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You get a surprising amount of functionality for $20. I just got an account and I've been poking around for about an hour. I'm seriously impressed. You get: -

You get a surprising amount of functionality for $20. I just got an account and I've been poking around for about an hour. I'm seriously impressed. You get: - a webpage - DNS - email forwarding - a statuslog - url shortener - a pastebin - a weblog - an optional Mastodon account - optional IRC/Discord - and probably some more stuff I missed And all of this stuff is much more configurable than it would typically be on other services. It is ripe for creative integrations. Oh and the whole thing can be interacted with through an API. Pretty cool for $20. Definitely not the same as "just getting your own domain." https://bw.omg.lol/ https://bw.omg.lol/

zacwest 4y ago
Worth noting many of the services on omg.lol support custom domains, e.g. https://zwe.st/omglol https://zwe.st/omglol is on the URL shortener. I extensively use the API for pastebin and URL shortener. It's very much a selling point for me -- love being able to control things on the command line with a few simple scripts. Great package of tiny little web apps for a good dollar amount and a great author. https://zac.omg.lol/ https://zac.omg.lol/
beebmam 4y ago
It's not $20. It's $20 per year. I know that might be semantic for some people, but for much of these services, I wouldn't want it going away after 1 year if I'm unable to pay that cost again. And for that reason, I think it's worth noting.
- bmitc 4y ago
  Domain registration has to be renewed, either per year or per <x> years if you buy a bunch of licenses up front. So what's the alternative to this then? A lot of domains can cost around $20 per year.
  - thepangolino 4y ago
    The thing with a domain registration is that you know if you pay for ten years in advance, you WILL have it for ten years. With most SaaS, you have absolutely no guarantee this is going to be the case.
    - dexterdog 4y ago
      You will have it for 10 years unless they decide to take it from you. That doesn't happen often, but it certainly can.
  - nigamanth 4y ago
    Creating a subdomain once you have the domain is free, probably for the domain omg.lol they're paying $20 / year.
    - mat_epice 4y ago
      omg.lol was probably a premium domain of some kind. Random three-letter .lols seem to go for about $150/yr (according to gandi).
      - nigamanth 4y ago
        Yeah but they probably have more than 6 users? This is cool and shit, but they're profiting and I guess I'm fine with that.
  - slg 4y ago
    It is totally reasonable to charge a recurring fee for providing an ongoing service, but to be clear you are not buying a domain that needs registration. You are buying a subdomain of the domains that this company already owns. Some other sites give those away for free because there is no marginal cost per subdomain.
    - bmitc 4y ago
      > but to be clear you are not buying a domain that needs registration Ah, good point.
    - stavros 4y ago
      > You are buying a subdomain of the domains that this company already owns. All domains are like that, though, even TLDs.
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
    - zupa-hu 4y ago
      Which in the end is true for domains as well. Someone decides to sell subdomains of X, weather X is com or omg.lol. Com could be free as well. The only real difference is choice. Or to put it differently, you say it doesnt need registration. Well, it does. They require it. So what.
      - andrecarini 4y ago
        I think the main difference is a proper domain from a major registrar grants you ownership rights that you don't get from leased subdomains like OP's (mainly the ability to keep the domain even if the registrar goes out of business; and moving the domain between registrars).
        dcow 4y ago
        What do you mean “ownership rights”?
  - mushufasa 4y ago
    What if they offered a 'lifetime' rate which is the NPV of $20 over 20 years, so like $1000 or something? You pay once and get it forever. Of course, only as long as they can operate the service forever...
    - layer8 4y ago
      That’s the main issue I see, they can stop the service at any time and then you’ll have no chance to get the subdomain back. You’re in a much better position with an actual second-level domain, because you can move the domain between service providers and registrars, and depending on locality you may also have actual legal rights to keep owning the domain.
      - sshine 4y ago
        Even for newer second-level domains like .lol and cool-looking ccTLDs like .io, the possibility that the registrar is going to end it, become unstable, or change policy is real. They’re marketing gimmicks.
- temporary22 4y ago
  My domain is 26 per year. This is cheap af and I'm reconsidering ditching my domain in favour of this.
  - chaozznl 4y ago
    What if this service stops to exist after 2 years? Then any place you advertised/published this subdomain will need to be updated. With your own domain you won't have that issue, ever. Why would you give that up?
- ehnto 4y ago
  These are ongoing services so a once off payment doesn't make sense for the business. The alternatives are self-hosting and free services, self hosting is great. If you are using free services though, they could disappear too, and you have to question the business model of anyone givingyou something for nothing. At least if you are paying for it you are entering into a contract of service from the provider which gives you a lot of legal recourse and leverage and also supports the business so that they do keep providing you the service.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
nailer 4y ago
And Fastmail. Fastmail is to programmers what Superhuman is for salespeople.
- borski 4y ago
  What is so great about fastmail? I keep hearing people talk about it but haven’t “gotten it” yet.
  - rb666 4y ago
    I have been a paying customer for years, and I don't expect to ever leave. My favorites are: - DNS capabilities - Friendly and fast customer support - Great, smooth, pretty UI on all platforms
    - LibertyBeta 4y ago
      See, I don't get this. Last time I tried fastmail I ended up on proton because it was just slightly... Kludgy. DNS was slow. Webmail was a mess. And the mobile client scene wasn't worth it. That said, the billing side wasn't bad.
      - bovermyer 4y ago
        That's fascinating. My experience is exactly the opposite - Proton is slow and awful, and Fastmail is fast and clean.
        JasonFruit 4y ago
        Mine lines up with yours: Fastmail has been great, Proton started okay and has gotten progressively worse.
  - justusthane 4y ago
    It's just really good at being an email provider. Reliable, privacy-respecting, good support, and with a webmail client to rival (or beat) Gmail. Plus they frequently develop new useful features, like partnering with Bitwarden and 1Password to generate throwaway email address on the fly at your domain.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
zhynn 4y ago
I love the service, I hate the name. It's got too much cute/whimsy for my taste, and it just makes me feel like the "hello fellow teenagers" guy. If they had the same everything but it was a "short and easy to spell/pronounce" domain service, I would 100% go for it. It doesn't have to be entirely boring, but less... cute. Also I think that meme language has a high risk of drifting into the cringe zone, and then that will feel bad too. I would have the same problem with lit.lol or yeet.lol. Am I alone in being willing to pay more for less whimsy? Give me the $30/year plan where I can pick bucket.web or tiny.star or something less of the moment.
- jxdxbx 4y ago
  oh same. I'm not sure I'd want this with anything other than my own domain name anyway, but definitely I wouldn't want "omg.lol". I hate that internet-ass humor.
- fmisle 4y ago
  You can use your own domain, you're not tied to omg.lol
  - alberth 4y ago
    Where does it talk about using your own domain? https://home.omg.lol/info https://home.omg.lol/info I can't find it in the Help docs.
    - vukky 4y ago
      https://home.omg.lol/info/switchboard https://home.omg.lol/info/switchboard, the "external domains" section
      - alberth 4y ago
        That section reads more like you can just have another domain redirect to omg.lol profile, as opposed to be served from that external domain. Am I reading that correctly? Meaning, your profile wouldn't be served from "example.com" but instead, "example.com" would simply do a browser redirect to "omg.lol/example"
blooalien 4y ago
That's actually a shockingly decent list of provided features for $20 a year. A more than fair price, and worth every dime as long as the servers are at least semi-reliable. I pay $12 a year for a domain, and another $5 per month for a VPS to host services on that domain, and even that's totally worth it to me, so $20 a year for all that they're offering (even if it is only on a subdomain)? Quite good indeed…

zacwest 4y ago

Worth noting many of the services on omg.lol support custom domains, e.g. https://zwe.st/omglol https://zwe.st/omglol is on the URL shortener. I extensively use the API for pastebin and URL shortener. It's very much a selling point for me -- love being able to control things on the command line with a few simple scripts. Great package of tiny little web apps for a good dollar amount and a great author. https://zac.omg.lol/ https://zac.omg.lol/

beebmam 4y ago

It's not $20. It's $20 per year. I know that might be semantic for some people, but for much of these services, I wouldn't want it going away after 1 year if I'm unable to pay that cost again. And for that reason, I think it's worth noting.

bmitc 4y ago
Domain registration has to be renewed, either per year or per <x> years if you buy a bunch of licenses up front. So what's the alternative to this then? A lot of domains can cost around $20 per year.
- thepangolino 4y ago
  The thing with a domain registration is that you know if you pay for ten years in advance, you WILL have it for ten years. With most SaaS, you have absolutely no guarantee this is going to be the case.
  - dexterdog 4y ago
    You will have it for 10 years unless they decide to take it from you. That doesn't happen often, but it certainly can.
- nigamanth 4y ago
  Creating a subdomain once you have the domain is free, probably for the domain omg.lol they're paying $20 / year.
  - mat_epice 4y ago
    omg.lol was probably a premium domain of some kind. Random three-letter .lols seem to go for about $150/yr (according to gandi).
    - nigamanth 4y ago
      Yeah but they probably have more than 6 users? This is cool and shit, but they're profiting and I guess I'm fine with that.
- slg 4y ago
  It is totally reasonable to charge a recurring fee for providing an ongoing service, but to be clear you are not buying a domain that needs registration. You are buying a subdomain of the domains that this company already owns. Some other sites give those away for free because there is no marginal cost per subdomain.
  - bmitc 4y ago
    > but to be clear you are not buying a domain that needs registration Ah, good point.
  - stavros 4y ago
    > You are buying a subdomain of the domains that this company already owns. All domains are like that, though, even TLDs.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
  - zupa-hu 4y ago
    Which in the end is true for domains as well. Someone decides to sell subdomains of X, weather X is com or omg.lol. Com could be free as well. The only real difference is choice. Or to put it differently, you say it doesnt need registration. Well, it does. They require it. So what.
    - andrecarini 4y ago
      I think the main difference is a proper domain from a major registrar grants you ownership rights that you don't get from leased subdomains like OP's (mainly the ability to keep the domain even if the registrar goes out of business; and moving the domain between registrars).
      - dcow 4y ago
        What do you mean “ownership rights”?
- mushufasa 4y ago
  What if they offered a 'lifetime' rate which is the NPV of $20 over 20 years, so like $1000 or something? You pay once and get it forever. Of course, only as long as they can operate the service forever...
  - layer8 4y ago
    That’s the main issue I see, they can stop the service at any time and then you’ll have no chance to get the subdomain back. You’re in a much better position with an actual second-level domain, because you can move the domain between service providers and registrars, and depending on locality you may also have actual legal rights to keep owning the domain.
    - sshine 4y ago
      Even for newer second-level domains like .lol and cool-looking ccTLDs like .io, the possibility that the registrar is going to end it, become unstable, or change policy is real. They’re marketing gimmicks.
temporary22 4y ago
My domain is 26 per year. This is cheap af and I'm reconsidering ditching my domain in favour of this.
- chaozznl 4y ago
  What if this service stops to exist after 2 years? Then any place you advertised/published this subdomain will need to be updated. With your own domain you won't have that issue, ever. Why would you give that up?
ehnto 4y ago
These are ongoing services so a once off payment doesn't make sense for the business. The alternatives are self-hosting and free services, self hosting is great. If you are using free services though, they could disappear too, and you have to question the business model of anyone givingyou something for nothing. At least if you are paying for it you are entering into a contract of service from the provider which gives you a lot of legal recourse and leverage and also supports the business so that they do keep providing you the service.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

nailer 4y ago

And Fastmail. Fastmail is to programmers what Superhuman is for salespeople.

borski 4y ago
What is so great about fastmail? I keep hearing people talk about it but haven’t “gotten it” yet.
- rb666 4y ago
  I have been a paying customer for years, and I don't expect to ever leave. My favorites are: - DNS capabilities - Friendly and fast customer support - Great, smooth, pretty UI on all platforms
  - LibertyBeta 4y ago
    See, I don't get this. Last time I tried fastmail I ended up on proton because it was just slightly... Kludgy. DNS was slow. Webmail was a mess. And the mobile client scene wasn't worth it. That said, the billing side wasn't bad.
    - bovermyer 4y ago
      That's fascinating. My experience is exactly the opposite - Proton is slow and awful, and Fastmail is fast and clean.
      - JasonFruit 4y ago
        Mine lines up with yours: Fastmail has been great, Proton started okay and has gotten progressively worse.
- justusthane 4y ago
  It's just really good at being an email provider. Reliable, privacy-respecting, good support, and with a webmail client to rival (or beat) Gmail. Plus they frequently develop new useful features, like partnering with Bitwarden and 1Password to generate throwaway email address on the fly at your domain.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

zhynn 4y ago

I love the service, I hate the name. It's got too much cute/whimsy for my taste, and it just makes me feel like the "hello fellow teenagers" guy. If they had the same everything but it was a "short and easy to spell/pronounce" domain service, I would 100% go for it. It doesn't have to be entirely boring, but less... cute. Also I think that meme language has a high risk of drifting into the cringe zone, and then that will feel bad too. I would have the same problem with lit.lol or yeet.lol. Am I alone in being willing to pay more for less whimsy? Give me the $30/year plan where I can pick bucket.web or tiny.star or something less of the moment.

jxdxbx 4y ago
oh same. I'm not sure I'd want this with anything other than my own domain name anyway, but definitely I wouldn't want "omg.lol". I hate that internet-ass humor.
fmisle 4y ago
You can use your own domain, you're not tied to omg.lol
- alberth 4y ago
  Where does it talk about using your own domain? https://home.omg.lol/info https://home.omg.lol/info I can't find it in the Help docs.
  - vukky 4y ago
    https://home.omg.lol/info/switchboard https://home.omg.lol/info/switchboard, the "external domains" section
    - alberth 4y ago
      That section reads more like you can just have another domain redirect to omg.lol profile, as opposed to be served from that external domain. Am I reading that correctly? Meaning, your profile wouldn't be served from "example.com" but instead, "example.com" would simply do a browser redirect to "omg.lol/example"

blooalien 4y ago

That's actually a shockingly decent list of provided features for $20 a year. A more than fair price, and worth every dime as long as the servers are at least semi-reliable. I pay $12 a year for a domain, and another $5 per month for a VPS to host services on that domain, and even that's totally worth it to me, so $20 a year for all that they're offering (even if it is only on a subdomain)? Quite good indeed…