About drop-catch

Drop-catch helps you get hold of a domain name that's about to expire — even if you're not the current owner — by watching it, telling you how likely you are to catch it, and (if you want) trying to grab it the instant it's free. It's for anyone who has their eye on a name someone else currently holds.

Overview

• Watch any domain you want and follow it through its expiry lifecycle.
• See two easy-to-read scores for each watch — how good the name is, and how likely it is to actually be released — each with a plain-language reason.
• Get alerted at the key moments: dropping soon, available, went to auction, caught, or failed.
• Choose how you want to try to catch it: just get notified, register it yourself, or use a backorder service.

Watch a domain

1. Go to Drop Catch in the sidebar.
2. Select Watch a domain.
3. Type the full domain name you want to watch.
4. Optionally add Notes (optional) and one or more entries under Add a tag….
5. Select + More options if you want to set a Priority: {n}/10 or adjust other settings, or − Fewer options to collapse them again.
6. Choose how you'd like InfraNest to try to catch the name when it drops:
   • Just alert me
   • Register with my own registrar
   • Use a backorder service
7. If you chose Register with my own registrar, pick your Registrars to use (a target plus backups).
8. Select Start watching.

Once added, you'll see a confirmation like Now watching {name}, and the domain appears in All watches.

NoteIf a domain can't be added, you'll see Couldn't add domain — double-check the spelling and try again.

Choose how to catch a name

When you set up or edit a watch, you decide what happens the moment the domain drops:

1. Just alert me — InfraNest tells you the instant the name is available, and you register it yourself wherever you like.
2. Register with my own registrar — InfraNest automatically registers the domain through your connected registrar accounts as soon as it drops. This works well for names that aren't heavily contested.
3. Use a backorder service — a specialist service (Dynadot) attempts to catch the name for you ahead of the drop. This gives you the best chance at a contested name. You're only charged if it wins, from your funded account.

TipCheck the Catchability score on a watch before deciding — for low-competition names, your own registrar is usually enough; for hotly contested names, a backorder service gives you a real shot.

Understand a name that's gone to auction

Some expiring domains are routed to a registrar auction instead of dropping for re-registration — bidding is the only way to get these.

1. Open Drop Catch and find the domain — watches sent to auction are flagged In auction.
2. Select the watch to open it.
3. Use the "bid here" link to go straight to the auction listing, where available details include the current price, bid count and end time.

Manage your watch list

1. Go to Drop Catch to see all your watched domains in one list.
2. Use Search to find a specific domain, or Filter — including the In auction filter — to narrow the list.
3. Sort the list by Catchability to prioritise the names most likely to be caught.
4. Add tags to any watch using Add a tag…, or view all watches under All watches / Watching.
5. Select Open monitor or select the watch itself to see its lifecycle timeline, Domain quality and Catchability scores, catch setup, and WHOIS history.
6. To stop watching a domain, select Remove from watch list.

Tips

• Each watch shows Last checked and Next check times, so you always know when InfraNest last looked at the domain and when it will check again.
• Domain quality and catchability scores each come with a plain "why" explanation — use these to decide which catch method suits each name.