How it works

Browse and shortlist UK domains for free, no signup needed.

Finding domains with UKDrops

Discovery and analysis are free to use, with no signup required. Search the droplist, apply filters and shortlist names in your watchlist. Your watchlist is saved in this browser, so it does not automatically follow you to another device.

Ahrefs Domain Rating (DR) is a measure of backlink profile strength, not a promise of traffic, rankings, value or a successful catch. A missing rating is unknown, not zero.

How UK domains drop

A UK domain does not become available the moment it expires. It passes through several registry stages first.

1. 1

   Expiry

   A .uk registration reaches the end of its term. The registrant can still renew it, and most do.

2. 2

   Suspension

   Shortly after expiry the domain stops resolving. Websites and email attached to it go offline, but the registration still exists.

3. 3

   Deletion process

   If it stays unrenewed, the registry begins the deletion process. There is still a window in which the registrant can restore it.

4. 4

   Pending delete

   The domain can no longer be restored by the previous registrant. From this point the drop is effectively certain.

5. 5

   Scheduled drop

   The registration is removed and the name becomes available for anyone to register again, at a specific timestamp.

What is a droplist?

A droplist is the set of domains scheduled to be deleted. Domains join it 30 days after expiry and can still be renewed until 90 days after expiry. The last 5 days before the drop are Nominet's Pending Delete Grace Period, when renewal is no longer possible. UK Drops marks domains in those final 5 days as confirmed and currently lists only these Pending Delete domains.

Source: Nominet, domain expiry process and drop lists for .UK