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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[–] [email protected] 73 points 4 months ago (6 children)

Top answers from the last 39580202 times this was asked:

  • Namecheap
  • Porkbun
  • Gandi
  • Cloudflare
[–] [email protected] 26 points 4 months 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.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 months 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.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months 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.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months 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.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 4 months ago (17 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.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 months 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

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago (1 children)

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

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

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

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Gandi massively increased their prices 2 years ago.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

I like pair domains.

[–] [email protected] 46 points 4 months ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

Seconded. I switched from namecheap when they raised the price of my domain. I never had a problem with name cheap but porkbin is cheaper.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago
[–] [email protected] 29 points 4 months ago (2 children)

I've always used NameCheap. Can't speak to their ethics, but customer support has been excellent the few times I've needed it.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 4 months ago

Been using Namecheap for a decade or more now. Great company, no muss, no fuss, just works. The greatest thing is that they're boring as fuck. That's one of the best qualities to have in a domain registrar.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Also been using namecheap for years with no complaints. Boring and dependable.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 months ago

Boring and dependable.

Just like I wish politics were.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months 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.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months 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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[–] [email protected] 19 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I've been with Porkbun since Gandi got acquired. No complaints.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

Total Webhosting Solutions

[–] [email protected] 16 points 4 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 months ago

This. NameCheap actually responds to abuse reports, as well. Turns out they actually think it's bad for business to allow grifters and con artists to use their services, unlike other major registrars.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 months ago (2 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago

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

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months 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.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago

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

[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 months 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

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 months ago

I have had a lot good experience with Porkbun.

[–] puppinstuff 7 points 4 months 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.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

I can't believe they're still around

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I moved all my domains from Google to OVH, OVH have an API so you can get certs with certbot. You could also use the API to update records for a dynamic home broadband

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I have a server with OVH. I hadn't realised they're a registrar also.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago (1 children)

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

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months 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.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago

I use namesilo for everything but my .au domains.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

I’ve been a happy customer of Metaregistrar for over a decade. No complaints, fair prices. Just moved a .be from Gandi there because they wanted to charge me €30 excl. VAT for 1 year. Retail price of .be by DNS.be is about €5 and Metaregistrar only charges me €7,5 excl. VAT for a .be for a year. Was at Gandi with that domain because they used to offer free mailboxes with domain name registrations but have since stopped that. Shop around people!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

Thanks for the tip, I'm getting pissed off at the Gandi .be prices as well, just ludicrous.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago (2 children)

INWX has been great so far, have been with them for about 6 years at this point. Also had good experiences with their customer support.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months 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

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago (4 children)

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

giggles as the downvotes pour in

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

I have two domains through Porkbun. Never had an issue with them. No-nonsense, simple UI, good prices.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

Tested porkbun and namecheap. Namecheap has a nice and reactive support from my experience. Porkbun also helped me quickly.

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