From time to time, many people face the task of determining which hosting provider serves a particular website or service. A domain may be registered with one provider, DNS servers may belong to another, and the actual website hosting may be handled by a third hosting provider.

This situation is quite common and is caused by many reasons, for example:

• A domain may be cheaper or more convenient to purchase from one provider
• Hosting plans, features, and server location may be more suitable with another provider
• DNS servers may be provided by global services, for example, for easier email configuration

As a result, we end up with three independent companies providing different services. To determine which provider offers which service, we use several tools:

Registrar / DNS hosting

To identify the DNS hosting provider, use whois or RDAP — they will show the DNS servers assigned to the domain. These services will also display the domain name registrar.

Please note. Most domain registrars offer hosting companies affiliate programs, so a domain is not always purchased directly from the registrar. When working under an affiliate program, a hosting partner receives better terms and can sell the same domain names cheaper than the registrar itself. This is because the partner handles customer support and paperwork for the end client.

IP Address / Hosting server

To identify the server on which a website is hosted, you need to obtain its IP address:

ping example.com

As a result, you will receive an IP address like 123.123.123.123. By using whois or RDAP, you can then obtain information about the provider that offers this service.

In most cases, this will be the hosting provider where the website is located, and you can contact them directly, for example, if you need to restore access to your control panel.

There are exceptions. Sometimes you may see that all services return the same information, for example DNS and IP belonging to Cloudflare — even though they are not a hosting provider. Such services intentionally hide information about the actual hosting provider, protecting the IP address from malicious attacks. In this case, identifying the final provider becomes more difficult. These services have both advantages and disadvantages: when visiting a website, they often require solving a CAPTCHA and may significantly reduce website performance in many countries.

For convenience, to identify the hosting provider of a particular service, we have created a universal tool, which determines hosting by domain name. Enter the domain you are interested in, and the service will display information about the DNS servers and the owner of the IP address to which the domain points. This service will be especially useful for beginners who are just starting to explore internet services.