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Slightly off-topic, but: Gandi was my registrar of choice, but I read some months ago that they've sold out. Who do people go to these days for registering doma

by querez 3y ago

Slightly off-topic, but: Gandi was my registrar of choice, but I read some months ago that they've sold out. Who do people go to these days for registering domain names?

aeoliun 3y ago
Google Domains: https://domains.google/ https://domains.google/ The last time I used it, it was around 12$/year at the minimum.
- gondaloof 3y ago
  Trusting Google with your domains is honestly nuts.
  - bo-tao 3y ago
    has worked for me for 3 years
    - nerdbert 3y ago
      That is a very short time in the domain world, and also approaching the half-life of Google's attention span.
Toutouxc 3y ago
I went with Porkbun a few years ago, they seemed to be popular and recommended at that time. Zero issues, simple dashboard, low prices.
gondaloof 3y ago
CloudFlare and Internet.bs are no-nonsense registrars I like at the lowest prices on the web.
mminer237 3y ago
I like Porkbun. They have competitive pricing, a very easy-to-use website, and no dark patterns that I've found.
garganzol 3y ago
What's the problem of being sold out for Gandi? Does it really change anything?
- querez 3y ago
  Well for one I appreciated their free mailboxes, which are now gone (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35080777 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35080777), for another, I've seen reports of their customer service not being very good anymore (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22001959 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22001959). Just in general, I picked Gandi initially because of their reputation, which seems to have become worse and worse over the years.
jbc1 3y ago
Even more off topic: A lot of very large companies (eg. Google, Reddit, Microsoft) use Mark Monitor as their registrar rather than either being their own registrar or using one of the providers everyone else does. Anyone know what they're getting that makes that particular company so appealing?
- vdqtp3 3y ago
  Domain security services. Autoregistration and/or identification of domain typo registration, alternate TLDs, etc...stuff that doesn't matter unless you have very deep pockets and are a juicy bait or target.
jb1991 3y ago
What do you mean by sold out? Maybe I don’t understand the phrasing, surely you don’t mean they’ve sold out of all their domains!
- querez 3y ago
  No, I mean the owners sold the company to an (apparently not super well reputed) other company: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35080777 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35080777
teddyh 3y ago
Like I frequently¹ advise²: Don’t look to large, well-known registrars. I would suggest that you look for local registrars in your area. The TLD registry for your country/area usually has a list of the authorized registrars, so you can simply search that for entities with a local address. Disclaimer: I work at such a small registrar, but you are not in our target market. 1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32095499 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32095499 2. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32507784 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32507784
- nojonestownpls 3y ago
  The why is answered in the first link, I'll copy paste it for the lazy: > Pick them carefully, don’t skimp, and make sure they have good support. Because when things go pear-shaped, you really want to be able to actually talk to someone to change your web server or e-mail DNS records (or even DNS servers) to somewhere else. > Big registrars can’t afford any support costs since they prefer to squeeze the price down as far as possible, and therefore they prefer to simply lose or outright drop any customer in case of any and all problems. Conversely, small registrars may charge more, but have better (i.e. actually existing, and sometimes even dedicated and personal) support for when things go wrong, and have a vested interest in keeping you as a customer. > A small registrar might also be so small as to know you personally, which will help monumentally against any social engineering attacks.

by querez 3y ago

Slightly off-topic, but: Gandi was my registrar of choice, but I read some months ago that they've sold out. Who do people go to these days for registering domain names?

aeoliun 3y ago

Google Domains: https://domains.google/ https://domains.google/ The last time I used it, it was around 12$/year at the minimum.

gondaloof 3y ago
Trusting Google with your domains is honestly nuts.
- bo-tao 3y ago
  has worked for me for 3 years
  - nerdbert 3y ago
    That is a very short time in the domain world, and also approaching the half-life of Google's attention span.

Toutouxc 3y ago

I went with Porkbun a few years ago, they seemed to be popular and recommended at that time. Zero issues, simple dashboard, low prices.

gondaloof 3y ago

CloudFlare and Internet.bs are no-nonsense registrars I like at the lowest prices on the web.

mminer237 3y ago

I like Porkbun. They have competitive pricing, a very easy-to-use website, and no dark patterns that I've found.

garganzol 3y ago

What's the problem of being sold out for Gandi? Does it really change anything?

querez 3y ago
Well for one I appreciated their free mailboxes, which are now gone (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35080777 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35080777), for another, I've seen reports of their customer service not being very good anymore (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22001959 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22001959). Just in general, I picked Gandi initially because of their reputation, which seems to have become worse and worse over the years.

jbc1 3y ago

Even more off topic: A lot of very large companies (eg. Google, Reddit, Microsoft) use Mark Monitor as their registrar rather than either being their own registrar or using one of the providers everyone else does. Anyone know what they're getting that makes that particular company so appealing?

vdqtp3 3y ago
Domain security services. Autoregistration and/or identification of domain typo registration, alternate TLDs, etc...stuff that doesn't matter unless you have very deep pockets and are a juicy bait or target.

jb1991 3y ago

What do you mean by sold out? Maybe I don’t understand the phrasing, surely you don’t mean they’ve sold out of all their domains!

querez 3y ago
No, I mean the owners sold the company to an (apparently not super well reputed) other company: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35080777 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35080777

teddyh 3y ago

Like I frequently¹ advise²: Don’t look to large, well-known registrars. I would suggest that you look for local registrars in your area. The TLD registry for your country/area usually has a list of the authorized registrars, so you can simply search that for entities with a local address. Disclaimer: I work at such a small registrar, but you are not in our target market. 1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32095499 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32095499 2. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32507784 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32507784

nojonestownpls 3y ago
The why is answered in the first link, I'll copy paste it for the lazy: > Pick them carefully, don’t skimp, and make sure they have good support. Because when things go pear-shaped, you really want to be able to actually talk to someone to change your web server or e-mail DNS records (or even DNS servers) to somewhere else. > Big registrars can’t afford any support costs since they prefer to squeeze the price down as far as possible, and therefore they prefer to simply lose or outright drop any customer in case of any and all problems. Conversely, small registrars may charge more, but have better (i.e. actually existing, and sometimes even dedicated and personal) support for when things go wrong, and have a vested interest in keeping you as a customer. > A small registrar might also be so small as to know you personally, which will help monumentally against any social engineering attacks.