Best domain name registrar?
September 1, 2011 10:08 PM Subscribe
What is the best domain name registrar these days?
I researched to find the cheapest reliable domain name registrar years ago, and ended up choosing godaddy. I know they are no longer the cheapest, and they have some credibility issues. I would like to have a domain name registrar or two that I can recommend to clients and that I can perhaps transfer my domains to. What reliable registrars are the cheapest these days? I don't care about anonymity but some clients might. I also almost always recommend the .com tld to clients, and most of what I have is .com and .org (where I could get both). Some clients already have .biz and .net. I don't care where the newer/weirder tld's are cheapest.
I researched to find the cheapest reliable domain name registrar years ago, and ended up choosing godaddy. I know they are no longer the cheapest, and they have some credibility issues. I would like to have a domain name registrar or two that I can recommend to clients and that I can perhaps transfer my domains to. What reliable registrars are the cheapest these days? I don't care about anonymity but some clients might. I also almost always recommend the .com tld to clients, and most of what I have is .com and .org (where I could get both). Some clients already have .biz and .net. I don't care where the newer/weirder tld's are cheapest.
First, you need to choose between "cheapest" and "best". They are not the same thing.
Our homeowners' association's domain name was with an unreliable registrar a few years ago; the registrar flaked and our domain name ended up pointing to a porn site.
The cost of a domain name is so small, compared to the cost of properly creating and maintaining a good web site, that a reliable registrar who will be there when you need them and is contactable by phone if there's some kind of emergency is worth at least an extra $10/year, I think.
I use PairNIC, FWIW.
posted by amtho at 10:23 PM on September 1, 2011
Our homeowners' association's domain name was with an unreliable registrar a few years ago; the registrar flaked and our domain name ended up pointing to a porn site.
The cost of a domain name is so small, compared to the cost of properly creating and maintaining a good web site, that a reliable registrar who will be there when you need them and is contactable by phone if there's some kind of emergency is worth at least an extra $10/year, I think.
I use PairNIC, FWIW.
posted by amtho at 10:23 PM on September 1, 2011
I used Gandi recently on the advice of some folks on Metafilter, and found it to be pretty decent. My friend tried using Gandi, and when she had trouble (it turns out because of using US credit card from outside the country, not really Gandi's fault), she used Dotster. Dotster turned out to have the same CC problem (again, not the registrars' fault), and moreover Dotster made her pay extra just to do what I consider basic DNS configuration—she had to pay a fee to access the 'administrative console' or whatever for setting A, MX, CNAME, etc. records. I was rather pissed about this and felt bad that I had recommended them to her. Dotster was also rather hard to figure out how to use, and when I got a tech support guy on the phone, he was rather patronizing and assumed my knowledge was rather low. I hate that!
Gandi, on the other hand, includes this stuff by default last I checked, which is how it should be as far as I'm concerned.
posted by dubitable at 10:25 PM on September 1, 2011
Gandi, on the other hand, includes this stuff by default last I checked, which is how it should be as far as I'm concerned.
posted by dubitable at 10:25 PM on September 1, 2011
I shifted out of GoDaddy to NameCheap. Happy with them, they were really understanding when GoDaddy made it difficult to transfer out- and made the discount stick even though I had to wait to transfer.
posted by titanium_geek at 10:39 PM on September 1, 2011
posted by titanium_geek at 10:39 PM on September 1, 2011
Seconding Namecheap.com here. Superior customer service, excellent up-time, highly competitive prices.
posted by Poet_Lariat at 11:41 PM on September 1, 2011
posted by Poet_Lariat at 11:41 PM on September 1, 2011
I've been using Gandi for about a decade. They're not the cheapest, but they've always been reliable and easy to use.
Several of my friends have lost domains through shoddy registrars. I feel it's worth paying a bit more for peace of mind.
posted by Georgina at 12:21 AM on September 2, 2011
Several of my friends have lost domains through shoddy registrars. I feel it's worth paying a bit more for peace of mind.
posted by Georgina at 12:21 AM on September 2, 2011
I've always been happy with gandi, but I don't do anything too demanding.
posted by curious_yellow at 2:59 AM on September 2, 2011
posted by curious_yellow at 2:59 AM on September 2, 2011
I switched from GoDaddy to Gandi after one of the Superbowl debacles a few years ago and it has been good so far. Plus, it's pretty awesome that their motto is "no bullshit."
posted by JuliaKM at 5:11 AM on September 2, 2011
posted by JuliaKM at 5:11 AM on September 2, 2011
I've been using Dotster for almost a decade and they've been great. Like Gandi, Dotster might be a little more expensive than GoDaddy or Network Solutions, but I think the money has been worth it. No hassles, no mixups, and great customer service on the few occasions that I've needed it.
posted by lewistate at 6:18 AM on September 2, 2011
posted by lewistate at 6:18 AM on September 2, 2011
I use easydns and have used them for at least 10 years, probably more like 15. I do some fairly complicated stuff with a bunch of domain names and they have always been great. I don't know how their pricing compares to others, but I recommend them highly. (No, they are not the Wikileaks people, that's everydns. They were DDS'ed when some newspaper articles misprinted the name of the Wikileaks registrar as easydns, and their excellent handling of that situation is one reason I'm such a fan.)
posted by The Bellman at 6:33 AM on September 2, 2011
posted by The Bellman at 6:33 AM on September 2, 2011
I have been very happy with namecheap (after using Joker and Godaddy in the past).
posted by deeaytch at 6:36 AM on September 2, 2011
posted by deeaytch at 6:36 AM on September 2, 2011
Have used 1and1, happy with their registrar service. (I don't use anything else from them.)
posted by zippy at 7:01 AM on September 2, 2011
posted by zippy at 7:01 AM on September 2, 2011
I use pairNIC and have been happy with them and their parent hosting company, Pair Networks, for well over ten years.
posted by angry.polymath at 7:56 AM on September 2, 2011
posted by angry.polymath at 7:56 AM on September 2, 2011
I just registered with gandi and was happy with the setup. It is more expensive than the cheapest prices you see advertised, but there's more that's included free, which made it actually less expensive than one of the "cheap" registrars, at least for me.
posted by clerestory at 10:40 AM on September 2, 2011
posted by clerestory at 10:40 AM on September 2, 2011
I use Gandi and I've been satisfied, but if your clients are -- like me -- not really knowledgable about how these things work, Gandi can be frustrating if one needs to pop the hood. There's no handholding, nobody to walk you through the steps.
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:04 AM on September 2, 2011
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:04 AM on September 2, 2011
I use Netfirms. Just last night I had to submit a service ticket, and it was fixed when I woke up this morning. I've been using them for probably almost 10 years, with never an issue.
posted by strega_bianca at 11:20 AM on September 2, 2011
posted by strega_bianca at 11:20 AM on September 2, 2011
Response by poster: These are great suggestions. Thanks so much! Will look into them now.
posted by parrot_person at 4:01 PM on September 2, 2011
posted by parrot_person at 4:01 PM on September 2, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by straw at 10:10 PM on September 1, 2011