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Ask HN: How to reliably register domains in Europe?

6 points by FreeHugs ↗ HN
Where do you HN people register important domains?

I have a domain that my life kind of depends on. I built my business on top of it for many years now. If I lose it, I would go from a comfortable lifestyle to zero income immediately.

Currently it is registered with a small German ISP, which recently got bought by a US company.

That makes me uncomfortable. God knows how professionally they run their business. If they make a mistake or maliciously take or sell my domain, God knows whom I would have to sue.

I think I should move the domain elsewhere.

What options do I have? How do you guys handle this?

8 comments

[ 2.6 ms ] story [ 19.4 ms ] thread
johncoltrane
I've used gandi.net for years without any issue.
Ultramanoid
Gandi.net is France-based and apparently one of the best in the business.

( I had a rough move at first with them, coming from using another service for a decade, but they've been solid so far. )

Artemix
I second gandi.

A very good UI/UX on their web service, a clear API that's usually well supported for domain TLS auth (certbot), a very complete documentation, and a good support.

FreeHugs
What makes them "one of the best in the business" when evaluating their trustworthyness?

I wonder if it really would be a good choice to use a registrar from another country.

Since I am not based in France, I could probably not afford to sue them in case they mess up.

So if they mess up, my leverage to get them to act is probably non existant.

Ultramanoid
I mentioned France because EU regulations are better than elsewhere for customers, you also asked specifically about Europe. It's hard to find a bad review or a disgruntled customer anywhere, they consistently rank high in all articles or reports you might find about registrars / hosts, and they do not advertise themselves.

Also, they're not a newcomer, but a relatively big player ( despite the lack of advertising ) and independent, not part of one of those American umbrella companies with dozens of fake subcompanies who couldn't care less about individual cases.

I am based in Asia and even here they have an excellent reputation. I happened to find them at a time they were short on hands and releasing new products, their replies to my issues were slow and I was not happy about it -- full disclosure. Yet here I am recommending.

I was contacted directly by the area manager and offered compensation in the form of free services after I complained. In my experience they are serious, and I haven't found any better as yet.

bradknowles
You want GANDI.

They have been well known and respected in the RIPE (https://www.ripe.net/about-us) and Free/Open Source communities for something like two decades now.

My personal vanity domain goes back to 1995, and I registered it through Heller Information Systems, back when they were one of the biggest BBSes in the world. But every domain I’ve registered since then has been exclusively through gandi.net.