL/TLS certificate propagation across regions

Security auditing to detect unauthorized DNS changes or hijacking events

Performance benchmarking of different DNS providers based on response speed

Scraping Challenges

Technical challenges you may encounter when scraping whatsmydns.net.

Cloudflare anti-bot protection requires sophisticated browser mimicking

Dynamic AJAX-based content loading makes static scraping impossible

Asynchronous server responses where data loads at different speeds per region

Complex nested table structure requires precise CSS or XPath selectors

Frequent changes to the internal API endpoints used for AJAX calls

Scrape whatsmydns.net with AI

No coding required. Extract data in minutes with AI-powered automation.

How It Works

Describe What You Need

Tell the AI what data you want to extract from whatsmydns.net. Just type it in plain language — no coding or selectors needed.

AI Extracts the Data

Our artificial intelligence navigates whatsmydns.net, handles dynamic content, and extracts exactly what you asked for.

Get Your Data

Receive clean, structured data ready to export as CSV, JSON, or send directly to your apps and workflows.

Why Use AI for Scraping

Bypasses Cloudflare automatically with advanced browser-mimicking tech

No-code setup allows for rapid configuration of DNS monitoring

Handles dynamic AJAX loading effortlessly with built-in wait actions

Scheduled runs ensure continuous monitoring without manual intervention

Direct integration with Google Sheets for real-time reporting

Start Scraping Free

No credit card requiredFree tier availableNo setup needed

No-Code Web Scrapers for whatsmydns.net

Point-and-click alternatives to AI-powered scraping

Several no-code tools like Browse.ai, Octoparse, Axiom, and ParseHub can help you scrape whatsmydns.net. These tools use visual interfaces to select elements, but they come with trade-offs compared to AI-powered solutions.

Typical Workflow with No-Code Tools

Install browser extension or sign up for the platform

Navigate to the target website and open the tool

Point-and-click to select data elements you want to extract

Configure CSS selectors for each data field

Set up pagination rules to scrape multiple pages

Handle CAPTCHAs (often requires manual solving)

Configure scheduling for automated runs

Export data to CSV, JSON, or connect via API

Common Challenges

Learning curve

Understanding selectors and extraction logic takes time

Selectors break

Website changes can break your entire workflow

Dynamic content issues

JavaScript-heavy sites often require complex workarounds

CAPTCHA limitations

Most tools require manual intervention for CAPTCHAs

IP blocking

Aggressive scraping can get your IP banned

Code Examples

import requests
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup

# Note: Direct requests may be blocked by Cloudflare
url = 'https://www.whatsmydns.net/'
headers = {
    'User-Agent': 'Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) Chrome/119.0.0.0 Safari/537.36',
    'Accept': 'text/html,application/xhtml+xml,xml;q=0.9,image/avif,image/webp,*/*;q=0.8'
}

def check_dns_static():
    try:
        # Accessing the homepage to get the session/cookies
        session = requests.Session()
        response = session.get(url, headers=headers)
        if response.status_code == 200:
            soup = BeautifulSoup(response.text, 'html.parser')
            # Static scraping is limited as results load via JS
            print('Page loaded successfully. JS rendering required for results.')
        else:
            print(f'Blocked: HTTP {response.status_code}')
    except Exception as e:
        print(f'Error: {e}')

check_dns_static()

When to Use

Best for static HTML pages where content is loaded server-side. The fastest and simplest approach when JavaScript rendering isn't required.

Advantages

●Fastest execution (no browser overhead)
●Lowest resource consumption
●Easy to parallelize with asyncio
●Great for APIs and static pages

Limitations

●Cannot execute JavaScript
●Fails on SPAs and dynamic content
●May struggle with complex anti-bot systems

from playwright.sync_api import sync_playwright

def scrape_whatsmydns():
    with sync_playwright() as p:
        browser = p.chromium.launch(headless=True)
        page = browser.new_page()
        
        # Use the hash-based URL to trigger a specific DNS lookup
        page.goto('https://www.whatsmydns.net/#A/google.com')
        
        # Wait for the results table to populate with data
        page.wait_for_selector('.results-table tr', timeout=15000)
        
        # Extract the results
        rows = page.query_selector_all('.results-table tr')
        for row in rows:
            location = row.query_selector('.location').inner_text()
            result_val = row.query_selector('.value').inner_text()
            print(f'[{location}] Resolved to: {result_val}')
            
        browser.close()

scrape_whatsmydns()

When to Use

Use when content loads dynamically via JavaScript, or when you need to interact with the page (clicks, scrolls, form fills). Handles modern anti-bot detection better.

Advantages

●Executes JavaScript like a real browser
●Handles SPAs and dynamic content
●Better anti-bot evasion with stealth plugins
●Can take screenshots and PDFs

Limitations

●Slower than HTTP requests
●Higher memory/CPU usage
●More complex to set up

import scrapy
from scrapy_playwright.page import PageMethod

class DNSPropagationSpider(scrapy.Spider):
    name = 'dns_spider'
    
    def start_requests(self):
        # Scrapy-Playwright handles the JS rendering
        yield scrapy.Request(
            'https://www.whatsmydns.net/#A/example.com',
            meta={
                'playwright': True,
                'playwright_page_methods': [
                    PageMethod('wait_for_selector', '.results-table tr')
                ]
            }
        )

    def parse(self, response):
        # Iterate through the table rows extracted via Playwright
        for row in response.css('.results-table tr'):
            yield {
                'location': row.css('.location::text').get(),
                'result': row.css('.value::text').get()
            }

When to Use

Ideal for large-scale crawling projects that need to scrape thousands of pages. Built-in support for rate limiting, retries, and data pipelines.

Advantages

●Built for scale (millions of pages)
●Automatic request throttling
●Built-in data export pipelines
●Middleware system for proxies/headers

Limitations

●Steeper learning curve
●Overkill for small projects
●No native JavaScript rendering

const puppeteer = require('puppeteer');

(async () => {
  const browser = await puppeteer.launch();
  const page = await browser.newPage();
  
  // Navigate directly to the DNS check URL
  await page.goto('https://www.whatsmydns.net/#MX/microsoft.com', { waitUntil: 'networkidle2' });
  
  // Wait for dynamic server rows to load
  await page.waitForSelector('.results-table tr');

  const data = await page.evaluate(() => {
    const rows = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('.results-table tr'));
    return rows.map(row => ({
      location: row.querySelector('.location')?.innerText.trim(),
      value: row.querySelector('.value')?.innerText.trim()
    }));
  });

  console.log(data);
  await browser.close();
})();

When to Use

Choose this if you're in a Node.js/JavaScript ecosystem or need tight integration with frontend tools. Similar capabilities to Playwright.

Advantages

●Native JavaScript/TypeScript support
●Chrome DevTools Protocol access
●Large ecosystem and community
●Good for JS-heavy projects

Limitations

●Chrome-only (vs Playwright's multi-browser)
●Similar overhead to Playwright
●Less mature stealth options

How to Scrape whatsmydns.net with Code

Python + Requests

import requests
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup

# Note: Direct requests may be blocked by Cloudflare
url = 'https://www.whatsmydns.net/'
headers = {
    'User-Agent': 'Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) Chrome/119.0.0.0 Safari/537.36',
    'Accept': 'text/html,application/xhtml+xml,xml;q=0.9,image/avif,image/webp,*/*;q=0.8'
}

def check_dns_static():
    try:
        # Accessing the homepage to get the session/cookies
        session = requests.Session()
        response = session.get(url, headers=headers)
        if response.status_code == 200:
            soup = BeautifulSoup(response.text, 'html.parser')
            # Static scraping is limited as results load via JS
            print('Page loaded successfully. JS rendering required for results.')
        else:
            print(f'Blocked: HTTP {response.status_code}')
    except Exception as e:
        print(f'Error: {e}')

check_dns_static()

Python + Playwright

from playwright.sync_api import sync_playwright

def scrape_whatsmydns():
    with sync_playwright() as p:
        browser = p.chromium.launch(headless=True)
        page = browser.new_page()
        
        # Use the hash-based URL to trigger a specific DNS lookup
        page.goto('https://www.whatsmydns.net/#A/google.com')
        
        # Wait for the results table to populate with data
        page.wait_for_selector('.results-table tr', timeout=15000)
        
        # Extract the results
        rows = page.query_selector_all('.results-table tr')
        for row in rows:
            location = row.query_selector('.location').inner_text()
            result_val = row.query_selector('.value').inner_text()
            print(f'[{location}] Resolved to: {result_val}')
            
        browser.close()

scrape_whatsmydns()

Python + Scrapy

import scrapy
from scrapy_playwright.page import PageMethod

class DNSPropagationSpider(scrapy.Spider):
    name = 'dns_spider'
    
    def start_requests(self):
        # Scrapy-Playwright handles the JS rendering
        yield scrapy.Request(
            'https://www.whatsmydns.net/#A/example.com',
            meta={
                'playwright': True,
                'playwright_page_methods': [
                    PageMethod('wait_for_selector', '.results-table tr')
                ]
            }
        )

    def parse(self, response):
        # Iterate through the table rows extracted via Playwright
        for row in response.css('.results-table tr'):
            yield {
                'location': row.css('.location::text').get(),
                'result': row.css('.value::text').get()
            }

Node.js + Puppeteer

const puppeteer = require('puppeteer');

(async () => {
  const browser = await puppeteer.launch();
  const page = await browser.newPage();
  
  // Navigate directly to the DNS check URL
  await page.goto('https://www.whatsmydns.net/#MX/microsoft.com', { waitUntil: 'networkidle2' });
  
  // Wait for dynamic server rows to load
  await page.waitForSelector('.results-table tr');

  const data = await page.evaluate(() => {
    const rows = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('.results-table tr'));
    return rows.map(row => ({
      location: row.querySelector('.location')?.innerText.trim(),
      value: row.querySelector('.value')?.innerText.trim()
    }));
  });

  console.log(data);
  await browser.close();
})();

What You Can Do With whatsmydns.net Data

Explore practical applications and insights from whatsmydns.net data.

Global Uptime Monitoring

IT managers can ensure that their services are accessible worldwide without manual checks.

How to implement:

1Schedule a scrape of critical domains every 30 minutes
2Compare scraped IP addresses against a master list of authorized IPs
3Trigger an automated alert via Webhook if a mismatch is detected in any region

Use Automatio to extract data from whatsmydns.net and build these applications without writing code.

More than just prompts

Supercharge your workflow with AI Automation

Automatio combines the power of AI agents, web automation, and smart integrations to help you accomplish more in less time.

AI Agents

Web Automation

Smart Workflows

Get Started Free

Pro Tips for Scraping whatsmydns.net

Expert advice for successfully extracting data from whatsmydns.net.

Use residential proxies to avoid triggering Cloudflare's rate limits when performing large batches of lookups.

Manipulate the URL fragment (#RecordType/Domain) to bypass manual form submission and trigger searches directly.

Incorporate a 10-second wait time after the initial load to ensure all global resolvers have time to respond.

Check the Network tab to identify the internal JSON endpoint if you want to attempt direct API scraping with valid headers.

Monitor the 'status' class of rows to distinguish between successful resolutions and failed server queries.

Randomize your User-Agent string to mimic different modern browsers like Safari on Mac or Edge on Windows.

Testimonials

What Our Users Say

Join thousands of satisfied users who have transformed their workflow

Jonathan Kogan

Co-Founder/CEO, rpatools.io

Automatio is one of the most used for RPA Tools both internally and externally. It saves us countless hours of work and we realized this could do the same for other startups and so we choose Automatio for most of our automation needs.

Mohammed Ibrahim

CEO, qannas.pro

I have used many tools over the past 5 years, Automatio is the Jack of All trades.. !! it could be your scraping bot in the morning and then it becomes your VA by the noon and in the evening it does your automations.. its amazing!

Ben Bressington

CTO, AiChatSolutions

Automatio is fantastic and simple to use to extract data from any website. This allowed me to replace a developer and do tasks myself as they only take a few minutes to setup and forget about it. Automatio is a game changer!

Sarah Chen

Head of Growth, ScaleUp Labs

We've tried dozens of automation tools, but Automatio stands out for its flexibility and ease of use. Our team productivity increased by 40% within the first month of adoption.

David Park

Founder, DataDriven.io

The AI-powered features in Automatio are incredible. It understands context and adapts to changes in websites automatically. No more broken scrapers!

Emily Rodriguez

Marketing Director, GrowthMetrics

Automatio transformed our lead generation process. What used to take our team days now happens automatically in minutes. The ROI is incredible.

Jonathan Kogan

Co-Founder/CEO, rpatools.io

Mohammed Ibrahim

CEO, qannas.pro

Ben Bressington

CTO, AiChatSolutions

Sarah Chen

Head of Growth, ScaleUp Labs

We've tried dozens of automation tools, but Automatio stands out for its flexibility and ease of use. Our team productivity increased by 40% within the first month of adoption.

David Park

Founder, DataDriven.io

The AI-powered features in Automatio are incredible. It understands context and adapts to changes in websites automatically. No more broken scrapers!

Emily Rodriguez

Marketing Director, GrowthMetrics

Automatio transformed our lead generation process. What used to take our team days now happens automatically in minutes. The ROI is incredible.

Related Web Scraping

Frequently Asked Questions About whatsmydns.net

Find answers to common questions about whatsmydns.net

How to Scrape whatsmydns.net: A Complete Guide to DNS Data

About whatsmydns.net

Global DNS Propagation Infrastructure

Comprehensive DNS Record Tracking

Strategic Data Value

Why Scrape whatsmydns.net?

Scraping Challenges

Scrape whatsmydns.net with AI

How It Works

Why Use AI for Scraping

How to scrape with AI:

Why use AI for scraping:

No-Code Web Scrapers for whatsmydns.net

Typical Workflow with No-Code Tools

Common Challenges

No-Code Web Scrapers for whatsmydns.net

Typical Workflow with No-Code Tools

Common Challenges

Code Examples

How to Scrape whatsmydns.net with Code

Python + Requests

Python + Playwright

Python + Scrapy

Node.js + Puppeteer

What You Can Do With whatsmydns.net Data

Global Uptime Monitoring

CDN Usage Mapping

Zero-Downtime Migration Verification

Security Threat Detection

Historical DNS Record Analysis

What You Can Do With whatsmydns.net Data

Supercharge your workflow with AI Automation

Pro Tips for Scraping whatsmydns.net

What Our Users Say

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Frequently Asked Questions About whatsmydns.net

Is it legal to scrape whatsmydns.net?

Does whatsmydns.net have an official API?

How do I handle the Cloudflare protection on whatsmydns.net?

Can I scrape all DNS record types at once?

What is the best format to save DNS propagation data?

Why do some servers show a red 'X' during scraping?

How often should I run my scraper for DNS monitoring?

What are the most stable selectors for scraping the results?