Free tool
Check a domain's public history risk.
Review public evidence of prior sending, tracking hostnames, registration history, and current listings before you buy or launch.
Enter the domain you are about to buy or launch on. Example: example.com. No account, no DNS access, and it works on domains you do not own yet.
Expected time: 10 to 30 seconds. Slow public archives can return Unknown.
Source: public registry records, Certificate Transparency, website history, live DNS, and published blocklists. DNS and listing evidence is checked now. The edge service temporarily caches the normalized domain and history response for up to 24 hours. The check is not saved to an account.
Why aged and fresh domains both carry risk
Aged infrastructure is sold on the promise that the domain has history on its side. Often the history is the problem. A domain can be registered years ago, sit parked, get bought for one outbound run, burn, and get dropped back onto the market. The registration date looks reassuring and tells you nothing about the campaign that ended it.
Fresh registrations are not automatically safe either. Short, keyword-shaped outbound domains get recycled constantly. A domain registered last month may have run campaigns under a previous owner two years ago and been released when it stopped performing.
Neither case is visible from a registrar listing. Both leave public traces.
How to read the verdict
Low observed risk
No tracking hostname, sending platform in SPF, or current listing was found in the queried public evidence. This is not proof of a clean private history.
History found
The domain was configured to send at some point, but nothing is listed against it. Not damaged, not fresh. Warm for the full window and do not put a first client launch on it.
High observed risk
Prior sending plus a current listing, or the public shape of a spent single-run domain. Pick another one for the planned launch.
Unknown
Public sources did not return reliable evidence. We say so instead of calling it clean, because a false clean is the expensive mistake.
What this check reads
What this check does not catch
Public evidence describes how a domain was configured and whether receivers have already acted against it. It does not expose private reputation held by mailbox providers, and it cannot predict placement.
Relevant guide
Related checks
Questions
How can you tell whether a domain has sent cold email before?
Public evidence. Certificate Transparency logs record every hostname a certificate was ever issued for, so a tracking hostname such as track.example.com or link.example.com stays visible long after the campaign ends. Registry records show the registration date and renewal term. Live DNS shows current mail configuration and whether SPF authorises a bulk sending platform. Together those describe how the domain was used.
Why does a tracking hostname matter so much?
Normal websites do not need one. A hostname like track, link, click, or go exists to record opens and clicks on outbound campaigns. When it appears in the certificate history of a domain being sold as fresh or aged inventory, that domain has already run outbound.
Does a high-risk verdict mean the domain can never be used?
It means public evidence shows risk that warmup may not remove. For a client launch, treat a high-risk result as a reason to choose another domain unless you can resolve the evidence.
Why do some domains come back unknown?
Certificate Transparency and registry coverage are not complete, and public sources sometimes rate limit. Unknown means we did not get reliable evidence. We report that rather than assuming the domain is clean, because a false clean is the expensive mistake here.
Can this prove my emails will reach the inbox?
No. This describes how a domain was configured and whether it carries public reputation damage. Inbox placement also depends on list quality, message copy, volume, warmup, and mailbox provider behaviour that no public source exposes.