Understand Your Registrar Of Record
The registrar of record is the registrar listed in the WHOIS record for your domain as being where your domain is registered. Google Domains is the direct registrar for many Top-Level Domains . We have partnered with other registrars to offer many more TLDs which we resell from them. This does not affect the cost and Google Domains is still your point of contact for registration services, help, and support. However, a different registrar may be listed in your WHOIS data as the registrar of record for some domains.
Review our list of domains endings for more information on their registries.
In most cases, Google Domains will still be your primary contact for questions or issues with your domain registration. However, please be aware that in rare cases, your registrar of record might contact you directly .
Giving you an amazing experience whether we are your direct registrar or your reseller is very important to Google Domains, so we strive to offer the same experience everywhere where possible.
For more information on your interaction with your domain’s registrar, see ICANN’s web page on Registrants’ Benefits and Responsibilities.
About Registrars And Registries
To register a domain, you can work with registrars such as Google Domains. Google Domains works with registries such as Google Registry to acquire domain names for individuals and companies.
How a registrar and a registry differ:
- Registrar: An organization that manages the registration of domain names for one or more Top-Level Domain registries.
- Registry: An organization that manages the administrative data for the TLD domains and subdomains under its authority, such as the zone files that contain addresses of the name servers for each domain.
ICANNhas oversight for registries and registrars. Additional information about registries and registrars is available through InterNICand IANA, two organizations ICANN operates.
A registrant is the registered holder of a domain. A registrant holds the “rights” to a domain for the duration of the registration period. A domain’s registration can be renewed indefinitely, up to 10 years at a time. A registrant is considered the “owner” of the domain.
Google Domains is a registrar. A registrar works with a registrant, or the owner of a domain, and a registry.
Registrars:
- Offer other value-added services applicable to domains
InterNIC maintains a directory of accredited registrars at www.internic.com/regist.html.
A registry is a database that contains registrant information for the second-level domains beneath a given top-level domain .
The Best Domain Registrar: How We Choose Them
- Pricing structures can be complicated. A low headline figure could become expensive on renewal, for instance. Prices vary between domain extensions, too, so a registrar that offers great value for a .com domain might give you a poor deal on when it comes to .org.
- There may be extra costs for tasks like transferring your domain to another registrar, too. Read the small print before you sign up.
- Look for any bundled or optional extras. A Whois privacy service prevents your address, phone number and email address appearing as public contact details for the domain, something which could otherwise get you a significant amount of spam email and phone calls. We’ve seen this cost as much as $11.20 a year, but several registrars provide it for free.
- Many domain registrars offer hosting as an extra, but keep in mind that web hosting companies can also register domains. If you have an idea of which web host you’d like to use, check the details of its plans: you may be able to register a domain for free when you buy hosting, and that’s often the cheapest option.
- Finally, take a look at the support a registrar offers. You may never need any help at all, but if anything critical crops up maybe an issue which might cause a problem with renewal it’s important that your provider is on hand to ably assist.
- Balancing all these priorities can be tricky, so that’s why we’ve created this list of top domain registrars to help point you in the right direction.
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Domain Extensions And Search Tools
I really like it when a domain registrar makes it easy for you to take advantage of all the different domain extensions available. Basically, you are looking at two things:
Every domain registrar on my list offers the familiar TLDs like .com, but some offer a larger selection of alternative TLDs. There are hundreds of new TLDs, like .online, .blog, and even .ninja.
This is great for people starting new sites because, as you can imagine, most of the desirable domain names are already taken for the .com extension.
A great place to check for a bargain deal on one of the newer TLDs is Namecheap. They run promotional pricing for domains as low as $0.99/year:
Thats a steal right there.
With new TLDs, you want to pick something thats going to age well and makes sense with your business. Just keep searching until you find one that works.
Be aware that not all domain registrars offer the same selection of TLDs. As a random example, NameSilo offers both .theater and .theatre, whereas Google doesnt have the British spelling.
If the name you want isnt available, registrars will offer suggestions for slightly different names or alternative TLDs that are available. This can help you find something much quicker than having to search each name individually.
How To Transfer A Domain Name To Google Domains
If youve already registered your domain at another domain registrar, you can also transfer your domain from that registrar to Google Domains.
The process is fairly similar but youll also need to perform some actions at the registrar where your domain name is currently registered.
To get started, and click the Transfer tab. Then, enter the domain name that you want to transfer:
Google Domains will automatically detect where your domain name is currently registered and provide a step-by-step wizard to guide you through the transfer process:
Once you finish the transfer, youll be able to manage your domain name just as if youd registered it directly through Google Domains.
Google Domains is definitely one of the best places to register a domain name.
Google Domains offers transparent, competitive pricing for most popular domain extensions. It can be pricey for certain extensions like .io but its near or below the competition for extensions like .com and .org.
It offers a well-designed interface, along with nice features like free privacy protection, Google DNS, automatic Google Search Console verification, and strong two-factor authentication.
If youre having trouble getting a specific domain name, that domain might be parked. Learn more about that here.
And if youre looking for WordPress hosting to pair with your new domain, give Kinsta a look.
Save time, costs and maximize site performance with:
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Domain Auctions Or Marketplace
Sometimes you might want to offload a domain name, or discover a domain name thats been taken, but the owner is willing to take offers. If youre looking for domain selling sites, a domain auction or is the perfect place to buy and sell registered domain names.
Network Solutions, Porkbun, Name.com, GoDaddy, and Namecheap all offer domain auctions. These are the best websites for selling your domains in 2021.
| Registrar |
|---|
| 179 |
*Source: trustpilot.com
The higher the sample size, the more accurate the score will be, so from the table, we can see that Porkbun, Namecheap, IONOS, and GoDaddy are considered popular and reputable domain name registrars.
Cons Of Having A Domain With Google:
So, what are the disadvantages, if any, of registering a domain with Google Domains?
1. High Cost Compared to Other Registration Services:
Compared to other domain registrars, Google Domains does not come cheap. A dot-com domain costs $12 per year.
Moreover, Google Domains does not offer discounts for long-term contracts, e.g. if you register a domain for 5 years, you still pay $12 per year.
The table below compares the prices of .COM domains at Google Domains and NameCheap. Note the small discount that NameCheap offers if you get a domain for two and three years.
| Company | |
|---|---|
| $10.88 | $10.78 |
Other domain registrars that also provide web hosting services offer substantial discounts on your first year of registration. The same can be said for web hosts that offer free domain accounts for a year.
If you go through our NameCheap Review, youll find out that NameCheap has consistently low renewal rates on multi-year contracts.
This is not true with Google Domains, though. If you choose to register a domain with the company, youll have to pay separately for hosting on Google App Engine.
If you get an app running on Google App Engine, and decide to renew your domain with Google Domains, you still have to pay the normal rate for your domain.
Given that your usage may not exceed Google App Engines free tier, this doesnt seem bad at all, particularly if youre just starting out and dont have that many users just yet.
2. Limited Coverage:
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Not As Many Smaller Extensions
Google Domains supports 100+ domain extensions, including all of the popular options. However, other domain registrars support even more.
For example, Namecheap offers 400+ extensions.
Does this difference matter? Not for most people because the majority of people will purchase a mainstream domain extension .
But if youre in the market for something out there like a .vodka domain name, you might need to go outside Google Domains.
Automated Renewals And Reminders
Seeing as how you register a domain for one or more years, it stands to reason that at some point youll have to renew your registration.
Luckily, the best domain registrar options offer automated renewal services as long as you put a credit card on file. We also like registrars that give you some grace period after the domain expires.
Now, after a few years you may have new credit cards, so you also want to ensure that the registrar will send out reminders that a domain is about to expire.
Important: If you dont renew a domain name it eventually gets released to the public for purchase . Someone else can then buy the domain and either keep it or try to sell it back to you for a large sum of money. This is not uncommon, so make sure your credit card is up-to-date and you activate auto-renewals.
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Privacy: Google Domains Vs Godaddy
When you register a domain, your personal information is available to everyone through your websites WHOIS. Google takes privacy very seriously, unlike GoDaddy. Google replaces your info with a third-party providers information, whereas GoDaddy does not unless you pay extra, which renders Googles services more cost effective.
Google Domains Ease Of Use
Google Domains is very easy to use. It only takes a few steps to sign up for a domain.
The sites home page could not be more simple the first thing you see is a search bar to look for a new domain, which means you can get down to business right away.
To begin, simply type in your preferred domain name to see what they have.
Then, when you click get it, a list of your chosen domain name, or a similar name, will appear.
Google domains will also show you all of the available extensions for your site.
A green arrow beside the name means that it is available.
Once you find a domain name and price you like, you can add it to your shopping cart and checkout.
After you pay, the domain name is yours.
Just like that, in a few easy steps, you can find and purchase a domain name that will add professionalism to your site.
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Pricing: Namecheap Vs Google Domains
Through Google Domain, one can acquire a domain for $12 for the first year which comes up to $1 a month. After that, there is no renewal fee. Which means, in $12 you could use the same domain for even a decade if you wished to. As for Namecheap, users can buy domains for as cheap as 0.48$ a year. That is pretty cheap, but the catch is that it will not end in . You can choose from multiple options such as , , , etc.
Google Domains Vs Godaddy Domain Registrar: Which One Is Best For You
There are plentyof domain registrars available across the web and it is a no brainer that with the increase in the number of options, selecting the right company gets really difficult.
The same is the case when it comes to choosing the right Domain Registrar for you.
This is why we are going to present you with a comparison of two popular domain registrars. In this writing, you will find all about Google Domains vs GoDaddy Domain analysis in detail.
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Google Domains Is Great For Domains Registration Godaddy Is Better For Beginners
The decision of whether to go with Google Domains or GoDaddy boils down to your general needs and experience levels. Heres a quick head-to-head comparison:
Google Domains
Choose Google Domains if youre looking for basic domain registration and dont mind having to connect your domain to your hosting yourself. It can work out cheaper than GoDaddy and other domain registration providers since there are no big price hikes. Because Google Domains doesnt provide hosting, you will have to sort that out for yourself. You can connect your domain to any hosting service or website builder but Wix is a good place to start.
Opt for GoDaddy if you want the ease of having your domain automatically configured for web hosting, WordPress hosting, or the GoDaddy website builder.The free trial of the website builder is a good starting point, and you have plenty of time to decide whether its the right fit for you and you can easily disconnect your domain name and sign up for WordPress hosting instead and benefit from GoDaddys 30-day money-back guarantee on your hosting, too.
Customer Support: Godaddy Vs Google Domains
Google Domains offers a worldwide, 24/7 customer service where it is easy to connect with an agent via chat or email. You could even request a call-back from a technician. Alternatively, there are many articles to troubleshoot Google Domain issues if you face any.
GoDaddy only operates in 50 countries. While they offer similar services like Google Domains, they do not operate 24/7 in all the countries. If one needs to live chat with an agent, it will have to be between 5 a.m. and 6 p.m. US Pacific time in a few locations.
In countries like HongKong and Singapore, they are available from Monday to Friday for chat. Check complete list here.
However in countries like India, they are available 24×7.
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