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Ask HN: Any Domain Registrars That Aren't Crap?
Back in the day Network Solutions was the sine qua non of registrars. Then they... well... let's just say they lost my trust. Then Nominum was my go-to until they too lost my trust. I was about to register a domain for a client with GoDaddy until it was clear they didn't take their business seriously.
Name.com seemed okay until... again... let's just say they're not behaving in a way that makes me comfortable with using their services.
I registered a domain through gandi.net and it wasn't HORRIBLE. As best I can tell they didn't retain my CC details after I asked them not to (looking at you, name.com.) I've yet to have to send in a support request to gandi.net, but I HAVE to think it's a better experience than name.com or GoDaddy.
So... what are people's experiences? Who's a good registrar?
- carride 4y agoI have had Gandi.net for many years. You can request to have your account based out of their french office which will give you the EU privacy and other regulations in your favor vs USA. I have also been testing domains registered at porkbun.com for the past 3 years. I would never consider name.com and certainly would never go back to Network Solutions or GoDaddy
- virtuallytd 4y agoSame here Gandi has been my choice for years, rock solid, lots of Tlds available and reasonable prices.
- xvello 4y agoGandi has been bought out and has started turning for the worse. They already breached contracts with UK customers, so I am moving my domains to the Norwegian company https://domainname.shop/ https://domainname.shop/ before they find a way to shaft me. Source: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35080777 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35080777
- adastra22 4y agoNamecheap is and always has been great. Only issue is that they’re a Ukrainian company so it was a bit dicey last year when their offices became a war zone, but it is my understanding that they have moved a lot of their operations out of the country since then. I still have nearly all my domains with them. Slava Ukraini! Google domains is, well, Google. Zero customer support, but everything works exactly as advertised with five-9’s reliability, so…
- Gustomaximus 4y agoI dont think Namecheap is bad, abut also not the best. I have a Namecheap account but steering away from it because; - Login system is annoying. Needs a longer cookie system on the 2FA, and then only use 2FA when doing significant changes, not smaller day to day stuff. - SSL support isn't great for free options. - Customer support hasn't been the best. - cPanel interface is an old one or something not as good as the alternate Im increasingly using.
- adastra22 4y agoI only use them for registration. I point the domains to my own name servers. So I can’t speak ti the rest of their services. But at least as a registrar they don’t play all the dirty tricks that Godaddy and 101domains and other registrars do.
- abudabi123 4y agosdf dot org does name registration. I've not tried but I quit gandi.net when they got sold. I'd avoid service providers that don't have customer's best interest first.
- joezydeco 4y agoI've been using DirectNIC for over a decade with no complaints. Pair is also highly recommended.
- alex7734 4y agoI've used OVH for years. I only hear from them when it's time to pay up every year. Zero problems so far.
- hakanderyal 4y agoCloudflare is OK if you are already using them.
- prirun 4y agoI've used NameSilo for a long time, back when it first started with 2 guys, with no issues. They have domain privacy, cheap prices, auto renew, and it's easy to verify contact information once for all domain names. One thing I noticed recently that I don't like (and most registrars are doing it) is that they use some "domain broker" service if you want a domain name that is taken. It's very hard to figure out how to just contact the domain owner now that every has privacy turned on, and this middle man broker charges an upfront fee and takes a cut if the negotiation is successful. It's fine to offer that as a service if people want it, but to make it the default is pretty slimy IMO, especially for less techinical folks who don't even realize it's completely unnecessary.
- fogzen 4y agoPorkbun! Low prices, monthly deals, great support, a funny newsletter, and free parking and domain sale pages. Get on the bun!
- tothrowaway 4y agoI switched to Porkbun after Namecheap threatened to disable my domain in 24 hours when some shady reputation management company (izoologic) claimed a page on my site was phishing. I don't know if Porkbun would handle that situation any better, but I take comfort in the fact that I can drive to their office and talk to a real person in an emergency.
- schwartzworld 4y agoNever had a problem with hover.com
- cpach 4y agoI’ve been using Dynadot for years. I trust them and I’ve found them to be reliable.
- priitmaxx 4y agoAWS
- wilsonjohn 4y agoGive porkbun a shot. They are good.
- warrenm 4y agoPairNIC is pretty good So is Moniker
- replwoacause 4y agoI use iwantmyname.com and porkbun.com