this post was submitted on 03 Mar 2025
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I want to get some domains for selfhosted stuff, but I'd like to use a registrar that I won't regret doing business with later, both in terms of ethics and potential customer service stuff. Who do y'all like most?

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[–] Ulrich@feddit.org 71 points 6 days ago (6 children)

Top answers from the last 39580202 times this was asked:

  • Namecheap
  • Porkbun
  • Gandi
  • Cloudflare
[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 25 points 6 days ago (2 children)

I was with Namecheap for years, and they're totally fine. I am now with Cloudflare because they're a bit cheaper and their API is well supported in various tools, and they also seem fine.

[–] 3dmvr@lemm.ee 10 points 6 days ago

I use porkbun and you get cloudflare through them, not sure to what extent, porkbuns just cheaper, I like their ui, straightforward, everything you need on one screen.

[–] TedZanzibar@feddit.uk 7 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Exactly this. Also it annoys me that Namecheap tries to automatically "top up funds" over a month before renewals are due. I think they've always done it but it wound me up enough this year to move to Cloudflare.

[–] keckbug@lemmy.world 6 points 6 days ago

Counterpoint, I quite like this. I’m terrible at keeping payment details up to date, and I’ve got long renewal periods on my domains. The early renewal attempt allows me to get an email that my payment is expired or revoked (due to a stolen card number or something) and I have a month to go correct it.

[–] jonathan@lemmy.zip 17 points 6 days ago (16 children)

I wouldn't buy domains from Cloudflare from a risk mitigation perspective. At work I direct six figures of budget their way annually, but as a free-tier customer in my personal life I don't trust them not to fuck up at some point and lock my account. If I register my domain elsewhere I can bring myself back online by moving the nameservers. If it's registered at Cloudflare I'm fucked.

[–] ikidd@lemmy.world 1 points 5 days ago

This is the way. Never use the NS of your registrar.

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[–] vfsh@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Another +1 for name cheap, been using em for a decade now. Their deals are stellar and renewal prices are on par with any other competitors usually

[–] scarilog@lemmy.world 7 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Transferred all my domains from nanecheap to CloudFlare and I'm saving like 1/3 of price on renewals.

[–] ikidd@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago

Moved to Porkbun, saving about the same. The price creep pisses me off.

[–] SomethingBurger@jlai.lu 6 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Gandi massively increased their prices 2 years ago.

[–] idefix@sh.itjust.works 3 points 6 days ago

For email hosting only. But yes, they are not as trustworthy as they once were

I'll throw in for namecheap. Been with them for a while with no complaints.

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[–] ouch@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago

As a side question, are there other free DNS providers besides Cloudflare? Ones that don't require you to register your domain there.

[–] killeronthecorner@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)
[–] daco@lemm.ee 1 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Just curious. Why should dynadot be avoid?

[–] killeronthecorner@lemmy.world 1 points 15 hours ago

I can only speak from personal experience but for me they jacked up the price significantly after year one and then sent my domain straight to auction after I decided not to pay. I respect that there are reseller-focused providers out there but they aren't for me.

On the other hand, I've had nothing but quality service from namecheap for the best part of a decade.

[–] null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 24 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

In case anyone was wondering:

  • namecheap: US
  • porkbun: US
  • INWX: Germany
  • OVH: French
  • onlydomains: NZ

I personally have been with onlydomains for a decade or so. No complaints.

[–] sxan@midwest.social 5 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I've domains from both DomainMonger and NameCheap. If it were trivial, I'd probably move my domains to NameCheap. The web UX is a little better; aside from that, I've never had issues with either, not heard anything particularly bad about either.

But, yeah: +1 on the NameCheap suggestion.

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[–] lol_idk@lemmy.ml 12 points 6 days ago

I switched to Porkbun from Namecheap recently because Porkbun is somewhat local.

Porkbun is decent but cheaper if you have a dozen domains too

[–] Wrongdoer4094@lemmy.world 12 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I'm using Cloudflare, because it's quite convenient since I always end up using them as DNS server.

They're also slightly cheaper since they don't take any profit from their registrar side, hoping to make it back with other services.

[–] bigDottee@geekroom.tech 5 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Also use Cloudflare as new domain registrar because I use them as DNS as well. I can’t say that I’ve had any problems with them at all.

Same, I also use Cloudflare dns, tunnels, and pages. Having these all in the same place makes it easy to deploy/keep track of everything

[–] lemonuri@lemmy.ml 7 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I've been with 1984.is for a couple of years now. I think my domains cost around 12 Euros a year each. Their web GUI works fine and I've never needed to contact their customer service, so I cannot comment on that.

[–] Zelaf@sopuli.xyz 1 points 4 days ago

I've been with 1984.is for some time as well. They're international domain is 1984.hosting. I've also had contact with their support and they're friendly, knowledgeable and straight on point.

I had to transfer my domain and they wanted the domain key. Not wanting to send that over insecure email asked if they have a GPG key and told me they do, sent me a link to their site to get it and a specific mail to send it to which I then was able to send over. The process of contacting them and getting everything set was very speedy and I felt in good hands.

[–] AustralianSimon@lemmy.world 6 points 6 days ago

I use namesilo for everything but my .au domains.

[–] Ohh@lemmy.ml 5 points 6 days ago

Iwantmyname.com ticked almost all boxes last i looked. Hasnt been mentioned yet. https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&query=iwantmyname.com&sort=byDate&type=comment

[–] 42yeah@lemm.ee 7 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Namesilo is quite good - cheap & been using it for 5 years now (coming from namecheap)

[–] gofsckyourself@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

I find their website so awful and painful to use. Everything is difficult to find and just takes longer to accomplish than nearly anywhere else. I bought one domain from them once and will never use them again.

[–] puppinstuff@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I’ve been happy with Hover for several years. They don’t bug me and they’re owned by Tucows so they’ve got decades-old staying power.

[–] perishthethought@lemm.ee 5 points 6 days ago

I can't believe they're still around

[–] RubberElectrons@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

Pair domains supports ipv4/6 DNS, Dnsmasq, and dynamic DNS. Cheap, 2fa secured and does the job reliably.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Have you tried......GoDaddy???

giggles as the downvotes pour in

I have a domain with godaddy that renews very soon. Is it posible to migrate it to another registrar?

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