Domain registrar
Seeing the news with Google domains, I’m looking to move registrars, and was wondering who everyone uses.
View original on lemmy.one
Seeing the news with Google domains, I’m looking to move registrars, and was wondering who everyone uses.
I use porkbun.
The prices are similar to google domains and the dns management interface is ok.
I like their sense of humour. The definitely don't take themselves too seriously.
Moved to Porkbun yesterday. No fuss, quick setup and pricing is good.
Been using porkbun as the registrar and cloudflare for Dns, no complaints. I like the cloudflare interface better and like having Dns and registrar separate.
Do they have dyndns support? That was what led me to google.
Keep in mind you can always use a different DNS provider who does support dynamic dns. For example you could use cloudflare (free) with a domain bought from Pork Bun.
Yeah, it’s just nice to consolidate where able.
I used porkbun with Cloudflare DNS, porkbun were cheaper for me than Google.
I've been using Cloudflare for a while now, Namecheap before that. Both have been good to me, but I prefer Cloudflare more for their various other services, so it made sense to move the domains there as well.
I just switched everything over to cloud flare the other day. I already ran most my services through them so it just made sense. The very next day Google sold their domain biz.
Whatever you do, just don't ever use GoDaddy.
Please everyone, whatever you do, listen to this comment.
Ha, GoDaddy is not bad at all compared to Network Solutions. Run far, far away from them. Only registrar I've ever had the displeasure of dealing with that will actually actively attempt to block you from transferring domains away from them.
Agreed. Network Solutions is the worst.
Why not? I work with a few companies that swear by GoDaddy.
Namecheap. I’ve been using them for several years for various projects and have never had a problem with them.
Same here. My only complaint was the slow adoption of hardware MFA tokens, and the limited DNSSEC support on some TLDs but that's mostly resolved now.
Porkbun. I've been using it for almost 4 years. Cheap and without errors
Seem to be upfront with costs as well. Another +1 for Porkbun from me 🐷
I'm probably gonna go cloudflare because that's what I've had the best experience with besides Google Domains
I use cloudflare. its really good, plus it includes a tunnel.
https://www.namecheap.com/
Namecheap has okay starting prices but man their renewal prices aren’t great compared to other registrars.
Thanks for this comment, I hadn’t compared pricing in a while and just assumed Name”cheap” was cheap haha! Looks like I might switch to CloudFlare (where I manage DNS anyways) and/or porkbun which others have suggested.
Namecheap
+1 been with Namecheap for many years and have many domains with them. Also very happy with their support.
Another +1 for namecheap here. Have a dozen or so domaions/projects with them.
I use Namecheap personally. I really like it.
Another vote for Namecheap. I've been using them for years and I've never had a problem.
Third. Even their hosting isn't so bad for just personal projects.
haven't had any problems with namecheap
I have used NameCheap for a long time and they have been great. I use AWS Route53 and Cloudflare for some zone hosting and both of their domain registration services are fine but usually not the cheapest out there.
I'm basically in the exact same boat. Used namecheap forever, and sometimes use route 53. They both work well
Same. Namecheap as the registrar and cloudflare for the dns zones.
Cloudflare for supported TLDs and Hover for the rest
I have been using cloudflare. It works nicely, and integrates well with their tools.
I moved all of my data from google domains to it.
I have also previously used amazon, which wasn't horrible.... and previously used quite a few other registrators.
The only BAD one I have used, was godaddy. Don't use them. They.... are evil.
What problems did you have with GoDaddy? Just wondering what to watch out for, or if there's a reason to move.
I emailed their support to complain that their transfer out ui was broken so I couldn't get the transfer code, they sent me the code without me proving who I was. I was communicating with them using a different email and even different email domain than anything they had on file.
Oof, OK, good to know!
Namecheap has been good so far. They even provides free DNS service when everyone was still charging for DNS. We have cloudflare now that provides better free DNS service, but for domain registrar I'm still loyal to namecheap.
Have you used Njalla? I was considering them recently, but these reviews gave me serious pause:
https://www.trustpilot.com/review/njal.la
Hard disagree on that, I've found it invaluable as a tool for assessing the safety of a company. Sure you're going to get some idiots who simply don't know how to use the tool and go online to bitch about it, but if you're seeing a significant number of people making the same complaints about support or having domains withdrawn from them, it certainly makes me suspicious.
Thank you for your reply though, it's good to hear that some people are having success. My understanding from the reading I've done online is that they used to be a lot better but have fallen in quality over the last 2 years.
I've been using nearlyfreespeech.net for (looks) 14 years now. Their business aligns with my ideals and I've always been happy with their service.
I'm using porkbun for my instance and it's been great
my domain renewal was half google domain's offering price
+1 for pork bun! Everything is easy and cheap. I don’t really ask for much more from a registrar
+1 for porkbun. I haven't compared the prices carefully, but I really enjoyed their convenience. I have very little knowledge about that stuff, but I had no trouble using porkbun tools
Another vote for Cloudflare as suggested by many others
Cloudflare, the prices are just right, and the features they offer are hard to beat.
I use Hover. They haven't fucked me so far.
I’m out of the loop, what’s wrong with google domains?
it was sold to squarespace. https://www.androidpolice.com/google-domains-takeover-squarespace/
Being sold to Squarespace
https://njal.la for privacy, paying with crypto and no bs. Although a bit more expensive.
Just keep in mind it's not your domain; it's theirs.
Yes, that's correct. Definitely don't use it for really transcendental stuff, but it works well for internet projects. They also have a good track record. The were founded by the pirate bay founder.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Njalla
Isn't that the case with every registrar?
Nope, when you register a domain at, for example, Namecheap, this domain is legally yours. It is registered to your name, and even if Namecheap doesn't like you, they can't just take the domain away from you. (excluding for legal reasons, of course)
If they do anyway, you can take legal action and complain at the NIC.
Njalla offers domains by proxy. So they register the domain you would like to have for you and let you use them. However, they have registered the domain in their name, so they own the domain. If Njalla decides tomorrow that you shouldn't use the domain anymore or they want to sell it to someone else, they have the full legal right to do so.
tl;dr Good service if you want an anonymous domain you don't really care about. If you want a domain for something important, don't use them.
I have two domains through a local Czech registrar. How do I know if it's theirs or mine (I know, I should have read the contract but oh well). According to eurid they are tied to my email.
99% of registrars do it the right way, so the domain is in your name. What Njalla is doing is not really common, and they usually market it as a unique feature.
Your email showing up at eurid is a good sign :)
Okay, thanks! Just that who.is shows my registrar instead of me, but I guess that is something data protection related?
Yes, due to the GDPR, they are no longer allowed to disclose private information.
Depending on the registrar they either respond to whois requests with just nothing or just with themself.
I have most of my domains on Google, but also have a couple on CloudFlare. I suppose I will just move them all to CloudFlare. They offer free WHOIS privacy and several other features for free. For those of you self hosting on a dynamic IP, there's a pretty good API that you can use for DNS updates.
I found Cloudflare don't have nearly as many top level domains as Google so I couldn't transfer to them, but porkbun did.
I only have com/net/org domains, so I never noticed that. But you've provided good information. There is a list of CloudFlare supported TLD's here https://www.cloudflare.com/tld-policies/
I think Hover is the best. Not the cheapest though. If you want cheap and good, go Cloudflare.
Yeah Hover / Tucows is great.
I moved my domains from google domains to cloudflare earlier this year. Cheaper and I haven’t had any issues
I just transferred all my domains out of Namecheap into Porkbun. I think Porkbun is 10 to 50 cents more expensive than Cloudflare, but they seemed a bit easier to use and could hold all my TLDs. So far, a way better experience than Namecheap!
Do you mind sharing the things that you find better at porkbun over namecheap. I have domains scattered over there registrars and might use this as an impetus to consolidate. I've been okay with namecheap but not sure what I'm missing out.
For me it was really the price of domain renewals. Namecheap has great starting deals, but eg. I have a
.studiodomain and it costs $28.16 to renew at Namecheap and $21.09 at Porkbun. My.xyzdomain costs $9.92 to renew at Porkbun, $14.16 at Namecheap. (Registrar comparison chart here.)In terms of pure price, Cloudflare is cheaper to renew for all the domains I have, but Porkbun is only a dollar or two off and I like supporting a smaller company. Edit: Porkbun offers free SSL which is nice if you don't feel like bothering with LetsEncrypt yourself.
(Also, I find Namecheap's domain management console absolutely horrible to work with in terms of UI.)
Thanks for the detailed and thoughtful response, I really appreciate it. Yeah, I'm not a fan of centralizing everything and hence avoid cloudflare. Good to know the differences with namecheap and porkbun. I have my account loaded with credit on namecheap to get API access. I'll use that up and then move over to porkbun. Thanks again!
I've been using Joker.com for so long, my first bill might actually have been in Deutsche Marks.
I mainly stay with them because it just works, but also haven't seen an option out there so much better that it would be worth the minor hassle of changing.
But you might want to look at one of the comparison charts people posted here (though I don't see Joker on those) and see what services you want (whois hiding, dyndns, etc.).
you can also put cash into your joker account to pay your renewals
Uh... Google Domains... damn.
Well actually it depends, I have things spread across different registrars for different things. For all my personal stuff I have been using https://www.namesilo.com/ for over 5 years with not much to complain about. They generally have good prices and support quite a few TLDs, and no nonsense. Though they've been in a control panel redesign limbo for like 2 years which is pretty annoying, especially since I liked the old one better.
For IT stuff that I do for nonprofits and other orgs I've used Google Domains, but I guess that will have to change. Mostly because it integrates well with Google Workspace. I already use Cloudflare for a few of these things, so maybe I'll just move the domains to Cloudflare too. Generally I'm pretty happy with most things Cloudflare.
I hear excellent things about Porkbun but have never used it myself.
netcup.de
I use Cloudflare for TLDs they support, and Namecheap for everything else. Though, I use Cloudflare's DNS services for all domains.
I use cloudflare since that’s where I run other stuff anyway (static site builds, edge functions, etc.)
Same here (love Pages and Workers). Just wish their support for top level country domains (particularly .be for me).
Same here. Great prices and I like having it all in one spot.
Similarly, I use Vercel because that’s where I usually run other stuff anyway!
Namecheap, but all my domains use Cloudflare's nameservers
I can recommend https://inwx.com
I would recommend Porkbun, been using it for almost 1.5 years after I had to migrate from Namecheap. Wouldn't really recommend the latter
What was the issue with Namecheap? I've been using them since 2008 and wondering if there's something I should be aware of.
Their clunky and unpleasant Ui, but mainly this
I love porkbun, but I am currently having an issue with their 2FA implementation. Their customer service is very responsive however.
I use Internetbs.net, sometimes Name.com if they have a particular TLD way cheaper.
Porkbun
I'm using Porkbun and Cloudflare lately. No complaints.
Porkbun usually has the best pricing. TLD List is a good resource to consult too.
Porkbun
Just switched to cloudflare after the seeing the announcement. It's actually cheaper too, for a .com its $12/year from Google and for cloudflare its only $9.15/year. Switching was painless, was already using cloudflare as the nameservers for the domain anyway.
Yeah, Cloudflare offers domain registration at cost, which is pretty hard to beat.
Thanks for the post! I didn't realize google was going out of the registrar business. I only have a couple domains with google (mostly stopped using all of google services so this was the final service I was using).
I really like cloudflare due to the at-cost renewal/registration so that'll be where I am moving them to
Been using gandi.net for about a decade, been great to deal with
They're not the cheapest. But they support most of the TLDs that anybody could want, they have reasonable policies, and they are big enough that I don't need to worry about them disappearing overnight. Those are all important things that I'm willing to pay for
I know it's not the most popular option here, but Namecheao served me well for several years now. No real complaints that I can think of.
I liked namecheap but it did not support automated let's encrypt certificate renewal (I don't know if this has changed). Now I'm using Cloudflare and I have been liking it so far.
I'm struggling with this right now, certificate-manager has a plugin for namecheap, but it works only when i whitelist my extremely dynamic IP address...
is it possible to change registrars for already existing domains? I'm guessing i could forward to other service's nameservers or something? how did you move to cloudflare?
Consolidated all of my domains with NameSilo.com over 10 years with no regrets. Prices are very good with no additional fee for WHOIS privacy protection. I’ve tried multiple registrars, including GoDaddy back when they were good.
Disclosure: I work for a hosting company and we use eNom (as a reseller). I’d still pick NameSilo.com
NameSilo has never wowed me with features, but they've never done me wrong either.
Same
Ditto here for Namesilo. Cheap and works. Decent support.
What did I miss regarding Google Domains?
EDIT: Just saw, squarespace buying it.. goddamn it...
It got added to the Graveyard.
I've never used square space, are they no bueno?
I use Hover… it’s weird no one else does. Should I be moving off?
Never heard of them, but just looking at a registrar comparison chart, their renewal costs are pretty high. eg. $20 for
.wikirenewal at Porkbun and $30 at Hover. Maybe they bundle in a lot of services along with it that make the price worth it? but unless you're taking full advantage of those (if they're offered) then you could def get a better deal elsewhere.I use hover too, but reconsidering after this topic. Hover does provide anonymity, so I’m not sure if some of the other registrars listed do that too.
Enom
I’ve been using squarespace for my domain and hosting because I got a special deal on it. I was planning on switching to Google but now I’m wondering if I should just keep it on squarespace
Why would you want to switch?
Porkbun or namecheap depending on use case and cost. Both have been reliable.
I have been using naemcheap for years. Seems fine for me. Just wondering when Porkbun would be better? Just wondering if I am missing out on something. Thanks,
I'm using INWX
Yeah, INWX is nice, it even has a nice API.... Well, okay, an API. Also, no automatic credit card charges, it's kind of an "prepaid" account.
name.com is nothing special but it has worked for me for years
I switched over to Netim after Gandi announced their new prices and removed the free mailboxes. They're a bit pricey (close to current Gandi pricing) but it comes with a mailbox (1GB) and a 250MB website.
They were close to Gandi pricing. Gandi just hiked up their prices on most TLDs by 75-100%. For my next renewal all my domains show up as €28 now. Netim is actualy looking pretty good right now with €15-22. 😆
Honestly, I just go through Dreamhost since I have my hosting there anyway or Route 53, since they have full DNS customisation options.
I recommend namesilo, and the reason is because they give privacy shield for free in all your domains, also good prices, and also you can pay with bitcoin at market price. I kind of hate to put my personal data and my financial data in the same spot, that's why the bitcoin part is important to me.
I've been using porkbun and never had any issues.
I wish porkbun had a zone file import tool.
I have most of my domains on Cloudflare
I’ve been using Gandi for years. Love them.
Njalla
I use Hover, and have had no issues. Prices seem fair, and the private whois data by default is nice.
OVH, It's been years since I thought about a change.
I use blacknight.com their support is unreasonably good, plus they're local to me.
GoDaddy. Easy, no hassle. DNS config is OK. There are libraries to programmatically configure DNS (for Let's Encrypt).
Please don't recommend GoDaddy, someone may actually listen to you. They're well known as one of the worst registrars. I would suggest you find a recommendation on this post that looks good to you and then move your domains there. Literally anywhere would be better than GoDaddy.
I see. What's the problem with it? I don't deal with them very often. Why are they bad?
I'm genuinely curious, and I'm not against switching providers.
For me personally, they once stole a domain from me that I'd purchased from someone else, with no recourse whatsoever. I also saw them (firsthand) doing some shady things around their WHOIS lookup tool, where they'd register domains that users had searched for. I wouldn't take my word for it though, I'm just some rando online, I'd do some searches to see just how many people have had issues with them over the years. Spoiler alert, it's a LOT. There are even websites dedicated to detailing why GoDaddy is awful.
I see, thanks for the warning! Seems like I have to do a transfer soon.
@greg
Scrolling down the thread wondering why GoDaddy is not getting any attention.......... Then I saw your reply and my heart sank!
So do you recommend I switch to someone else?
I would absolutely recommend you switch to someone else. I've responded with a bit more info here.