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Ask YC: Need a new domain name registrar

19 points by hbien ↗ HN
The place I'm currently using raised their renewal fee to $35/year and I have a lot of domain names =/.

I'm looking for a place that's around the average $10/year or lower and has a nice web panel design to manage domain names.

What are you guys using?

35 comments

[ 2.7 ms ] story [ 77.9 ms ] thread
aditya
dreamhost does pretty well at $9.95/yr
lowkey
I switched from GoDaddy to Namecheap and haven't looked back. Domains under $10/ea (less with their frequent coupon codes) and a clean ad-free admin console. Highly recommend Namecheap.
qhoxie
I have been using NameCheap for many many years and they do a great job. There was one outage recently, and the owner kept everyone up to date by constantly posting on the forums and answering individual questions.
Jasber
I have also been using NameCheap for many years. They are a little more expensive than other registrar's ($9.69) and are actually just a reseller of eNom, but they do a great job.

I've never had any issues and their customer service has always been very quick, helpful and friendly.

I also like how they keep their checkout system clean and consistent--I just want to order domains, not buy web hosting, email forwarding, domain parking, etc... (GoDaddy I'm looking your direction).

lunaru
I'm using GoDaddy (I wouldn't recommend them for any of their other products besides domains and maybe SSL certs), but I hear lots of votes for Dreamhost.
socmoth
i just switched to http://www.gandi.net/, i wasn't able to find a single bad review.
SwellJoe
Gandi is among the most requested by our customers in our domain registration plugin (which uses the APIs of common registrars to register domains without having to leave the local control panel). Gandi seems to have a lot of fans. And a decent API, for what it's worth.
gamache
I have used Gandi for 3-4 years now, and I have no complaints whatsoever. I suppose it could be cheaper, but there is such a thing as too cheap.

Before that: NetSol who are crap, JumpDomain who were worse than crap, and Joker who were OK enough.

fallentimes
This is why I love Hacker News. I had never even heard of gandi and then it gets four positive reviews from four people I trust. Will use it for one of our sister sites (to test before moving over everything) - thanks guys.
hbien
Thanks socmoth, I'm gonna go with gandi.net.

It's a little bit more expensive ($15 vs the usual $10 a year) BUT it has a great interface. And you get free private domain registrations, which I think is worth the extra $5/year.

sidsavara
I use godaddy. I have used 1and1, NameCheap, ipowerweb, yahoo, etc.

GoDaddy may suck balls for a lot of things, but they are the best that I've found for having multiple domains. I don't have a lot, just a dozen or so active - but the interface is sweet, fast, and very easy to do domain locking/unlocking, nameservers, multiple edits, etc.

Of course, I'm not authority. This is just me saying what I've done, and what I like.

j0ncc
I hate how the godaddy UI is packed full of adverts. When you buy a domain you're bombarded with 50 or so offers that you're almost tricked into signing up to. Really not a fan.

I'm an avid namecheap user. The interface is clean and there are no adverts blocking your view. They've also just released their own API for registering domains off-site if that's your gig.

ConradHex
Also, the "private domains" feature is reasonably priced on namecheap. On godaddy, it just isn't.
alex_c
but the interface is sweet, fast, and very easy to do domain locking/unlocking, nameservers, multiple edits, etc.

That's weird, I use GoDaddy, and the interface drives me nuts because of how slow it is. It does let me do pretty much anything I need to, and GoDaddy is probably as cheap as it gets - but "fast" has never been a word I associate with them.

owkaye
I'm using name.com which costs me $6.99 per year for the first year, although I don't know what renewals will cost since this is my first year:

"For a limited time you'll be able to take advantage of $6.99 pricing for new .com registrations by using the promo code TLHF99 when you checkout. This is currently only good for one year registrations."

fgblanch
I used to register the domains with yahoo but the renewal price its quite high.

Today i've registered one with google (godaddy) for google apps for domains and everything went ok 10$ per year and google apps for domains set up by default

modoc
I use joker.com. Have for many many years. No complaints.
izak30
I'm a reseller at opensrs. It works out very well for what I need.
igorhvr
I use http://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/.

They bill 8.59 for a top level US domain renewal or registration.

Their service is good for anyone that understands DNS - they let you directly edit your DNS records.

sireat
I use both NameCheap and GoDaddy. I would have switched off GoDaddy completely but actually GoDaddy is the cheapest (around $7/yr) when using coupons...

One more tip, hosting with the registrar is usually a bad idea.

agotterer
I use AIT domains and godaddy. Don't love either.
dlytle
I'm personally interested now in registrars that are outside of the US. Since the Kentucky ruling seizing those gambling websites, it's become a little bit more important to think about where your registrar is located.

Not that I think that sort of ruling is going to become common, but shielding yourself as much as possible from US court intervention isn't a terrible idea.

mannylee1
Dynadot.com is an excellent choice.
codeview
nearlyfreespeech.net Have been using for 2 years now. Love it.
DenisM
DynDNS lets you set very low TTL. It's not cheap, but if that's what you need it's very good.
EGF
I think godaddy is the best. If you are buying\selling then its easy to push names in and out of. The management is simple and the locking\unlocking is very easy. Price is king as many other features are commodities. Also having 24/7 phone support is great.
sidsavara
By the way, I recently discovered Google has free private domain registration for $10 a year after talking about this with a friend:

http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/domain.html

No recommendation here from personal experience, except that I use Google Apps for my email. It looks good on paper and it's goodle, maybe someone else can share their experience.