Free DNS tool
DNS Lookup
Check the live DNS records for any domain: A, AAAA, MX, TXT, CNAME, NS, SOA and CAA, straight from public DNS.
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Lookups run in your browser over Google public DNS-over-HTTPS (Cloudflare as fallback). Nothing you enter is sent to Pulsetic.
DNS decides where your domain and email actually go. Pulsetic watches your domain and SSL certificate around the clock.
What is a DNS lookup?
A DNS lookup asks the Domain Name System what records a domain has. Every time you open a website or send an email, your device runs the same query in the background: it turns a name like example.com into the addresses and instructions the internet needs to reach it. This DNS record lookup does that query on demand and shows you the answer.
The records come from the domain authoritative name servers and are cached by resolvers along the way for the length of each record TTL. That is why a freshly changed record can look different depending on who you ask, and why a public DNS checker is the fastest way to confirm what the rest of the world currently sees.
How a DNS lookup works
When you request a record, a resolver walks the DNS hierarchy: it asks a root server which name servers run the top-level domain, asks those which servers are authoritative for the domain, then asks the authoritative server for the record itself. Each answer is cached for its TTL, so the next lookup is faster.
This tool short-circuits that walk by asking a public resolver over DNS-over-HTTPS, so you get the same answer a browser would, from outside your own network. Use it to confirm an A record, read the MX records before debugging email, verify an SPF or DMARC entry, or check which authorities a CAA record allows to issue your SSL certificate.
When to run a DNS lookup
Check the MX and TXT records when email stops arriving, confirm the A, AAAA or CNAME records after moving a domain or changing hosts, and read the SOA serial to see whether the zone itself updated.
When a site looks down, a missing or wrong A record is a common cause: confirm it here, then run an outside is-it-down check and read our error guides for the status codes behind the outage.
Look it up from the terminal
Prefer the command line? These return the same records this tool shows:
dig example.com ANY +noall +answer
nslookup -type=ANY example.com
Every DNS record type
What each record does. Each one has a dedicated lookup in the tabs above.
| Record | What it does | Example value |
|---|---|---|
| A | Maps a domain to an IPv4 address. | example.com → 93.184.216.34 |
| AAAA | Maps a domain to an IPv6 address. | example.com → 2606:2800:220:1:: |
| CNAME | Points one name at another name, as an alias. | www → example.com |
| MX | Names the mail servers that accept email for the domain, each with a priority. | 10 mail.example.com |
| TXT | Holds free-form text, used for SPF, DKIM, DMARC and domain verification. | v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all |
| NS | Lists the authoritative name servers for the domain. | ns1.example.com |
| SOA | Start of authority: the primary name server and the zone refresh, retry and expiry timers. | ns1.example.com . 2026010101 |
| PTR | Reverse record: maps an IP address back to a host name. | 34.216.184.93.in-addr.arpa |
| SRV | Locates the host and port for a specific service. | _sip._tcp → 5060 sip.example.com |
| CAA | States which certificate authorities may issue SSL certificates for the domain. | 0 issue "letsencrypt.org" |
Frequently asked questions
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What is a DNS lookup?
A DNS lookup queries the Domain Name System for the records attached to a domain, such as its A record (the IP address), its MX records (mail servers) or its TXT records. This tool runs the lookup against public DNS and shows you the records as resolvers around the world see them.
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What is a DNS record?
A DNS record is a single entry in a domain zone that tells the internet how to handle the domain: where its website lives (A and AAAA), which servers receive its email (MX), which authorities may issue its certificates (CAA) and more. Every record has a type, a name, a value and a TTL.
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What DNS record types can I look up?
This checker resolves the common types: A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, NS, SOA and CAA. Pick a single type to focus the query, or use "All" to see every common record at once. Enter an IPv4 address to run a reverse DNS (PTR) lookup instead.
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What is the difference between an A record and a CNAME?
An A record points a name straight at an IPv4 address. A CNAME points a name at another name, which is then resolved to an address. Use an A record for an apex domain like example.com, and a CNAME for aliases such as www.
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What is a reverse DNS lookup?
A normal lookup turns a domain into its records; a reverse DNS lookup turns an IP address back into a host name using its PTR record. Mail servers often check reverse DNS to judge whether a sender looks legitimate.
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Why are my DNS changes not showing yet?
Resolvers cache records for the length of their TTL, so a change can take from a few minutes to a couple of days to appear everywhere. This is called DNS propagation. Lowering a record TTL before a planned change makes the switch take effect faster.
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Is this DNS lookup tool free?
Yes. The lookup is completely free, needs no signup and has no query limits. Queries run in your browser over Google public DNS-over-HTTPS, with Cloudflare as a fallback, so nothing you enter is sent to Pulsetic.
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