4 ms·

Ask YC: What is a good (and cheap) domain name registrar?

12 points by sayhello 18y ago

I am looking for good registrars. The standard seems to be about $10 for a .com for a decent registrar. I am not concerned with exotic TLD's, but having the option is nice.

agentbleu 18y ago
better to use one that has a good support, trouble I have had in changing registers is unbelievable. I now use omnis as they are quick, but not cheapest. Still not great support from them either. But at least there system works. Dreamhost were bad as was 1&1.
aneesh 18y ago
Namecheap.com
- wanorris 18y ago
  Seconded. Also, if you want to save a buck a domain or so, do a Google search for the current coupon code before you check out.
- thomasswift 18y ago
  i used namecheap and will continue, but they blindsided me with the free domain name protector for the first year, then you have to pay for it for the following years, but aware, but not a deal breaker. the interface is so much cleaner then gocrappys
  - bridgetroll 18y ago
    godaddy (blindsided with fees) did the same thing to me. I've started using namecheap, as it was a few cents cheaper and the interface is an order of magnitude cleaner.
- bjclark 18y ago
  Thirded. I've used them for much longer than I can remember, and they have never ever let me down.
- savrajsingh 18y ago
  namecheap is great.
lpgauth 18y ago
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=150561 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=150561
alarmist 18y ago
I recently used http://domainsarefree.com/ http://domainsarefree.com/ for the first time. It was easy, and their email support is pretty quick.
truebosko 18y ago
I like Yahoo domains. Fast, simple, and from a company you can really trust. GoDaddy is annoying, too much ads.
eisokant 18y ago
I have had great experiences with Namecheap.com but when buying in bulk (100+) I strongly recommend Team Resellerclub, where I've being able to register domains for several dollars.
kirubakaran 18y ago
https://www.NearlyFreeSpeech.net/ https://www.NearlyFreeSpeech.net/ Good guys. $8 domain names. Hassle-free interface.
prakash 18y ago
http://www.1and1.com http://www.1and1.com
- rksprst 18y ago
  You get free private registration with them. They're also cheap.
swombat 18y ago
I use register.com. It's pricier than some of the others, but the interface is excellent, unlike the other two providers I've used (GoDaddy and 123-reg, which both have awful user interfaces). Worth the extra buck imho. Daniel
- bigtoga 18y ago
  I used register.com for a domain and let me tell you: when you want to transfer a domain away from them, they follow the, "If we make it damn impossible and frustrating for users to move away, a lot of them will give up during the process and we'll keep them!" way of thinking.
workpost 18y ago
Godaddy has never let me down but, I'll admit, some of the stories floating around about them are frightening.
russ 18y ago
google: "yahoo 1.99 domain" and click on the first sponsored link. If you sign up for a new email acct every time (<domain_name>_domain@yahoo.com), you get the first year for 1.99. Just make sure you remember to either switch to another registrar after a year or cancel otherwise they auto-renew for 9.99
DenisM 18y ago
It's convenient to co-locate your domain registrar and your DNS server, so it makes sense to evaluate DNS quality when making decision. I have picked DynDNS for super-low TTL and pretty good DNS reliability story. If all I want is just sit on domain until its useful, I may pick yahoo instead.
kyro 18y ago
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=150561 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=150561 I use GoDaddy, but as others have pointed out, there are some frightening stories about them floating around.
- melvinram 18y ago
  I use GoDaddy. Their ads are annoying but their nameserver & DSN changes are fast. Also, do a quick Google search for "godaddy coupon" and you'll find coupons for $6.95/domain coupons.
- greyman 18y ago
  Me too. No problems so far.
- xenoterracide 18y ago
  I'm boycotting godaddy since they made that deal with microsoft, and all parked domains go on windows machnes. I've used namecheap and joker without incident. I like namecheap's interface better. I should note that I've used Enom too.
Ian-RK 18y ago
Careful with GoDaddy. One of our fairly innocuous link request emails (yeah I know, I know) got reported to Godaddy and they threatened to re-absorb our domain. Fortunately our sysadmin defused the issue. I can't recommend an alternative as we're still at GoDaddy because our higher-ups don't take domain asset management as seriously as they should. Most of my personal stuff was registered through doteasy.com, and I have no complaints after 2+ years with them, though these sites typically do light duty, YMMV etc
Dylanfm 18y ago
I've been using Yahoo lately and haven't been disappointed. In the past I have used Gandi, which worked well until Visa's extra security screen (which doesn't work in Safari or Firefox) came along. Earlier this year I registered 3 .com.au domains with Enetica totalling to ~$200 and they charged my account 3 times. I wondered why I had been charged over $600, rang them up and got refunded within a week or so.
cylonus 18y ago
I recently switch all my domains from godaddy to namecheap and is happy. I wanted to use 1and1.com but they can not accept my order as they are not able to "establish a clear system with regards to the ordering,maintenance and billing processes." with the country Singapore I am living in. Make me feel like I am in 1980s again. :-)
michael_dorfman 18y ago
How many domains are you planning on registering, that price is a significant issue?
girk 18y ago
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned NearlyFreeSpeech yet. They offer very reasonably priced a-la-carte hosting solutions, with no monthly plan requirement, so you don't get screwed for going over maximum bandwidth... or under. It's great for small sites. And for only an extra $0.01 a day for a "Respect My Privacy" service to hide your registration information. Domain registrations are fairly cheap at $7.99. They also have great tech-support. https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/ https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/
Detect 18y ago
Use http://www.domize.com http://www.domize.com which is hooked up to GoDaddy, but you get a steep discount at $6.95.
adrianwaj 18y ago
<$9 http://www.mydomain.com/ http://www.mydomain.com/

12 points by sayhello 18y ago

I am looking for good registrars. The standard seems to be about $10 for a .com for a decent registrar. I am not concerned with exotic TLD's, but having the option is nice.

agentbleu 18y ago

better to use one that has a good support, trouble I have had in changing registers is unbelievable. I now use omnis as they are quick, but not cheapest. Still not great support from them either. But at least there system works. Dreamhost were bad as was 1&1.

aneesh 18y ago

Namecheap.com

wanorris 18y ago
Seconded. Also, if you want to save a buck a domain or so, do a Google search for the current coupon code before you check out.
thomasswift 18y ago
i used namecheap and will continue, but they blindsided me with the free domain name protector for the first year, then you have to pay for it for the following years, but aware, but not a deal breaker. the interface is so much cleaner then gocrappys
- bridgetroll 18y ago
  godaddy (blindsided with fees) did the same thing to me. I've started using namecheap, as it was a few cents cheaper and the interface is an order of magnitude cleaner.
bjclark 18y ago
Thirded. I've used them for much longer than I can remember, and they have never ever let me down.
savrajsingh 18y ago
namecheap is great.

lpgauth 18y ago

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=150561 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=150561

alarmist 18y ago

I recently used http://domainsarefree.com/ http://domainsarefree.com/ for the first time. It was easy, and their email support is pretty quick.

truebosko 18y ago

I like Yahoo domains. Fast, simple, and from a company you can really trust. GoDaddy is annoying, too much ads.

eisokant 18y ago

I have had great experiences with Namecheap.com but when buying in bulk (100+) I strongly recommend Team Resellerclub, where I've being able to register domains for several dollars.

kirubakaran 18y ago

https://www.NearlyFreeSpeech.net/ https://www.NearlyFreeSpeech.net/ Good guys. $8 domain names. Hassle-free interface.

prakash 18y ago

http://www.1and1.com http://www.1and1.com

rksprst 18y ago
You get free private registration with them. They're also cheap.

swombat 18y ago

I use register.com. It's pricier than some of the others, but the interface is excellent, unlike the other two providers I've used (GoDaddy and 123-reg, which both have awful user interfaces). Worth the extra buck imho. Daniel

bigtoga 18y ago
I used register.com for a domain and let me tell you: when you want to transfer a domain away from them, they follow the, "If we make it damn impossible and frustrating for users to move away, a lot of them will give up during the process and we'll keep them!" way of thinking.

workpost 18y ago

Godaddy has never let me down but, I'll admit, some of the stories floating around about them are frightening.

russ 18y ago

google: "yahoo 1.99 domain" and click on the first sponsored link. If you sign up for a new email acct every time (<domain_name>_domain@yahoo.com), you get the first year for 1.99. Just make sure you remember to either switch to another registrar after a year or cancel otherwise they auto-renew for 9.99

DenisM 18y ago

It's convenient to co-locate your domain registrar and your DNS server, so it makes sense to evaluate DNS quality when making decision. I have picked DynDNS for super-low TTL and pretty good DNS reliability story. If all I want is just sit on domain until its useful, I may pick yahoo instead.

kyro 18y ago

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=150561 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=150561 I use GoDaddy, but as others have pointed out, there are some frightening stories about them floating around.

melvinram 18y ago
I use GoDaddy. Their ads are annoying but their nameserver & DSN changes are fast. Also, do a quick Google search for "godaddy coupon" and you'll find coupons for $6.95/domain coupons.
greyman 18y ago
Me too. No problems so far.
xenoterracide 18y ago
I'm boycotting godaddy since they made that deal with microsoft, and all parked domains go on windows machnes. I've used namecheap and joker without incident. I like namecheap's interface better. I should note that I've used Enom too.

Ian-RK 18y ago

Careful with GoDaddy. One of our fairly innocuous link request emails (yeah I know, I know) got reported to Godaddy and they threatened to re-absorb our domain. Fortunately our sysadmin defused the issue. I can't recommend an alternative as we're still at GoDaddy because our higher-ups don't take domain asset management as seriously as they should. Most of my personal stuff was registered through doteasy.com, and I have no complaints after 2+ years with them, though these sites typically do light duty, YMMV etc

Dylanfm 18y ago

I've been using Yahoo lately and haven't been disappointed. In the past I have used Gandi, which worked well until Visa's extra security screen (which doesn't work in Safari or Firefox) came along. Earlier this year I registered 3 .com.au domains with Enetica totalling to ~$200 and they charged my account 3 times. I wondered why I had been charged over $600, rang them up and got refunded within a week or so.

cylonus 18y ago

I recently switch all my domains from godaddy to namecheap and is happy. I wanted to use 1and1.com but they can not accept my order as they are not able to "establish a clear system with regards to the ordering,maintenance and billing processes." with the country Singapore I am living in. Make me feel like I am in 1980s again. :-)

michael_dorfman 18y ago

How many domains are you planning on registering, that price is a significant issue?

girk 18y ago

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned NearlyFreeSpeech yet. They offer very reasonably priced a-la-carte hosting solutions, with no monthly plan requirement, so you don't get screwed for going over maximum bandwidth... or under. It's great for small sites. And for only an extra $0.01 a day for a "Respect My Privacy" service to hide your registration information. Domain registrations are fairly cheap at $7.99. They also have great tech-support. https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/ https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/

Detect 18y ago

Use http://www.domize.com http://www.domize.com which is hooked up to GoDaddy, but you get a steep discount at $6.95.

adrianwaj 18y ago

<$9 http://www.mydomain.com/ http://www.mydomain.com/