Massive bulk whois query

Question

We're making a tool for bulk checking the whois records of domains. Is there any possibility to query as much as 1 million of domains per day without be concerned about the quota? All whois servers seem to have a limit of approximately 100 per day.

I know of two ways: use hundreds of IP addresses or use a paid API.

Is there any other way that you know of?

Answer 1

The short answer is no. Easy to believe, otherwise it would not be such hard business to deal with.

And even with hundreds of IPs, you are not safe. Another route is to get ICANN accredited and then ask for accreditation for every TLDs you want to use. That will give you a large access to the whois details for the TLD zones.

Answer 2

An alternative to get "unrestricted" WHOIS data access is to be prepared to pay a lot of money to individual registrars. As ICANN rules dictate:

3.3.6.2 Registrar may charge an annual fee, not to exceed US$10,000, for such bulk access to the data.

3.3.6.1 Registrar shall make a complete electronic copy of the data available at least one (1) time per week for download by third parties who have entered into a bulk access agreement with Registrar.

So to query GoDaddy and the like without restriction, you may well need a hefty sum of cash.

Note that the ICANN rules place (the usual kind of) restrictions of the use of this data so a careful reading is recommended.