Why timing matters
Domain drops happen in a narrow window. Once a domain expires, registrars hold it for up to 31 days before releasing it back to the public. Miss that window and you are competing with hundreds of automated drop-catch services in the final seconds.
The advantage goes to whoever sees the status change first — and acts on it.
Step 1: Add your target domains
Import your watchlist via a plain .txt file — one domain per line. Dotily queues them
immediately and begins monitoring DNS and WHOIS records.
Step 2: Enable grace window tracking
Available on Hunter and Master Catcher plans. Grace window tracking starts 7 days before the expiry date and continues through 31 days after — covering the full registrar hold period.
You will get an alert the moment the domain's status flips from registered to expired or pending delete.
Step 3: Set scan priority
Higher-tier plans get higher scan priority. This means your domains are checked more frequently and alerts fire faster. During the final 48 hours of a grace window, scan frequency increases automatically.
Step 4: Act fast
When the alert arrives, head straight to your registrar of choice. Have your account pre-funded and your payment method saved. Every second counts.
Pro tip: use buckets
Group related domains into a bucket (e.g. "brand variants" or "keyword targets"). Buckets make it easy to monitor a category at a glance and bulk-import similar lists.