Left · the labs.llc tool
Expiry watchlist, side by side
Every domain you hold on one dated board: the labs.llc watchlist against two monitoring services that alert before a name lapses.
Right · set against
- UptimeRobot
Domain-expiry checks from WHOIS with alerts before a name lapses.
page checked 2026-09-27 20:06 UTC - Better Stack
Domain-expiry checks built into its uptime and keyword monitors.
page checked 2026-09-27 20:06 UTC
1 · The tool
What it is, and who it is for
Forget to renew a domain and you can lose it. The labs.llc watchlist is a board of every name you hold, checked at each name's own registry and sorted by what runs out first. Where the rules are published it goes past the expiry date and lays out what follows: grace, redemption, deletion, and the window in which the name could come free.
It is built for people holding more than a couple of names: small firms, agencies, IT staff and domain investors.
2 · The workings
How it works
The list lives only in your browser's storage, up to 500 names (dc-watch.js lines 635-636). Each name is sent on its own to the site's WHOIS engine for a quick reading of the registry's RDAP or port-43 record and the nameservers, which the engine caches for six hours. The browser then works out each name's phase, its possible drop window and what changed since the last check, and writes an RFC 5545 calendar file, a CSV and a JSON backup.
- each ending's registry RDAP or port-43 WHOIS, through the site's WHOIS engine in quick mode
- DNS nameservers, as a corroborating signal
Where the work happens: The browser, with a relay for lookupsThe list and all arithmetic stay in the browser; only single-name lookups go to the server.
3 · The test
What we ran, and what came back
Run against a local copy of labs.llc build 537, byte-identical to the live site. Times are UTC.
| What we did | When (UTC) | What came back |
|---|---|---|
| Quick readings of the kind the board runs | 2026-09-27 19:59:48 | example.com: HTTP 200 in 0.21 s, registered, expires 2027-08-13, three client-side locks. bbc.co.uk: HTTP 200 in 0.72 s, expires 2034-12-13, three server-side locks. |
| The page and its alert code | 2026-09-27 20:09:50 | Page HTTP 200, 75,399 bytes. No notification or service-worker code in dc-watch.js: the board updates only while it is open. |
4 · Side by side
Row by row against UptimeRobot, Better Stack
3 to labs.llc2 elsewhere1 level
01Being told in time
Nothing is sent to you. The nearest thing to a reminder is the calendar file, which puts the dates into your own calendar.
Evidence: dc-watch.js: 0 Notification or serviceWorker matchesUptimeRobot alerts 30, 14, 7 and 1 day before expiry by email, SMS, voice call or integrations, on paid plans.
Better Stack lets a team choose the alert timeframe and routes alerts through its incident and on-call tooling; expiry alerts need a paid plan.
If the goal is never to miss a renewal, a monitor that alerts you wins this row outright.
02What happens after the expiry date
For generic endings it lays out ICANN's timetable: up to 45 days of renewal grace, 30 of redemption, 5 of pending delete, so a name could come free no sooner than 35 and no later than 80 days after lapsing. Registry status codes override the arithmetic.
Evidence: dc-watch.js lines 196-200, 258-259, 325UptimeRobot describes alerts in the run-up to expiry.
Better Stack documents expiry checks inside each monitor's settings.
labs.llc keeps reading after the deadline; the monitors' pages we read are about the days before it.
03When a check fails
A failed check shows “Unknown” and never overwrites the last good reading; “could release” is never written as “will release”.
Evidence: dc-watch.js header lines 11-18UptimeRobot says it gathers the expiry data from WHOIS records.
labs.llc spells out its failure rules. We did not test how either service reports a failed WHOIS read.
04Cost and sign-up
Free, no account, no server copy of the list.
Evidence: watchlist/index.html line 948UptimeRobot enables domain monitoring automatically on paid plans.
Better Stack requires a paid plan for expiry alerts.
Nothing to pay and nothing to register for on labs.llc.
05Where the list lives
In one browser. Clearing site data clears it unless you exported the JSON backup.
Evidence: watchlist/index.html lines 948-953UptimeRobot and Better Stack run as hosted monitors, so the watching carries on with no page open.
A hosted monitor survives a new laptop; the labs.llc board needs its backup file.
06What the board is built around
Up to 500 names on one board sorted by what lapses first, whether or not any website runs on them.
Evidence: dc-watch.js line 636UptimeRobot adds expiry checks to monitoring of the same site's uptime.
Better Stack builds them into uptime and keyword monitors.
labs.llc suits a portfolio of names; the monitors suit the sites you already watch, and they check uptime too, which labs.llc does not.
5 · The shortcomings
Where it falls short
- No alerts of any kind: you have to open the page, or rely on the calendar file.
- The list lives in one browser and goes with it unless you keep the JSON backup.
- No dates are drawn for country-code endings, whose registries publish no timetable, so a .uk or .de name gets less help.
6 · The verdict
Which side, for which job
Left: labs.llc Expiry watchlist
Pick the labs.llc board when you hold a list of names and want to see on one screen which lapses first and what would happen if it did.
Right: elsewhere
Pick UptimeRobot or Better Stack when you need to be told without looking, by text, call or an on-call page.
The more thorough reading of each name's expiry and afterlife; the weaker safety net, because it never taps you on the shoulder.
Try Expiry watchlist on labs.llc