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Self-hosted, open-source domain portfolio manager. A free alternative to DomainIQ, Estibot, and NameBio.
Manage your domain portfolio from Telegram chat: WHOIS lookups via RDAP, expiry alerts, DNS & parking checks, deterministic brandability scoring, watchlist for NS / status / expiry changes, CSV / JSON import & export. Works with any registrar (Namecheap, Porkbun, GoDaddy, Spaceship, Cloudflare, Dynadot, …) because it only reads public registry data — no API keys required.
Quick start · Commands · Self-hosting · Why · Roadmap · Contributing
Note
Domainer is in active early development (v0.1.x). The command surface is stable; the schema and config may still shift. Pin to a tag if you want strict reproducibility.
| What it does | |
|---|---|
| 📋 | Full portfolio CRUD with tags, notes, categories, BIN / buy / floor prices |
| 🔍 | RDAP-based WHOIS, expiry, registrar, NS, age, status (free, IANA-blessed bootstrap) |
| ⏰ | Configurable expiry reminders + automatic alerts via cron worker |
| 🎯 | Availability check + multi-TLD keyword scan (/check fintech --tlds=com,io,ai,co) |
| 🏆 | Deterministic brandability scoring — length, vowel ratio, pronounceability, TLD weight, keywords |
| 🔄 | Variant generators: typo / plural / singular / hyphen permutations |
| 🌐 | DNS lookups (A / AAAA / MX / TXT / CNAME / SOA / SPF / DMARC) |
| Parking provider detection via NS fingerprints (Sedo, Dan, Afternic, Bodis, ParkingCrew, GoDaddy) | |
| 👀 | Watchlist — alert on NS change, status change, expiry approach, becoming available |
| 📊 | Dashboard: totals, expiring counts, top TLDs / registrars, BIN values, ROI |
| 💾 | Import / export CSV / JSON / NDJSON / TXT — just send the file to the bot |
| 🩺 | Health audit — domains missing BIN, tag, or note; expired entries |
The fastest way is Docker. You'll need a Telegram bot token from @BotFather.
git clone https://github.com/kwkuh/domainer.git
cd domainer
cp .env.example .env # paste your BOT_TOKEN
docker compose up -dOpen Telegram, find your bot, send /help. You're in.
Other ways to run it
git clone https://github.com/kwkuh/domainer.git
cd domainer
cp .env.example .env # paste your BOT_TOKEN
npm install
npm run build
npm startFor hot reload during development:
npm run devAfter the package is published to npm:
BOT_TOKEN=xxx npx @kwkuh/domainerdocker run -d \
--name domainer \
--restart unless-stopped \
-e BOT_TOKEN=xxx \
-v $(pwd)/data:/data \
ghcr.io/kwkuh/domainer:latestSend /help to your bot for the live list. A taste:
/add domain.com --buy=12 --bin=2500 --tag=ai,brandable
/list --expiring=30
/whois domain.com
/score domain.com
/check fintech --tlds=com,io,ai,co
/typo tokopedia.com
/upcoming --days=14
/remind domain.com --days=7
/watch domain.com
/dashboard
/export --format=csv
Send any .csv / .json / .txt file (one domain per line) to bulk import.
Full command reference
Portfolio — /add /list /detail /remove /restore /purge /pin /unpin /star /unstar
WHOIS / RDAP — /whois /expiry /registrar /ns /age /available /check
Expiry & renewals — /upcoming /expired /renew /remind
Metadata — /tag /untag /tags /note /notes /cost /bin /floor /category
Search — /find with --contains --starts-with --ends-with --length --tld --tag --expiring --registrar
Scoring — /score /brandability /length /vowel-ratio /typo /plural /singular /hyphen
DNS — /dns /a /aaaa /mx /txt /cname /soa /spf /dmarc /parking
Watchlist — /watch /unwatch /watchlist /watchns /watchexpiry /watchstatus
Dashboard — /dashboard /stats /summary /health
Import / export — /export + send a .csv / .json / .txt document to import
All config via .env:
| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
BOT_TOKEN |
(required) | Telegram bot token from @BotFather |
ALLOWED_USERS |
(empty = open) | Comma-separated Telegram user IDs allowed to use the bot |
DATA_DIR |
./data |
Where the SQLite database is stored |
TICK_MINUTES |
60 |
How often the cron worker refreshes RDAP and fires alerts |
RDAP_BOOTSTRAP |
https://rdap.org |
RDAP bootstrap URL (override only if you run a mirror) |
Get your Telegram user ID from @userinfobot.
Your portfolio is a single SQLite file at $DATA_DIR/domainer.sqlite (WAL mode). Copy it. That's the entire backup procedure.
cp data/domainer.sqlite "backups/domainer-$(date +%F).sqlite"flowchart LR
TG[Telegram] <-->|long poll| Bot
Bot[grammY handler] --> Cmd[command modules]
Cmd --> DB[(SQLite WAL)]
Cron[cron worker] --> RDAP[RDAP / rdap.org]
Cron --> DNS[node:dns]
Cron --> DB
Cron -->|alerts| TG
src/
├── index.ts entry point — grammY setup + command registry
├── cron.ts hourly worker: RDAP refresh + alert dispatch
├── lib/
│ ├── db.ts SQLite schema + migrations (better-sqlite3)
│ ├── rdap.ts RDAP client with port-43 WHOIS fallback
│ ├── whois.ts legacy WHOIS over TCP/43 for non-RDAP TLDs
│ ├── dns.ts node:dns wrappers + parking detection
│ ├── score.ts deterministic scoring + similarity engine
│ └── format.ts output formatting helpers
└── commands/
├── portfolio.ts whois.ts expiry.ts meta.ts search.ts
├── score.ts dns.ts watch.ts dashboard.ts
├── sales.ts drop.ts landing.ts history.ts
└── io.ts help.ts
| Registrar dashboard | DomainIQ / Estibot SaaS | Spreadsheet | Domainer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Works across all your registrars | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Live WHOIS / expiry / NS monitoring | 🟡 | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Brandability scoring | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Watchlist alerts in chat | ❌ | 🟡 | ❌ | ✅ |
| Costs nothing per month | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Self-hosted — your data stays yours | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Open source, scriptable, hackable | ❌ | ❌ | 🟡 | ✅ |
Domainer is the open-source middle ground: your portfolio, your data, your bot, in your pocket.
- Vendor registrar adapters (Namecheap, Porkbun, Spaceship, Cloudflare, Dynadot) — plugin folder, disabled by default
- Auction watchers — ExpiredDomains.net, GoDaddy auctions RSS
- Team workspaces with role-based access (viewer / editor / owner)
- Sales pipeline —
/lead,/offer,/counter,/sold - Bulk filter DSL —
/bulk-tag --filter=tag:premium length<10 - Read-only web dashboard (same SQLite, optional)
- Inbound-offer parser — forward an email, auto-extract the offer
Vote with 👍 on issues or open one.
- Domain investors managing 20 – 5,000 names across multiple registrars who want a single inbox for expiry, NS changes, and offer leads.
- Indie hackers sitting on a brandable portfolio they bought at NameSilo / Porkbun / Spaceship and forgot they had.
- Agencies & resellers that need a chat-native way to track client portfolios without buying DomainIQ seats.
- Drop catchers who want a personal watchlist of expiring names without paying for ExpiredDomains.net Premium.
- Anyone who hates spreadsheets more than they hate writing
.envfiles.
Is Domainer really free? What's the catch?
Yes. MIT licensed, self-hosted, zero recurring cost. You pay only for whatever box you run it on — a $4 / month VPS, a Raspberry Pi, or your laptop. WHOIS data comes from the public RDAP bootstrap at rdap.org (free, IANA-blessed). No API keys, no SaaS subscription.
How does this compare to DomainIQ, Estibot, or NameBio?
Those are paid commercial services with rich appraisal data and historical sales archives. Domainer doesn't try to replace that. It replaces the portfolio-management bookkeeping layer — the part you spend the most time in — with a free, scriptable, chat-native alternative. Use Domainer for daily ops; check the paid services when you actually need an appraisal.
Does it work with Namecheap / Porkbun / GoDaddy / Cloudflare / Spaceship / Dynadot?
Yes, with any registrar. Domainer reads public registry data (RDAP / DNS), not registrar APIs. You manually add domains via /add, or bulk-import a CSV exported from your registrar dashboard. Registrar-API adapters are on the roadmap as opt-in plugins.
Will it work for me if I only have 5 domains?
Absolutely. Domainer is just as comfy with 5 domains as it is with 5,000. The SQLite footprint at 5 domains is a few KB; expiry alerts and dashboard summaries still work.
Can I run it on a Raspberry Pi or NAS?
Yes. The Docker image is multi-arch (amd64 + arm64). A Pi 4 or Synology DSM 7 NAS handles the workload trivially.
Is my portfolio data private?
Yes — Domainer is self-hosted. The SQLite file lives on your machine. The only outbound traffic is to (1) Telegram's Bot API and (2) the public RDAP bootstrap. No analytics, no telemetry, no third-party services.
What's the difference between an RDAP and a legacy WHOIS lookup?
RDAP is the modern, structured, JSON replacement for the legacy port-43 WHOIS protocol. It's official IETF standard (RFC 9082 / 9083), supported by all gTLD registries and most ccTLDs. Domainer uses RDAP first and falls back to legacy WHOIS for the handful of TLDs that haven't adopted it yet.
Can I run multiple bots / users on one instance?
Yes. Each Telegram user gets their own portfolio scoped by their user ID. Set ALLOWED_USERS to gatekeep — or leave it empty for a public bot.
How do I back up my data?
cp data/domainer.sqlite backups/. That's it. The whole portfolio is one SQLite file.
Can I export to a spreadsheet?
/export --format=csv in the bot. Drops a CSV ready for Excel / Google Sheets / Numbers / Airtable.
PRs are very welcome. The codebase is ~2k lines of TypeScript with no exotic patterns — read it end to end in an hour. Start with CONTRIBUTING.md, pick something from the roadmap, or scratch your own itch.
Ground rule: no paid APIs, ever.
Please report vulnerabilities privately via GitHub Security Advisories. See SECURITY.md.
MIT © Domainer contributors
Built by domain investors, for domain investors. No SaaS, no API bills, no lock-in.