7 ms·

What do you guys use instead of GoDaddy? Just interested to see what others prefer out there. I was gonna do a domain transfer to GoDaddy, but after reading thi

What do you guys use instead of GoDaddy? Just interested to see what others prefer out there. I was gonna do a domain transfer to GoDaddy, but after reading this I won't be considering them.

soult 15y ago
There are multiple threads on HN already answering your question, you can find them via the search function. (This comment is not meant to cry "double post", just as a pointer for your to look for more information on GoDaddy alternatives).
fractalcat 15y ago
I use dnsimple (http://dnsimple.com http://dnsimple.com). It's not one of the cheaper ones (US$3/month for DNS hosting up to ten domains, US$14/registration), but it has a nice UI, JSON REST API and support that doesn't suck.
abraham 15y ago
https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/ https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/ Pay for what you use from people with do right by their customers.
- dangravell 15y ago
  Straightforward hosting too. I use them simply for 301'ing requests to my root domain to my dub-dub-dub site, that being hosted on Amazon S3. The pay as you go approach to that makes it very cost effective.
noinput 15y ago
use them to hold your registration, then set your DNS up with cloudflare.com
- masonhensley 15y ago
  That's what we've been doing.
- Yesh 15y ago
  Could you explain (how to) a bit more on this?
  - sixcorners 15y ago
    After you buy a domain from anywhere set your nameservers to point to cloudflare. They also have a reverse proxy/caching service that is useful. They have a video on their webpage that explains some of what they do.
vectorpush 15y ago
I've used 1and1.com for years and they are almost always cheaper than godaddy.
- mtogo 15y ago
  Watch out: 1and1 might not be quite as bad as godaddy in some of their policies, but they are very close. Avoid if at all possible.
  - whakojacko 15y ago
    Care to explain in more detail? (I moved from GoDaddy to 1&1 a few months back)
    - OSButler 15y ago
      My first website was a combo package from them, which included a domain name. When I had my own server and tried to transfer the domain there was no way for me to get them to release the domain name. If I cancel my hosting account, then I would have to wait until the domain expires and becomes available again, so that I can then re-register it with another registrar, was their reply. No matter what I tried I couldn't get them to let me transfer the domain name away from them or even update the nameservers to make it point to the new server. Things surely have changed by now but because of their policy I lost a well established domain name, so that I haven't touched their services ever since.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
penblue 15y ago
Namecheap. Their own coupon site is at http://www.namecheapcoupons.com/ http://www.namecheapcoupons.com/
- sasha-dv 15y ago
  +1 I've been using namecheap for years. Never had any problems with them. They are reasonably priced and fast to respond. The only thing I don't like is their slightly confusing interface. Hiring an UX engineer and giving him free reign wouldn't hurt them :)
statenjason 15y ago
I transferred from GoDaddy to name.com about a year ago by recommendation of a friend. It's nice to not be bombarded with GD babes and just enter my account to do what I need to do.
- Yesh 15y ago
  I agree with this. And sorry for the rant. I keep getting emails about expiring domains and auto-renewals. I maintain a separate spread-sheet to keep track of these. For some reason it not only annoys me but it always make my blood pressure shoot up. To turn these alerts off you have to disable auto-renew for the domain. This check box is not easy to find. They hide the auto-renew check box column very cleverly. Now I get emails about expiring other services... I still haven't figured how to turn these off.
- jamesbritt 15y ago
  I use godaddy to just do what I want, and really like the ui. Maybe I just know where to click but I'm not bombarded by anything.
  - libraryatnight 15y ago
    I guess since I've been using them so long I'm in the same boat, I know exactly where to go. You can even go straight to your domain manager by visiting dcc.godaddy.com -- quick and easy.
- jsnell 15y ago
  I wish I hadn't switched to name.com. If you use their DNS servers they automatically add a wildcard record pointing to a parking page. There is no way of turning that off besides defining your own bogus wildcard record.
hessenwolf 15y ago
Nametoolkit.com, because it's ours.
RexRollman 15y ago
I've been using Gandi for years now and I really like them. But since I've never never had a problem, I really can't comment on their customer service.
- elliottcarlson 15y ago
  I second Gandi - I transferred to them from Dotster for many reasons and the service is excellent - not to mention the free SSL certificates with your domain purchase, which has come in handy a few times.
sschueller 15y ago
enom.com
- Karunamon 15y ago
  Not just no, HELL no. Enom is almost worse than godaddy in some ways, especially when it comes to transfers. They will hold you down for the maximum amount of time they can before actually processing a transfer. I've had to deal with their support more than once because of a XFR being stuck in their process somewhere. They're also a huge reseller. I'd rather deal with a tier 1 provider instead of one 2 or 3 links down the chain.
drzaiusapelord 15y ago
namecheap.com. Clean interface compared to to godaddy's horrible nightmare of upsell ads and 1990s level UI/UX.

What do you guys use instead of GoDaddy? Just interested to see what others prefer out there. I was gonna do a domain transfer to GoDaddy, but after reading this I won't be considering them.

soult 15y ago

There are multiple threads on HN already answering your question, you can find them via the search function. (This comment is not meant to cry "double post", just as a pointer for your to look for more information on GoDaddy alternatives).

fractalcat 15y ago

I use dnsimple (http://dnsimple.com http://dnsimple.com). It's not one of the cheaper ones (US$3/month for DNS hosting up to ten domains, US$14/registration), but it has a nice UI, JSON REST API and support that doesn't suck.

abraham 15y ago

https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/ https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/ Pay for what you use from people with do right by their customers.

dangravell 15y ago
Straightforward hosting too. I use them simply for 301'ing requests to my root domain to my dub-dub-dub site, that being hosted on Amazon S3. The pay as you go approach to that makes it very cost effective.

noinput 15y ago

use them to hold your registration, then set your DNS up with cloudflare.com

masonhensley 15y ago
That's what we've been doing.
Yesh 15y ago
Could you explain (how to) a bit more on this?
- sixcorners 15y ago
  After you buy a domain from anywhere set your nameservers to point to cloudflare. They also have a reverse proxy/caching service that is useful. They have a video on their webpage that explains some of what they do.

vectorpush 15y ago

I've used 1and1.com for years and they are almost always cheaper than godaddy.

mtogo 15y ago
Watch out: 1and1 might not be quite as bad as godaddy in some of their policies, but they are very close. Avoid if at all possible.
- whakojacko 15y ago
  Care to explain in more detail? (I moved from GoDaddy to 1&1 a few months back)
  - OSButler 15y ago
    My first website was a combo package from them, which included a domain name. When I had my own server and tried to transfer the domain there was no way for me to get them to release the domain name. If I cancel my hosting account, then I would have to wait until the domain expires and becomes available again, so that I can then re-register it with another registrar, was their reply. No matter what I tried I couldn't get them to let me transfer the domain name away from them or even update the nameservers to make it point to the new server. Things surely have changed by now but because of their policy I lost a well established domain name, so that I haven't touched their services ever since.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]

penblue 15y ago

Namecheap. Their own coupon site is at http://www.namecheapcoupons.com/ http://www.namecheapcoupons.com/

sasha-dv 15y ago
+1 I've been using namecheap for years. Never had any problems with them. They are reasonably priced and fast to respond. The only thing I don't like is their slightly confusing interface. Hiring an UX engineer and giving him free reign wouldn't hurt them :)

statenjason 15y ago

I transferred from GoDaddy to name.com about a year ago by recommendation of a friend. It's nice to not be bombarded with GD babes and just enter my account to do what I need to do.

Yesh 15y ago
I agree with this. And sorry for the rant. I keep getting emails about expiring domains and auto-renewals. I maintain a separate spread-sheet to keep track of these. For some reason it not only annoys me but it always make my blood pressure shoot up. To turn these alerts off you have to disable auto-renew for the domain. This check box is not easy to find. They hide the auto-renew check box column very cleverly. Now I get emails about expiring other services... I still haven't figured how to turn these off.
jamesbritt 15y ago
I use godaddy to just do what I want, and really like the ui. Maybe I just know where to click but I'm not bombarded by anything.
- libraryatnight 15y ago
  I guess since I've been using them so long I'm in the same boat, I know exactly where to go. You can even go straight to your domain manager by visiting dcc.godaddy.com -- quick and easy.
jsnell 15y ago
I wish I hadn't switched to name.com. If you use their DNS servers they automatically add a wildcard record pointing to a parking page. There is no way of turning that off besides defining your own bogus wildcard record.

hessenwolf 15y ago

Nametoolkit.com, because it's ours.

RexRollman 15y ago

I've been using Gandi for years now and I really like them. But since I've never never had a problem, I really can't comment on their customer service.

elliottcarlson 15y ago
I second Gandi - I transferred to them from Dotster for many reasons and the service is excellent - not to mention the free SSL certificates with your domain purchase, which has come in handy a few times.

sschueller 15y ago

enom.com

Karunamon 15y ago
Not just no, HELL no. Enom is almost worse than godaddy in some ways, especially when it comes to transfers. They will hold you down for the maximum amount of time they can before actually processing a transfer. I've had to deal with their support more than once because of a XFR being stuck in their process somewhere. They're also a huge reseller. I'd rather deal with a tier 1 provider instead of one 2 or 3 links down the chain.

drzaiusapelord 15y ago

namecheap.com. Clean interface compared to to godaddy's horrible nightmare of upsell ads and 1990s level UI/UX.