7 ms·

For those here asking about alternatives (rightfully so as GoDaddy is one of the sleaziest companies in the field), I recommend Gandi.net as domain registrar. N

For those here asking about alternatives (rightfully so as GoDaddy is one of the sleaziest companies in the field), I recommend Gandi.net as domain registrar. Namecheap is also good but they have a lot less TLD coverage. Digital ocean for small scale hosting, too.

1337biz 10y ago
I hate Gandi. A long time ago I lost 2 really valuable domains because they sent the renew reminder only to my account email, not the whois emails. Godaddy is anoying as hell but at least they keep me updated no matter if I want it or not.
- scrollaway 10y ago
  Despite recommending them I have some gripes with Gandi but I have to say that's a really weird thing to hate them for. You have valuable domains behind an email address you're not checking?
  - tobltobs 10y ago
    and apparently auto renewal wasn't enabled.
  - 1337biz 10y ago
    Yes. I have most of my domains with a local registar and used Gandi only because it was for a rarer domain extension.
JoshTriplett 10y ago
Seconded. Gandi also includes email hosting with domains, so you can easily handle email without having to run a mail server. And their server hosting works well too.
netule 10y ago
For domain name registration, I can't recommend NearlyFreeSpeech.net[1] enough. I moved all my domains there (around 30 at the time) from GoDaddy about 3 years ago and never looked back. [1] https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/about/ https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/about/
- exolymph 10y ago
  Nearly Free Speech is best-in-class in just about every way. If anyone wants an overview of the service, I wrote an article about them a little while ago: http://winningwp.com/nearlyfreespeech-web-hosting-review/ http://winningwp.com/nearlyfreespeech-web-hosting-review/ That review is on a WordPress-oriented site, but it includes screenshots of the interface, which might interest some of you.
- NFSthrowawry88 10y ago
  Normally just lurk, but decided to create a throwaway to pile on love for NearlyFreeSpeech.net. If you're a no frills, I know how DNS works, don't annoy me with marketing and gimmicks type of hacker, this is the registrar for you. Switched to them in 2009 (crazy to see in my email how long it's been!). I get an email when things need renewing, and an email when there is some stupid hoop ICANN requires me to jump through, which to be fair has only been like 2-3 times in 8 years. I only manage 10-15 domains at any given time. If you have more, I don't know how well this works with huge numbers, but for my load, they work perfectly. I've used GoDaddy, Ghandi, and others. I prefer the minimalism of NFS by far. That link again! (call mr plow): https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/about/ https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/about/
- dingaling 10y ago
  It's not really clear from their website but to register a domain only ( no hosting ) you have to deposit into an NFS account first including 'deposit fees' that they charge, plus any international payment fees charged by your institution. Slightly awkward and seems likely to leave an unusuable residue, as opposed to just paying the required amount directly.
  - netule 10y ago
Alupis 10y ago
No one has mentioned it yet, but I've found Google Domains to be quite pleasant. No fuss, and the pricing is reasonable. They do email forwarding, and a few other things, but otherwise is just a basic registrar/dns provider. Since the whole SOPA/PIPA fiasco, I've been moving all my domains from GoDaddy to Google Domains as they expire.
- scrollaway 10y ago
  Google Domains isn't available in every country, and has poor TLD coverage. As for SOPA/PIPA those were my main initial drivers towards Gandi. They were one of the first to be vocally against SOPA and to offer massive discounts for godaddy transfers.
- ceejayoz 10y ago
  I worry about Google Domains and any inadvertent (or false-positive) TOS violation in any of their other services nuking my domains.
  - dingaling 10y ago
    Can't you just create additional, unassociated Google Accounts? It's probably good practice for any registrar anyhow. I ended-up doing this for GANDI after receiving this out of the blue: It is very important that you confirm that your email address works and that we can reach you at this address. If we do not get your confirmation, the domain names that are associated with this email address will be deactivated on 2016-08-12 Consider that if the e-mail address hadn't worked then I wouldn't have had any domains after a week and wouldn't have known why. Not a risk that I can accept. So I split each domain onto a new 'handle' so that there's less risk of total loss, and now I am planning to spread across other registrars.
    - jlgaddis 10y ago
      Pretty sure that's a new (recent) ICANN thing that all registrars will be doing eventually (confirmation of data in WHOIS).
ohashi 10y ago
If you're looking for hosting info, my startup tracks twitter sentiment of many of the big companies including GoDaddy. http://reviewsignal.com/webhosting/compare/ http://reviewsignal.com/webhosting/compare/ GoDaddy still hasn't recovered from Bob Parsons and all the drama around super bowl ads, sopa, elephants, etc. Not sure how they ever get past that, at least in the WordPress space their product is technically pretty decent.
marcosdumay 10y ago
I have to second that Gandi recommendation. NameCheap is cheaper, but its site has pretty bad usability (to the point that I needed to call support once), and does not support DNSSec (or, at least didn't when I decided to switch).
stephenhuey 10y ago
I've looked at all of those and I prefer this team's simple & straightforward service for registering domains: https://iwantmyname.com https://iwantmyname.com

1337biz 10y ago

I hate Gandi. A long time ago I lost 2 really valuable domains because they sent the renew reminder only to my account email, not the whois emails. Godaddy is anoying as hell but at least they keep me updated no matter if I want it or not.

scrollaway 10y ago
Despite recommending them I have some gripes with Gandi but I have to say that's a really weird thing to hate them for. You have valuable domains behind an email address you're not checking?
- tobltobs 10y ago
  and apparently auto renewal wasn't enabled.
- 1337biz 10y ago
  Yes. I have most of my domains with a local registar and used Gandi only because it was for a rarer domain extension.

JoshTriplett 10y ago

Seconded. Gandi also includes email hosting with domains, so you can easily handle email without having to run a mail server. And their server hosting works well too.

netule 10y ago

For domain name registration, I can't recommend NearlyFreeSpeech.net[1] enough. I moved all my domains there (around 30 at the time) from GoDaddy about 3 years ago and never looked back. [1] https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/about/ https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/about/

exolymph 10y ago
Nearly Free Speech is best-in-class in just about every way. If anyone wants an overview of the service, I wrote an article about them a little while ago: http://winningwp.com/nearlyfreespeech-web-hosting-review/ http://winningwp.com/nearlyfreespeech-web-hosting-review/ That review is on a WordPress-oriented site, but it includes screenshots of the interface, which might interest some of you.
NFSthrowawry88 10y ago
Normally just lurk, but decided to create a throwaway to pile on love for NearlyFreeSpeech.net. If you're a no frills, I know how DNS works, don't annoy me with marketing and gimmicks type of hacker, this is the registrar for you. Switched to them in 2009 (crazy to see in my email how long it's been!). I get an email when things need renewing, and an email when there is some stupid hoop ICANN requires me to jump through, which to be fair has only been like 2-3 times in 8 years. I only manage 10-15 domains at any given time. If you have more, I don't know how well this works with huge numbers, but for my load, they work perfectly. I've used GoDaddy, Ghandi, and others. I prefer the minimalism of NFS by far. That link again! (call mr plow): https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/about/ https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/about/
dingaling 10y ago
It's not really clear from their website but to register a domain only ( no hosting ) you have to deposit into an NFS account first including 'deposit fees' that they charge, plus any international payment fees charged by your institution. Slightly awkward and seems likely to leave an unusuable residue, as opposed to just paying the required amount directly.
- netule 10y ago

Alupis 10y ago

No one has mentioned it yet, but I've found Google Domains to be quite pleasant. No fuss, and the pricing is reasonable. They do email forwarding, and a few other things, but otherwise is just a basic registrar/dns provider. Since the whole SOPA/PIPA fiasco, I've been moving all my domains from GoDaddy to Google Domains as they expire.

scrollaway 10y ago
Google Domains isn't available in every country, and has poor TLD coverage. As for SOPA/PIPA those were my main initial drivers towards Gandi. They were one of the first to be vocally against SOPA and to offer massive discounts for godaddy transfers.
ceejayoz 10y ago
I worry about Google Domains and any inadvertent (or false-positive) TOS violation in any of their other services nuking my domains.
- dingaling 10y ago
  Can't you just create additional, unassociated Google Accounts? It's probably good practice for any registrar anyhow. I ended-up doing this for GANDI after receiving this out of the blue: It is very important that you confirm that your email address works and that we can reach you at this address. If we do not get your confirmation, the domain names that are associated with this email address will be deactivated on 2016-08-12 Consider that if the e-mail address hadn't worked then I wouldn't have had any domains after a week and wouldn't have known why. Not a risk that I can accept. So I split each domain onto a new 'handle' so that there's less risk of total loss, and now I am planning to spread across other registrars.
  - jlgaddis 10y ago
    Pretty sure that's a new (recent) ICANN thing that all registrars will be doing eventually (confirmation of data in WHOIS).

ohashi 10y ago

If you're looking for hosting info, my startup tracks twitter sentiment of many of the big companies including GoDaddy. http://reviewsignal.com/webhosting/compare/ http://reviewsignal.com/webhosting/compare/ GoDaddy still hasn't recovered from Bob Parsons and all the drama around super bowl ads, sopa, elephants, etc. Not sure how they ever get past that, at least in the WordPress space their product is technically pretty decent.

marcosdumay 10y ago

I have to second that Gandi recommendation. NameCheap is cheaper, but its site has pretty bad usability (to the point that I needed to call support once), and does not support DNSSec (or, at least didn't when I decided to switch).

stephenhuey 10y ago

I've looked at all of those and I prefer this team's simple & straightforward service for registering domains: https://iwantmyname.com https://iwantmyname.com