Expired domains list: where to find domains worth buying

Every day, thousands of domains expire. Some have 15 years of backlinks. Others were spam farms. The difference between a profitable buy and a wasted $50 comes down to finding the right list and knowing how to read it.

This guide covers where to find expired domain lists, what data each source provides, and how to quickly filter down to the domains worth buying.

What is an expired domains list?

An expired domain list is a database of domains whose registration has lapsed. These domains are either at auction (someone is actively bidding on them), in a closeout phase (fixed price, first buyer wins), or fully deleted (available for standard registration at any registrar).

The useful lists include SEO metrics alongside each domain: age, backlinks, referring domains, domain authority, Trust Flow. Without this data, you're guessing. A domain called "bestpizza2009.com" might be worthless or might have 200 referring domains from food blogs. You can't tell from the name alone.

Where to find expired domain lists

CatchDoms

CatchDoms aggregates 370,000+ expired domains from 12 sources: GoDaddy, DropCatch, Catched, Dynadot, SnapNames, Gname, Park.io, BloomUp, WebExpire, Subreg, UK Droplists, and aged deleted domains. Every domain is enriched with SEO data before it hits the list.

What you see per domain: Domain Authority (0-100), Trust Flow, Citation Flow, referring domains count, dofollow percentage, Wayback age, number of archive snapshots, detected language, TTF topic category, and a quality score from 0 to 100 that combines all of these into one number.

The list updates daily. Auction bids update several times per day. You can filter by source platform, TLD, minimum score, age, language, price range, and whether the domain has backlinks or a Google My Business listing. The free tier shows 10 domains. CatchDoms Pro unlocks the full database with CSV exports and email alerts.

ExpiredDomains.net

The veteran in this space. ExpiredDomains.net has been listing expired domains for over a decade. Their database is large, covering deleted domains, pending delete, and auction domains from several registrars.

They show basic Majestic metrics (TF, CF), domain age, and Wayback data. The interface is functional but feels outdated. No quality scoring, no spam detection, no language detection. Data updates can lag a few hours behind real-time. It's free with registration, which makes it a reasonable starting point if you're on a budget.

DomCop

DomCop focuses on deleted domains with PageRank and Moz metrics. Their angle is providing pre-filtered lists sorted by metric quality. They also rank domains by a proprietary "DomCop Score."

Pricing starts at $816/year, which puts it at the expensive end of the market. The data is decent for Moz DA and backlink counts. They don't cover auction domains from GoDaddy or DropCatch, so you're limited to the deleted domain pool.

SpamZilla

SpamZilla's main selling point is spam detection. They analyze each domain's backlink profile and flag patterns that suggest the domain was used for spam or PBN purposes. If your main concern is avoiding penalized domains, SpamZilla adds a useful safety layer.

Plans start at $37/month. The domain list itself overlaps with what you'll find on ExpiredDomains.net and DomCop, but with the spam analysis on top.

Platform-specific lists

Each auction platform publishes its own list of available domains:

• GoDaddy Auctions lists 10,000+ domains daily. Basic data: valuation, bids, end date. No backlink metrics. Requires $4.99/year membership.
• DropCatch shows active auctions with current bid amounts. Clean interface, but no SEO data attached to listings.
• Dynadot Closeouts lists domains with Estibot valuations and traffic estimates. Declining price model ($30 → $15 → $5).
• Catched shows European auctions with bid counts and end times. No built-in SEO metrics.

The problem with platform-specific lists is obvious: you need to check each one separately, and none of them include the SEO data you need to make a decision. That's the gap aggregators fill.

What to look for in an expired domain list

Not all lists are equal. Here's what separates a useful list from a time-wasting one.

SEO metrics included

At minimum, you want referring domains count, domain authority or Trust Flow, and domain age. Without these, you're browsing blind. A list that shows domain name, TLD, and price tells you almost nothing about whether a domain is worth buying.

Better lists also include: dofollow percentage, TTF topic category, backlink count, Citation Flow, and whether the domain has .edu or .gov links. These details save you from having to look up each domain individually on Ahrefs or Majestic.

Spam filtering

Roughly 60-70% of expired domains are junk. Spam names, hyphens everywhere, low-value TLDs, domains that were link farms. A good list either filters these out automatically or flags them so you can skip past.

On CatchDoms with score 50+, the quality score already removes most spam. Domains below 30 are almost always low quality or spammy. This saves hours compared to manually scanning a raw list of 10,000 domains.

Update frequency

Expired domains move fast. A list that updates once a week is almost useless for auction domains, because the best ones sell within hours. Daily updates are the minimum. For auctions, you want bid amounts and end times refreshed multiple times per day.

Filtering and sorting

A list of 50,000 domains is only useful if you can narrow it down. Look for filters on: TLD (target .com, .fr, or other extensions), minimum age, minimum referring domains, language, price range, and domain type (auction vs closeout vs deleted).

Sorting by quality score or referring domains lets you see the best options first instead of scrolling through pages of low-value names.

How to use an expired domain list

Here's a practical workflow that takes about 15 minutes and gets you to a shortlist of 5-10 buyable domains.

1. Set your filters. Start with your target TLD and a minimum quality score of 50 (or minimum age of 5 years if you prefer). Add a language filter if you're building a site in a specific market.
2. Sort by what matters most. For SEO projects, sort by referring domains or Trust Flow. For resale, sort by domain age or quality score.
3. Scan the top 20-30 results. Look at the domain name, TLD, age, and referring domains count. Star anything that looks promising.
4. Check Wayback history. For each starred domain, open the Wayback Machine and verify the domain had consistent, legitimate content. No casino periods, no pharma spam, no sudden topic changes.
5. Verify the backlink profile. Spot-check the top referring domains in Ahrefs or Majestic. Make sure the links are from real sites, not link farms. Our how to buy expired domains guide covers the full evaluation checklist.
6. Buy on the source platform. Click through to GoDaddy, DropCatch, Catched, or whichever registrar has the domain. Place your bid or register it directly.

Free vs paid expired domain lists

You can get started for free. ExpiredDomains.net is free. CatchDoms has a free tier. The Wayback Machine is free. That combination is enough to find and evaluate domains manually.

Where paid lists pull ahead: speed, data depth, and automation. Paid tools pre-score domains, detect spam automatically, and let you set up alerts so you don't miss a good domain while you're sleeping. If you're buying one domain a year, free tools are fine. If you're buying monthly, the time savings from a paid tool like CatchDoms Pro are worth it. For a full breakdown, see our guide to finding expired domains for free.

Expired domain checkers

An expired domain checker tells you whether a specific domain is expired and what its metrics look like. This is different from a list (which shows you all available domains). You use a checker when you already have a domain name in mind.

• WHOIS lookup (who.is, domaintools.com): free, shows registration status and expiry date. The most basic check.
• Wayback Machine (web.archive.org): free, shows the domain's full archive history. Check for spam periods and consistent content.
• Ahrefs Site Explorer: paid ($99+/mo), shows complete backlink profile, referring domains, and organic traffic history. The gold standard for evaluation.
• Majestic: paid, shows Trust Flow, Citation Flow, and TTF topic. Good for checking link quality specifically.

For a deeper comparison of checking tools, read our expired domain tools and checkers guide.

Quick comparison of expired domain list providers

Browse the CatchDoms expired domain list with backlinks