6 ms·

I though namecheap was one of the better ones around? I'm looking for a domain registrar. Could share the link with namecheap horror stories? Thanks

by rk249 8y ago

Bluestrike2 8y ago
I think [0] is the article in question; just search the page for the namecheap comments. 0. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18059792 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18059792
- zawerf 8y ago
  It seems like it was just a handful of users who posted their story multiple times. The users highclass, ethanwillis, kweks all had multiple comments only about namecheap on a thread that wasn't directly about namecheap. Can I get more horror stories to confirm those are real? It's unfortunate because namecheap used to have the exact opposite reputation: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3396606 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3396606
  - toomuchtodo 8y ago
    I've had namecheap for about 5 years, no complaints other than their 2FA requiring their own app for TOTP instead of supporting Authy. Moving to Cloudflare Registrar when it's released.
    - iamshs 8y ago
      Biggest problem with them is the 2FA. I had to let my domains expire with them after I lost my phone and couldn’t login back. I just want to use freeOTP to get my 2FA codes and nothing else.
  - jjeaff 8y ago
    I have used them for years and never had a problem. However, they are slowly creeping their prices upward. .com is now a little over $13.00 and they just this year made domain proxy (hiding your contact info on whois) free. I have been moving my stuff to porkbun.com. They are US based and $8.84 for a .com. Cloudflare is an interesting offering, although as of right now, it's not actually launched and it appears that you are required to be routing all your traffic through cloudflare to be able to use their registrar service. I don't know if that is a permanent requirement or just for now though.
    - faster 8y ago
      Yay for porkbun.com! My office is near theirs; nice people, great price. The admin site is pretty bare-bones, but I've never had a problem with it.
    - icebraining 8y ago
      it appears that you are required to be routing all your traffic through cloudflare to be able to use their registrar service. Why do you say this? You can already use their DNS service without routing your traffic through Cloudflare, so it'd be weird that domain registration required that.
  - matt_heimer 8y ago
    I switched to namecheap during the godaddy exodus. Multiple times in the last 30 days they have disabled domains due to requiring whois contact verification. In one case the same domain being disabled 3 times in a row. Each time I'm assured it will not happen again and yet it does. And when it happens, not only do they change your DNS servers but they wipe out all your host records if you use their DNS service so you have to either rebuild your zone or stay online with support for hours while they restore everything. I've also had them revert a domain's DNS servers so that is is parked on an "expired" domain landing page before the domain was expired. I have a client that has also had their domain repeatedly switched to whois validation required this year. The only explanation I've been given is that it was a "system glitch" and won't happen again. Seems likely that some of the issues might have been related to them switching from being an Enom reseller to their own direct ICANN accreditation but I'm still planning on migrating my domains out.
  - kweks 8y ago
    I was one of the upvoted posters there. TLDR: I was issued couriered C&Ds to a postal and email address only used on Namecheap. The attacking party had no court order, subpoena, judgement, etc. Ted from namecheap asked me to email him. He confirmed legal had received the complaints, but said they hadn't replied. He hasn't replied to my email since (3 days ago) to offer any explanation how the attacking lawyers got details on in NC. YMMV, but it is a real issue, which cost me just under 2k in legal fees to unwind. I am definitely moving away from NC, sadly, after 10 years.
    - ted0 8y ago
      Hey, I just replied to your email. Wasn't ignoring you just wanted to get all of the facts.
    - zawerf 8y ago
      Just curious, where are you going to move to? If someone really wanted to sue you, it's pretty cheap to issue subpoenas (<$100). The provider can quash the subpoena on the customers' behalf[1] but I don't know any who does. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doe_subpoena https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doe_subpoena
      - kweks 8y ago
        I am considering moving to CF. The problem that I just learnt is that essentially any SaaS provider has an AUP that says: If anyone accuses you of IP Infringement, you're gone. In theory, this seems fine - because unless you're a Bad Person, you'd never infringe someone's IP. In our instance, our service providers received a swath of C&Ds electronically, alleging IP infringement. Within 24 hours, our various services providers had disclosed personal information, cut off services, blocked payments.. all based on an unfounded email. The legal system is based on due process. This process should be respected. If my service provider gets a legitimate subpoena, I expect them to react. However, I don't expect them to divulge personal information and cut off services based on an unfounded email. It's really, really nuts how quickly you can lose your business / take down someone else's business..
    - kweks 8y ago
sofaofthedamned 8y ago
I used to use namecheap for all my stuff but they went a bit downhill. Their API was worse than useless and so rate limited I couldn't use it for Lets Encrypt DNS challenges in the end, so moved them all. I wonder what the coverage is from CF for 'odd' tlds? I've got a .je domain that I had to register with gandi.net as no other big ones supported it. After I moved my domains from Namecheap I wanted to close the account, rather than leave it dormant, and it took a week as support were so anal about the fact I had 1) some 'free' SSL certificates I had no intention of ever using and 2) 0.56UKP in my account I didn't care about but they wanted to transfer via Paypal to me. I appreciate the thorough nature of this, but i'd rather just close the account.
- newhere420 8y ago
  Am I just misremembering, or was there a time where the only way to register a .je was direct through island networks? I used to live there, and recall the domains always being a bit of a pain.
  - sofaofthedamned 8y ago
    You're correct and they're a proper tinpot organisation. Only other one I could find was gandi.net. £80 per year is horrendous too...
chrisweekly 8y ago
I've been very happy with iwantmyname.com
- Gigablah 8y ago
  Seconding iwantmyname for their no-nonsense UX. Been a happy customer for 4 years.
nickjj 8y ago
I'd say give namesilo.com a shot. $8.99 .coms as a base price, free whois guard for life, solid support and no up-sell spam or BS. I moved almost all of my domains there over the last year'ish.
- jazoom 8y ago
  Everything about Namesilo is perfect except their terrible website. That's a downside I can live with. I also highly recommend them.
  - lazycouchpotato 8y ago
    I love Namesilo and have been using them for over a year with no hiccups. However, they were acquired by a Canadian investment firm earlier this year [1]. Till now there's been no change and things are still running smoothly — I just hope that continues. [1] https://coupontree.co/namesilo-was-sold-for-9-5-million/ https://coupontree.co/namesilo-was-sold-for-9-5-million/
    - jazoom 8y ago
      Thank you for the info. I did not know that. Also, on closer inspection today, I realised that Namesilo does indeed increase renewal fee after the first year. The fee stays the same thereafter, and it's still the cheapest around, but it's worth keeping in mind. I caught onto this when I realised their registration price is actually below the wholesale cost for .com domains, according to this Cloudflare blog post. I might move my domains to Cloudflare when they make this available.
      - nickjj 8y ago
        What price did you get your first year at? If it was with a coupon then I could see it being bumped up but if you get it at $8.99, it will be $8.99 the next year and all years forward.
        8y ago
jrootabega 8y ago
Namecheap is crappy even in the day-to-day context. I had a domain that I had registered with them for about 3-4 years. Suddenly I started getting notices that I needed to verify my contact information, due to their policies about "new" domain registration. Every time they sent the reminder, the deadline moved back accordingly. Only it didn't - the domain was shut down on the first date. Even transferring out was a hassle. I had privacy service, and namecheap sends the confirmation email to the proxy address, and not your actual contact address. They also spam filter the service so aggressively that you won't receive their transfer confirmations...sent FROM namecheap. Luckily, the transfer completed at the end of the window. Their hosted email stinks, too. They spam filter it pretty hard and nothing you can do can effectively whitelist emails. My impression is that they focus on not doing anything actively evil too often, and respond to just enough social media posts to give the impression they're responsive.
- partiallypro 8y ago
  Email verification isn't a Namecheap thing, it was an ICANN thing, it happened to every domain provider.
  - jrootabega 8y ago
    I neglected to mention this happened only a few months ago, after the domain had been quietly and happily registered for several years. Unless you're saying ICANN changed the rules recently, but I'm having trouble finding a record of that.
    - mcny 8y ago
      > namecheap I got a free domain with Github student pack from Namecheap. Just my personal experience, the person I talked to seemed very helpful and kind. However, the multiple rounds of talking to a real person to register a domain makes me think they don't have nearly enough automation which is a red flag.
    - partiallypro 8y ago
      There was a requirement in 2014 (I think?) and recently they updated it in 2017. I think people that weren't meeting guidelines started getting notices from registrars around that time. A few clients of our had this happen to them from everyone from GoDaddy to Network Solutions to NameCheap. Some organizations that had their emails set to go to a person that no longer worked at the company were having their domains suspended...but it was all because of ICANN.
brobinson 8y ago
If you are using PrivateInternetAccess, you can't login to your NameCheap account. As in, your valid username and password will be rejected. This happens even if you have 2fa enabled. I reset my password twice (even though I _knew_ the original because I use a password manager) before I opened a support case, and they confirmed that they block legitimate logins if they detect you're using a VPN. I wanted to move off of them, but everyone else is worse. CF Registrar is interesting, but there is precedent for CF revoking its services from non-abusive customers before (whatever that alt-right site was) so I don't think I will support them either. I heard Gandhi is good so I might check them out.
- voltagex_ 8y ago
  Gandi is good, I think the site upgrade is done now so there won't be much clunkiness for new domains. They're more expensive than most, but I've had no problems. I only use their DNS though, I can't comment on mail, mail forwarding or hosting.
  - colde 8y ago
    I've had the opposite experience with them. Things not working correctly, and a beyond useless support, who can only be contacted by email and often takes 24-48 hours to respond to even simply queries. I would stay away from them.
  - Hasknewbie 8y ago
    Gandi are nice to you until you move your domain somewhere else, at which point they will immediately drop the privacy on your whois record until their version expires, as a nice parting gift. I complained to their support when that happened and they basically lied to my face, pretending to see only the new registrar's whois. Caveat emptor.
    - voltagex_ 8y ago
      Ah shit. Thanks for the heads up.
  - 8y ago
tokyodude 8y ago
not sur about horror stories but IIRC namecheap only supports SMS 2 factor which is insecure and not recommended by NIST namecheap also can't handle standard 410 character DKIM records from gsuite since their internal DB only allows 256 character records
- dawnerd 8y ago
  They also apparently support 2fa using just their app. REALLY wish they'd allow 3rd party. They used to be amazing but recently their site has been slow and buggy with support trying to be helpful but ultimately falling short. Their prices seem to have also gone from being really good to just normal.
- allornothing 8y ago
  I ran into this same issue a few days ago where I needed to enter a long DKIM key into AWS Route53. Some providers might handle it differently, but this is a inherent DNS protocol limitation. You can split the string into multiple substrings, seperated by a space. Etc "long string..." => "long st" "ring...".
spurgu 8y ago
Some things off the top of my head (personal experiences): 1. Have had them turn off private WHOIS for all (hundreds of) domains "by accident". 2. I haven't figured out a way to export a list of domains after their UI revamp some years ago. 3. At some point they started setting DNS records for newly purchased domains to their landing page with a 30 minute TTL, which makes setting up something on the fly impossible, unless you use their API: 4. Their API is flaky at best. I wrote a script to register domains and set NS records and was forced to write a loop to set NS records up to 10 times until they got set properly.

I though namecheap was one of the better ones around? I'm looking for a domain registrar. Could share the link with namecheap horror stories? Thanks

by rk249 8y ago

I though namecheap was one of the better ones around? I'm looking for a domain registrar. Could share the link with namecheap horror stories? Thanks

Bluestrike2 8y ago

I think [0] is the article in question; just search the page for the namecheap comments. 0. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18059792 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18059792

zawerf 8y ago
It seems like it was just a handful of users who posted their story multiple times. The users highclass, ethanwillis, kweks all had multiple comments only about namecheap on a thread that wasn't directly about namecheap. Can I get more horror stories to confirm those are real? It's unfortunate because namecheap used to have the exact opposite reputation: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3396606 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3396606
- toomuchtodo 8y ago
  I've had namecheap for about 5 years, no complaints other than their 2FA requiring their own app for TOTP instead of supporting Authy. Moving to Cloudflare Registrar when it's released.
  - iamshs 8y ago
    Biggest problem with them is the 2FA. I had to let my domains expire with them after I lost my phone and couldn’t login back. I just want to use freeOTP to get my 2FA codes and nothing else.
- jjeaff 8y ago
  I have used them for years and never had a problem. However, they are slowly creeping their prices upward. .com is now a little over $13.00 and they just this year made domain proxy (hiding your contact info on whois) free. I have been moving my stuff to porkbun.com. They are US based and $8.84 for a .com. Cloudflare is an interesting offering, although as of right now, it's not actually launched and it appears that you are required to be routing all your traffic through cloudflare to be able to use their registrar service. I don't know if that is a permanent requirement or just for now though.
  - faster 8y ago
    Yay for porkbun.com! My office is near theirs; nice people, great price. The admin site is pretty bare-bones, but I've never had a problem with it.
  - icebraining 8y ago
    it appears that you are required to be routing all your traffic through cloudflare to be able to use their registrar service. Why do you say this? You can already use their DNS service without routing your traffic through Cloudflare, so it'd be weird that domain registration required that.
- matt_heimer 8y ago
  I switched to namecheap during the godaddy exodus. Multiple times in the last 30 days they have disabled domains due to requiring whois contact verification. In one case the same domain being disabled 3 times in a row. Each time I'm assured it will not happen again and yet it does. And when it happens, not only do they change your DNS servers but they wipe out all your host records if you use their DNS service so you have to either rebuild your zone or stay online with support for hours while they restore everything. I've also had them revert a domain's DNS servers so that is is parked on an "expired" domain landing page before the domain was expired. I have a client that has also had their domain repeatedly switched to whois validation required this year. The only explanation I've been given is that it was a "system glitch" and won't happen again. Seems likely that some of the issues might have been related to them switching from being an Enom reseller to their own direct ICANN accreditation but I'm still planning on migrating my domains out.
- kweks 8y ago
  I was one of the upvoted posters there. TLDR: I was issued couriered C&Ds to a postal and email address only used on Namecheap. The attacking party had no court order, subpoena, judgement, etc. Ted from namecheap asked me to email him. He confirmed legal had received the complaints, but said they hadn't replied. He hasn't replied to my email since (3 days ago) to offer any explanation how the attacking lawyers got details on in NC. YMMV, but it is a real issue, which cost me just under 2k in legal fees to unwind. I am definitely moving away from NC, sadly, after 10 years.
  - ted0 8y ago
    Hey, I just replied to your email. Wasn't ignoring you just wanted to get all of the facts.
  - zawerf 8y ago
    Just curious, where are you going to move to? If someone really wanted to sue you, it's pretty cheap to issue subpoenas (<$100). The provider can quash the subpoena on the customers' behalf[1] but I don't know any who does. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doe_subpoena https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doe_subpoena
    - kweks 8y ago
      I am considering moving to CF. The problem that I just learnt is that essentially any SaaS provider has an AUP that says: If anyone accuses you of IP Infringement, you're gone. In theory, this seems fine - because unless you're a Bad Person, you'd never infringe someone's IP. In our instance, our service providers received a swath of C&Ds electronically, alleging IP infringement. Within 24 hours, our various services providers had disclosed personal information, cut off services, blocked payments.. all based on an unfounded email. The legal system is based on due process. This process should be respected. If my service provider gets a legitimate subpoena, I expect them to react. However, I don't expect them to divulge personal information and cut off services based on an unfounded email. It's really, really nuts how quickly you can lose your business / take down someone else's business..
  - kweks 8y ago

sofaofthedamned 8y ago

I used to use namecheap for all my stuff but they went a bit downhill. Their API was worse than useless and so rate limited I couldn't use it for Lets Encrypt DNS challenges in the end, so moved them all. I wonder what the coverage is from CF for 'odd' tlds? I've got a .je domain that I had to register with gandi.net as no other big ones supported it. After I moved my domains from Namecheap I wanted to close the account, rather than leave it dormant, and it took a week as support were so anal about the fact I had 1) some 'free' SSL certificates I had no intention of ever using and 2) 0.56UKP in my account I didn't care about but they wanted to transfer via Paypal to me. I appreciate the thorough nature of this, but i'd rather just close the account.

newhere420 8y ago
Am I just misremembering, or was there a time where the only way to register a .je was direct through island networks? I used to live there, and recall the domains always being a bit of a pain.
- sofaofthedamned 8y ago
  You're correct and they're a proper tinpot organisation. Only other one I could find was gandi.net. £80 per year is horrendous too...

chrisweekly 8y ago

I've been very happy with iwantmyname.com

Gigablah 8y ago
Seconding iwantmyname for their no-nonsense UX. Been a happy customer for 4 years.

nickjj 8y ago

I'd say give namesilo.com a shot. $8.99 .coms as a base price, free whois guard for life, solid support and no up-sell spam or BS. I moved almost all of my domains there over the last year'ish.

jazoom 8y ago
Everything about Namesilo is perfect except their terrible website. That's a downside I can live with. I also highly recommend them.
- lazycouchpotato 8y ago
  I love Namesilo and have been using them for over a year with no hiccups. However, they were acquired by a Canadian investment firm earlier this year [1]. Till now there's been no change and things are still running smoothly — I just hope that continues. [1] https://coupontree.co/namesilo-was-sold-for-9-5-million/ https://coupontree.co/namesilo-was-sold-for-9-5-million/
  - jazoom 8y ago
    Thank you for the info. I did not know that. Also, on closer inspection today, I realised that Namesilo does indeed increase renewal fee after the first year. The fee stays the same thereafter, and it's still the cheapest around, but it's worth keeping in mind. I caught onto this when I realised their registration price is actually below the wholesale cost for .com domains, according to this Cloudflare blog post. I might move my domains to Cloudflare when they make this available.
    - nickjj 8y ago
      What price did you get your first year at? If it was with a coupon then I could see it being bumped up but if you get it at $8.99, it will be $8.99 the next year and all years forward.
      - 8y ago

jrootabega 8y ago

Namecheap is crappy even in the day-to-day context. I had a domain that I had registered with them for about 3-4 years. Suddenly I started getting notices that I needed to verify my contact information, due to their policies about "new" domain registration. Every time they sent the reminder, the deadline moved back accordingly. Only it didn't - the domain was shut down on the first date. Even transferring out was a hassle. I had privacy service, and namecheap sends the confirmation email to the proxy address, and not your actual contact address. They also spam filter the service so aggressively that you won't receive their transfer confirmations...sent FROM namecheap. Luckily, the transfer completed at the end of the window. Their hosted email stinks, too. They spam filter it pretty hard and nothing you can do can effectively whitelist emails. My impression is that they focus on not doing anything actively evil too often, and respond to just enough social media posts to give the impression they're responsive.

partiallypro 8y ago
Email verification isn't a Namecheap thing, it was an ICANN thing, it happened to every domain provider.
- jrootabega 8y ago
  I neglected to mention this happened only a few months ago, after the domain had been quietly and happily registered for several years. Unless you're saying ICANN changed the rules recently, but I'm having trouble finding a record of that.
  - mcny 8y ago
    > namecheap I got a free domain with Github student pack from Namecheap. Just my personal experience, the person I talked to seemed very helpful and kind. However, the multiple rounds of talking to a real person to register a domain makes me think they don't have nearly enough automation which is a red flag.
  - partiallypro 8y ago
    There was a requirement in 2014 (I think?) and recently they updated it in 2017. I think people that weren't meeting guidelines started getting notices from registrars around that time. A few clients of our had this happen to them from everyone from GoDaddy to Network Solutions to NameCheap. Some organizations that had their emails set to go to a person that no longer worked at the company were having their domains suspended...but it was all because of ICANN.

brobinson 8y ago

If you are using PrivateInternetAccess, you can't login to your NameCheap account. As in, your valid username and password will be rejected. This happens even if you have 2fa enabled. I reset my password twice (even though I _knew_ the original because I use a password manager) before I opened a support case, and they confirmed that they block legitimate logins if they detect you're using a VPN. I wanted to move off of them, but everyone else is worse. CF Registrar is interesting, but there is precedent for CF revoking its services from non-abusive customers before (whatever that alt-right site was) so I don't think I will support them either. I heard Gandhi is good so I might check them out.

voltagex_ 8y ago
Gandi is good, I think the site upgrade is done now so there won't be much clunkiness for new domains. They're more expensive than most, but I've had no problems. I only use their DNS though, I can't comment on mail, mail forwarding or hosting.
- colde 8y ago
  I've had the opposite experience with them. Things not working correctly, and a beyond useless support, who can only be contacted by email and often takes 24-48 hours to respond to even simply queries. I would stay away from them.
- Hasknewbie 8y ago
  Gandi are nice to you until you move your domain somewhere else, at which point they will immediately drop the privacy on your whois record until their version expires, as a nice parting gift. I complained to their support when that happened and they basically lied to my face, pretending to see only the new registrar's whois. Caveat emptor.
  - voltagex_ 8y ago
    Ah shit. Thanks for the heads up.
- 8y ago

tokyodude 8y ago

not sur about horror stories but IIRC namecheap only supports SMS 2 factor which is insecure and not recommended by NIST namecheap also can't handle standard 410 character DKIM records from gsuite since their internal DB only allows 256 character records

dawnerd 8y ago
They also apparently support 2fa using just their app. REALLY wish they'd allow 3rd party. They used to be amazing but recently their site has been slow and buggy with support trying to be helpful but ultimately falling short. Their prices seem to have also gone from being really good to just normal.
allornothing 8y ago
I ran into this same issue a few days ago where I needed to enter a long DKIM key into AWS Route53. Some providers might handle it differently, but this is a inherent DNS protocol limitation. You can split the string into multiple substrings, seperated by a space. Etc "long string..." => "long st" "ring...".

spurgu 8y ago

Some things off the top of my head (personal experiences): 1. Have had them turn off private WHOIS for all (hundreds of) domains "by accident". 2. I haven't figured out a way to export a list of domains after their UI revamp some years ago. 3. At some point they started setting DNS records for newly purchased domains to their landing page with a 30 minute TTL, which makes setting up something on the fly impossible, unless you use their API: 4. Their API is flaky at best. I wrote a script to register domains and set NS records and was forced to write a loop to set NS records up to 10 times until they got set properly.