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Ask HN: What is your preferred registrar?

8 points by blhack ↗ HN
Recently I found out that namecheap forces you to contact them and get domains with the word "hacker" in them approved by one of their staff.

(I was trying to register raspihacker.com [as in: raspberry pi], and got told that I can't until they approve it.)

This really rubbed me the wrong way, and I'd rather not give money to a company that equates hackers with criminals.

Who are you using? I've heard of some fabled google registrar, but have never seen it. Are there any that don't try to upsell you on a bunch of things during checkout?

23 comments

[ 2.5 ms ] story [ 51.3 ms ] thread
Spoygg
I very much appreciate gandi.net. Read their no bullshit™ policy :) https://www.gandi.net/no-bullshit
3825
I was told to avoid registering and hosting at the same company. What do you think about that?
shanehudson
Sounds like good advice to me.
Spoygg
Please elaborate, thanks :)
shanehudson
Well for a start, using the same company will make it much harder to move. Often the price shoots up after a year too. And then there is the risk of somebody getting access, it is easier usually to hack a website than a registrar so a cracker or their could get access to your domain through a security flaw in your website. Also, companies are usually either better at domain management or hosting rather than both, I have huge respect for good support teams like Krystal Hosting have,which is easier when they are focused.

I'm not saying don't use the same company, but I always tend to prefer them separate.

Spoygg
I understood question:

"I was told to avoid registering and hosting at the same company. What do you think about that?"

as

"I was told to avoid registering and hosting at gandi.net. What do you think about that?"

If it was meant as asked than there maybe some truth to it. But than again if you are confident in how some company handles one area than that may give some credibility of their work in other areas.

When I started using gandi they were just a domain registrar. And I am yet to use them as hosting provider.

I agree somewhat with your view, it can be true in some cases :)

Spoygg
I do not think about that until you give some examples or actual records.
dangrossman
Have you read their actual contract terms instead of their marketing materials?

If any content on your website (even if user-generated) violates their "code of ethics", Gandi can take your domain from you. There's pretty much no way to run any kind of forum, blog with comments, website with any adult content, or even a site which simply expresses opinions that are not legal in another country, without giving Gandi the contractual right to take your domain and kill your site whenever they want. And good luck explaining that your definition of "hacking" (i.e. Hacker News) is not the same as theirs.

That's bullshit.

    By accepting Our Contracts and using Our services, You agree to
    abide  to  Our  code  of  ethics which  consists,  in  particular,  of
    protecting and respecting minors, human dignity, public order and
    good moral standards, not infringing on the rights of third parties
    (private life, image, honor and reputation, trademarks, designs
    and models, copyrights, etc.) or the security of persons, property,
    the government, or the good working order of public institutions,
    and to help in the fight against abusive and/or deviant uses of the
    Internet (spamming, phishing, hacking, cracking, or attempts at
    hacking or cracking), or any other infraction as cited in the Penal
    Code.

    You also commit Yourself to ensuring that any third party to whom
    You would resell Our services, or grant a license of use, or grant
    any access or ability to modify any published Contents, will fully
    abide by the terms and conditions herein, and that You are able to
    effectively guarantee this commitment with regards to Gandi, and
    You remain fully responsible in case of violation of this  Contract
    and/or violation of laws and legislations in force, without prejudice
    of Your liability towards third parties

    ...

    You acknowledge and accept that the use of Our service: 
    • is  expressly  forbidden  for  use  in  any  way  that  engages  or
    participates  in  practices  that  are  deviant,  abusive,  illegal,  or
    prejudicial, and
    • must be done so in a way that is strictly legal and that respects
    all applicable and regulatory laws, and if applicable, the country
    in  which  You  are  located  and  perform  Your  activity,  or  the
    destination where You propose Your products and services,
    • must  notably  respect  the  rights  of  third  parties  (intellectual
    property rights, personality rights, image, honor, and reputation
    rights,  and  the  right  of  privacy  and  the  secrecy  of
    correspondence), and
    • must be appropriate to the age and sensibility of each of the
    individuals that any of the content is destined for, directly or
    indirectly,  published  or  made  available  to  via  the  technical
    solutions used.
...and that's just part of it.

http://www.gandi.net/static/contracts/en/g2/pdf/MSA-1.3-EN.p...

andrewmunsell
Personally I've switched to Namecheap, but that's interesting that they require approval for domains like that...

I used to use 1&1, and my only advice is to not use them. I've had so much trouble switching DNS around on their system that it's just not worth it. It often will take the full 48 hours for DNS to switch for me, whereas other registrars have it done in minutes. I'm not a DNS guy so I couldn't tell you if it was their system or some other issue with my DNS, but I've had enough experiences with them to avoid buying anything new.

shanehudson
I am a massive fan of namecheap, best registrar I have used. Their support team is great too.
arn
I like namecheap. My biggest concern with them is they don't offer any sort of two factor authentication. It has made me look around for my more valuable domains.
shanehudson
True, but they have been proactive in retrieving stolen domains. I know 123reg and others have been known tho not do anything.
michaelbuckbee
I'm in the process of moving all of my domains from GoDaddy to DNSimple.com. They have very definitely nailed the "straightforward and easy to use" aspects of a registrar.

Two additional things that I hadn't really heard about them until a friend recommended them:

1. They have DNS Setup 'templates' - basically one click setup for things like Heroku or GitHub Pages.

2. They offer two-factor authentication (via Authy) which when you think about just how bad things could go if somebody got hold of your DNS Settings seems like something more registrars should do.

Biggest downside is that they are a little more expensive than GoDaddy or Namecheap, but I guess it's rounding errors in the scheme of things.

https://dnsimple.com or https://dnsimple.com/r/1d932aeba20283 if you don't mind a referral code.

mblake
Moniker. I've used them for years and haven't had any issues. Haven't really looked into it, but at least they give out the impression that security is really tight and that both your domains and your privacy are protected.

I've also used Name.com, but not enough to be able to recommend it to someone else.

tyrelb
DNSImple (dnsimple.com) (but the backend is enom). Run by two brothers - really great guys!
redegg
I opened an OpenSRS reseller account the other day ($99 one-time fee but I had a 50% coupon). Not the prettiest management panel but they give you lots of control over your domains with their API. Plus, free WHOIS privacy for every domain every year.

Compared with Namecheap renewals, .com on OpenSRS ($11.03) is actually a couple cents cheaper than a renewal + WhoisGuard on Namecheap ($10.69 + $2.88).

The primary reason I went with them was because they're a domain provider for resellers; they leave all the shenanigans of domain registrations up to you. They don't interfere with your operations unless they're legally obligated to do so. Also, you don't have to be a "reseller" to sign up.

I don't want to sound like I'm being paid to endorse them, but it's been a month so far and I like it.

---

Also there's internet.bs. I'm not sure how they are but a friend suggested them to me. They have an API too and are 2 dollars cheaper than OpenSRS.

meej
I've recently heard good things about Hover. https://www.hover.com/

I'm still using Dotster. They're not awesome, and they're not the cheapest, but they've never done anything that would make me want to leave, either.

ohashi
If you've got a lot of domains or are willing to pay their crazy retail prices - Fabulous.com.

I've been with them for many years and have hundreds of domains with them. Best service and feature set I've experienced (and price, but I am not sure you will qualify). They've had the features other companies are just 'launching' for 5+ years. I can even see things like how many times people are hitting my WHOIS lookup for a domain (go ahead, copy that feature, it's awesome).

They have free privacy and can setup all sorts of authentication to change domains if you want to add that level of security.

shail
I would like to mention mediatemple.net. I have been using them for quite a while and they seem to be really good. But my requirement are also very limited. Just register a domain and occasionally fiddle with the name server settings.

PS: they do not offer registration for all the TLDs.

dynabros
I've used name.com and never had any problems