Best Domain registrar

[davy51]

I did a search and didnt see anything about this

I know a lot here have their own domains and registrars

Rated according to this


1) Support

2) ease of use

3Ease of transfer in and out

4) Price

[David]

The best all round domain name registrar (based on a number of criteria) IMHO, is Namecheap.com

[cahero]

A couple lesser known registrars are:

Namesilo and

Internetbs dot Net

Both have really good prices (on transfers and renewals too) and I believe they both offer free "privacy" protection unlike namecheap which is only good for the first year.

I only have one domain at each so I can't give you a long term experience with either, but they seem to have excellent reputations.

[peter_x]

I remember I took an exhaustive research into the question at hand, checking out BBB, ICAN registers, registering at domain buyer/selller forums and generally spending over 3 months to thoroughly familiarize myself with the issue. It's hard to summarize all findings here in a forum - I encourage everyone considering buying a domain actually learn the issue themselves...In my subsequent run-up competition I ended up with dynadot (community is almost raving about it) and name.com (and upon request I can name 2 other, more expensive ones which made my "short list")... I disliked the partial privacy of dynadot and somewhat amateurish operation, and went ahead with name.com... I can't complain of the excellent service... Mind you - name.com has tacit reseller agreements with evil G, and I carefully checked out of all attempts to sign me on to anything but domain registration - in particular their website "help" (=Google) and also I am hosting elsewhere. And I did domain transfer almost immediately. Domain transfer/MX records pointing to EUmx was easy and smooth and took ca. 48 hours (maybe less, can't remember exactly).
If you don't mind the partial privacy of dynadot, by all means go ahead with them.
Namecheap is terrible as per customer feedback, please do your own THOROUGH research. In fact, the above applies to all domain registrars. I read all Privacy Statements and TOS - with a big magnifying glass!, and checked BBB reports on all of them.
Good luck with your search ! :-)

[FredOnline]

Originally Posted by peter_x

Namecheap is terrible as per customer feedback, please do your own THOROUGH research.

As long as THOROUGH research leads to the right conclusion - for you!

Over recent years, I have moved all my domains from Go Daddy to Namecheap - I've found their prices and services quite acceptable, and when I have had occasional need to contact their support I have always had resolution quickly.

The problem of feedback is, with larger firms such as Namecheap, they are liable to generate more complaints than smaller businesses, and it is human nature to put pen to paper (so to speak) more to complain, instead of to praise.

You pays your money . . .

[David]

Originally Posted by peter_x

Namecheap is terrible as per customer feedback, please do your own THOROUGH research.

I have used 'Namecheap' for as long as I can remember, with never a problem (for more than ten years) The biggest deal (once you have locked in to a registrar) is how easy (or difficult) it is to use their onsite control panel, to change your domain records - (MX records, CNAME, etc)

Namecheap's control panel is easy to use, especially for a beginner (who might need a little help) IMHO.

I agree with you, when you say, that you always need to do your research.

[kijinbear]

A couple of other nice registrars:

Gandi.net (France) - "no bull$hit", no upselling, supports many charities and educational initiatives, lots of TLDs to choose from, lots of free addons (ssl certificate, mailbox, blog, etc), okay service, but slightly higher prices.

NearlyFreeSpeech.net (USA) - excellent privacy policy, straightforward control panel, good prices, no frills, but DNS hosting costs extra. Customer support also costs extra unless it's their fault, so you'd better know what you're doing.

[peter_x]

We're about to unleash holy war around domain registration issues :-)
As much as I appreciate generalized recommendations in favor of Namecheap, I wholeheartedly recommend against signing on to seemingly "very large" providers which turn out to be a 1-man operation in an apartment, while most issues are outsourced to foreign-based personnel. Now, to stop this right here I recommend everyone read the BBB (better business bureau) reports on namecheap and other domain registrars one considers. I'm sorry Cpanel comment is nonsensical, most users only get to use administration tools very rarely (once a year at most, most likely only once). Additionally, most domain registrars already have Cpanel, and the issues with Cpanel/how well it's user-friendly etc. seem to have been the case of several years ago (and should never be a deciding factor). In sum, it failed to be a differentiating factor, pretty much all good registrars have a decent Cpanel.
Oh, and when I initially faced with my domain buying decision I remember I also fell for " difficult to understand/handle for average user" Cpanel propaganda...until I had to enter 2 numbers and press 2 keys for domain transfer...that was it.
Lastly, domain registrar space is ultra-competitive, and the landscape is changing so quickly last year's heroes are todays' villains. Not only does it apply to the need to do comparison shopping and own research regularly, bit it also means that just because your domain registrar served you well 2 years ago it does not necessarily mean that it will serve you well again now, simply because it has been years since you did anything with your domain ;-)

And to add to my own recent experience, the third runner-up in my contest was domaindiscover.com (admittedly the most expensive of the three)

As a last piece of advice, once you thoroughly researched the issue (BBB reports, specialized domain-trading forums, rankings and industry research), and have your own "short list" of contenders, engage with customer service of your chosen few... Intersperse platitude with sophisticated questions and see how they react (personally, timing-wise, relevant, to the point, helpful to walk half-way to meet your problem etc.) and actually solve your questions/problems... It was an ultimate deciding factor for me.

[David]

Originally Posted by peter_x

Additionally, most domain registrars already have Cpanel, and the issues with Cpanel/how well it's user-friendly etc. seem to have been the case of several years ago (and should never be a deciding factor). In sum, it failed to be a differentiating factor, pretty much all good registrars have a decent Cpanel.
.

While what you say might be true, I have never used Cpanel, and I do know my DNS. Incidentally, Namecheap.com, are most certainly not, a one man show.

[jeffpan]

namecheap
gandi.net you will get 5 email addr sharing 1G space with them

[sflorack]

Originally Posted by peter_x

In sum, it failed to be a differentiating factor, pretty much all good registrars have a decent Cpanel.

CPanel is a feature of a webhost, not a name registrar. (Unless you're abbreviating "control panel".)

[peter_x]

I was referring to admin tools available to user, sflorack ;-)

[FredOnline]

Originally Posted by peter_x

once you thoroughly researched the issue (BBB reports, specialized domain-trading forums, rankings and industry research), and have your own "short list" of contenders, engage with customer service of your chosen few... Intersperse platitude with sophisticated questions and see how they react (personally, timing-wise, relevant, to the point, helpful to walk half-way to meet your problem etc.) and actually solve your questions/problems

There is thorough, then there is THOROUGH!

Analyse everything to the nth degree if you feel that is necessary.

[peter_x]

I decided to follow your kind advice, FredOnline, ;-) and actually present my step-by-step process. I hope davy51 appreciates this, as we have veered off topic and haven't answered his question.

Here is my (overkill) process outline:

1. check publicly available rankings of all domain registrars.. Check past year's ranking, note changes. Check information of decrease/increase of number of domains hosted. Note any trends. Cross-check information with ICANN – de-select ALL re-sellers, so that only genuine registrars remain. Note delay of ICANN data – many registrars are being bought/sold and go out of business quicker than ICANN updates data. Pick a cut-off line of (in my case 95-100,000) min number of domains, to make business sustainable. Of the list, de-select all non-US registrars for reasons 1) US businesses appear to be under more public scrutiny 2) prices of non-US registrars appear to be higher when converted back in US dollars. (one of the reasons I de-selected several German registrars)
2. Use alls sorts of public and non-public information to uncover the real business behind a registrar – e.g. business domains vs. non-business, profitable vs. unprofitable operation etc. Who are the real people behind the operation? Small/cohesive team? Are they IT geeks, high street salesmen or business owners? Is it a large/small/mid-sized operation? Where is business physically located? Is it prone to earthquakes/flash floods/hurricanes? What are the business continuity processes at hand? Is there 1-2 co-location facility? Where is datacenter? How is it powered? Is there a ready plan in case of emergency? What happens if real emergency breaks out? How long before power dies out etc.?
3. Check Better Business Bureau reports on selected registrars. Actually read ALL negative reports to get a good picture of what was going on and why. Make an arbitrary decision to not consider any registrar with a rating below B, or where rating has been recalled/withdrawn. De-select all registrars not having a file with BBB.
4. Do those you selected by now have their own forums/bulleting boards? Visit those and pay attention to heated discussions of recent troubles. (I actually read all troubles with domains over 2 years preceding my decision to review them) Notice all recent outages/problems with transfers – e.g. everything from what you could infer the real state of things there. Make an informed decision – will I be happy/OK with what happened and how it was handled (timely/adequate response vs. deleting users' comments/trolling in forums)? Now, visit independent domain buyer/seller forums and learn that some domain registrars actually delete most troubling episodes of unsatisfied customers posting in their own forums! Get a reality check hence and learn more. For extra gravity check, go to professional bulk domain buyers/sellers forum (those with regular 500+ domains dealing) and mingle with them to learn what they say about your selected few registrars. Note all threads about your “long list” candidates and study those professionals' views. Puts your 1-5 number of domains to register question in some perspective.
5. Consider what is important for your needs (e.g. just domain buy? Buy and host? Buy and put MX records elsewhere? Point just email records or whole domain? Etc.) Once you considered it, it becomes your own “bundle”. Any smart effort to make you buy a pre-defined registrar-offered bundle is considered infringement on your rights, so you patiently un-bundle such bundle to price for the features YOU need. Create an Excel spreadsheet with all features priced (or yes/no) to come up with an ultimate YOUR PRICING.

Smart efforts to trick you would include throwing up privacy when it appears Privacy will cost you extra every year after year 1, full privacy cannot be provided due to some arbitrary reading of some law etc., lock protection is extra, free transfer is not provided or sabotaged etc.

What is the ultimate all-in cost for you? Throw away/ignore all discount offers as all domain registrars will be happy to throw some sweetener in your first 1-2 years (promo codes etc.)
Given the above, analyze your spreadsheet to come up with 3-5 “long list” candidates. Pay attention to selecting the best features you need FIRST, then further narrow down to 2-3 of those for a “short list” based on all-in price.
5. Actually visit the website of your selected registrars. Is it flashy? Are they head-over-heels in trying to sell to you or is there a clear-cut outline of features and pricing? How does their control panel look like? Is there online tutorial/detailed FAQ which walks even the most ignorant of us, holding our hand, and leaving no questions unanswered/showing you how Cpanel looks etc?
6. How do they work? Assume their working hours are 9 to 5 West Coast US and you live/work in China now, and when the trouble/or a mere question comes on Friday afternoon you'd be locked out of contact until Monday evening?! Would you prefer perhaps 360/24/7 contact? Or, if not, will someone cover up for off-hours or during the weekend? Will that be an automated/outsourced contact with bad English and no real clue of your problem or something better than that? What are the various alternative means to reach them? Murphy's law states all troubles break out when you are least prepared and have limited means to communicate. Above all, phone access is valuable. Forum? Online chat? Email? Twitter (and is it used mainly for own advertising or actually posting timely updates? Go back to past testy situations to check how users responded and what was done to inform/correct on time. Conjure up (I hope you read the FAQ and consulted various forums by now) an array of provocative questions and start questioning them before you even sign up. Make an effort to intersperse plain/ignorant questions with deep technical ones, to see how they react and actually solve your (imagined) problem. That way, you may model a potential trouble situation which may or may not come. Note email response time. Online chat is also a good option to check the same. Actually call them on the phone as well. Nothing better to get a real sense who you'd be dealing with.
7. Assuming you want to host elsewhere, go to your (supposed) email/web hosting company and check what the procedure is to transfer domain/point MX records at them, then ask what they think about your supposed short list 2-3 candidates...
8. Go back and study their TOS and Privacy Statements. Cannot stress enough how this is important.
9. What are the payment options – do they have both Paypal and credit card option? Can they actually draw from a card? In my particular case, that was a crucial point, when automatic system refused to acknowledge my credit card, I called on the phone, almost on the verge of going to my #2 fallback domain registrar candidate, and the live friendly patient American person on the line was helpful and managed to draw from my card and register my domain, which I saw appearing in my control panel seconds after the transaction (all the time on the phone line with domain registrar employee).

[davy51]

Amazingly Peter X the posts have answered the questions in a round about way

I have two domains of my own and use Godaddy and 1&1

With Godaddy Ive never had a problem

I haven't tried to transfer out of 1&1 yet

Been looking at moving it to namecheap dont know how big a pain thats gonna be

I know my search for a registrar was a pain and thought maybe this thread might help others looking for a registrar easier to find

After all this is a place to discuss email,email hosts,and domains