What Is The Best Domain Registrar

How We Test The Best Domain Registrar Services

How we test domain registration services is pretty simple. Our web experts simply insert a keyword with a domain extension on the homepage of each service provider and the system will reveal its availability.

We then purchase the domain and check whether the service comes with all the features it claims to offer. We also compare prices to check whether each domain registrar is offering a service that is good value for your money.

We also test additional features such as GoDaddy’s domain broker service, where a representative will negotiate with the owner of a domain name you want but has already been taken, in order to buy that domain name from them at a reasonable price.

Best Domain Registrars: Our Top 3 Options

Now that you know how to select your domain registrar, its time to examine your options.

You should only select a domain registrar from services that have received accreditation from the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers .

Others may be fraudulent.

Over a thousand ICANN-accredited domain registrars are available, so we have selected some of the best ones for you to choose from.

How To Choose The Best Domain Registrar In 2022

When choosing a domain registrar, its important to consider a range of crucial factors, including what kind of domain name extensions you can access , and how long you can purchase your domain name with each provider.

If you visit the pricing page for a domain registration company, youll notice many companies offer a range of options, including the ability to choose a variety of TLDs like .com, or .net.

Some vendors will only be able to offer certain TLDs, so make sure you can get all the options you want. Youll also notice some domain extensions are more expensive than others.

While examining the pricing of your domain name registrars, keep in mind many vendors will offer a discount price on your first years subscription, while renewal prices can be significantly higher. For instance, a domain from Name.com starts at $8.99 and then upgrades to $15.99 for a .com TLD.

Check how long you can register your domain name straight away , and consider purchasing your name for as long as possible. Some providers allow you to register a title for up to 10 years, which can save you money, and the headache of remembering to renew.

Most vendors will also allow you to turn on automatic renewal, but before you do this, check for extra fees. For instance, you may need to pay for domain privacy , which stops other people from finding your details through your domain.

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Features To Look For In Domain Registrars

Once you have decided to use a domain registrar, you can evaluate your options according to several crucial features.

The essential features of a domain registrar are accessibility and ease of use, registration and renewal costs, privacy and security measures, additional offers and features, and customer service.

Whats Not Great About Dynadot

• Not easy to use for first-timers
• Not as reputable as bigger companies
• SSL certificate is extra

Dynadot had quite a few similarities to Porkbun. Theyre on the less expensive side of the scale, its easy to purchase a domain, and they offer WHOIS privacy protection for free.

Dynadot does offer SSL certificates, but they will cost you a minimum of $16.99 a year. Thats not a terrible price, but not as appealing as a free option with your hosting company or with another registrar like Porkbun.

While its easy to find a domain name on Dynadot, their overall platform is not easy to use.

If its your first time registering a domain name it could easily be confusing. They dont walk you through the process making it not very user-friendly for people unfamiliar with the process.

They do offer a free website builder, which could be a perk to some bloggers, but I wouldnt recommend using this service over WordPress.

It could be a fun way to play around with an idea for your website before your official launch, but its not as powerful or customizable as WordPress blog.

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Namebright : 42 Million Domains

NameBright, the flagship domain registrar of TurnCommerce, helps connect website owners with the perfect domain name with the help of an easy checkout process, affordable rates, and advanced management tools.

TurnCommerce has been around since 2003, operating HugeDomains.com and DropCatch, which acquires expiring domains as they become available.

BrandTrace provides free monitoring for companies that want to protect their keyword authority by discovering who is using particular keywords in registered domains.

The leaders behind NameBright and TurnCommerce began acquiring domains in 2003 and now hold the worlds largest private portfolio.

What Can You Do With Aphone Domain Name

Whether youre selling accessories, apps, and devices,or promoting media, services, or ways to connect, a .PHONE domain links you to this virtual telecommunications center. A perfect domain name for any company or individual interested in claiming their own space in the .PHONE world.

Where do I go to renew my domain name?

What happens when a domain name is not renewed?

Domain Redemption is the period on a domains life cycle 45 days after its expiration. A Domain Redemption will only happen if the domain name is not renewed or purchased by a 3rd party. After the redemption period, which usually takes 30 days, the domain will be tagged with Pending Deletion Status.

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Namesilo Llc: 53 Million Domains

NameSilo is a Phoenix-based internet domain registrar and hosting provider known for affordable domain registration and renewal prices. It has registered 5.3 million domains.

The company is able to offer some of the lowest everyday domain prices on the web because it focuses primarily on domains. That includes a promise never to inflate prices to cover nonessentials, such as celebrity spokespersons or Super Bowl advertisements.

Plus, while many competitors rely on third-party backend platforms of other registrars, NameSilo takes a different approach.

But dont take NameSilos word for it. The company offers transparent comparison tables that outline differences in pricing and features between NameSilo and its competitors, including NameCheap, GoDaddy, and Network Solutions.

In addition to consistent low prices, NameSilo offers an entire page of promotions that change with the seasons, such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday flash deals.

Features-wise, NameSilo offers several advanced security options to help protect domain name assets. The companys Domain Defender, for example, helps protect customer accounts and domains from unauthorized access and malicious attacks.

It even remains effective in the case that a hacker compromises ones username and password.

NameSilo also offers quick and easy registration, transfers, and renewals, focusing on usability via powerful domain management tools.

What Are The Best Registrars

This isnt your fathers Network Solutions. Namecheap is an independently owned & operated domain registrar founded in 2000. They are headquartered in Phoenix, AZ, USA.

Namecheap started its business as a domain name registrar focused on price . They really hit a growth spurt in the early 2010s during several high-profile privacy & security scandals at large domain registrars along with proposed surveillance bills in the United States Congress.

As a company, they have had a long-running relationship with Internet privacy and security organizations along with a commitment to straightforward domain management and pricing.

In the past 10 years, theyve also expanded their product offering to include complementary products for everything from:

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Watch Out For Sneaky Add

Some domain name registrars will automatically put add-ons into your cart as you check out.

Pay attention before you put your payment details in is there anything in your cart that you dont actually need? Remember you might be getting some of those extras from your web host or website builder. You may need to remove these add-ons manually.

What Is Domain Name Hosting

When you buy a domain name, you are purchasing the right to use that name exclusively for a certain predetermined length of time. On the back end, your domain name host will register that domain name using the Domain Name System , so that you can use it for websites, email, or other domain services.

Domain name hosts usually offer more than just domain name registration services. Many of them will offer hosting for websites as well as domain names. They will also provide data storage services and security features to protect your domain name from theft.

The most common way to use your domain name is for a website, but many hosts also allow you to use it for one or multiple email addresses, or to forward users to another domain.

Domain name hosts typically offer technical support, since you might need their help to set up security features for your site, connect a website builder, or do some other technical task.

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Whats Not Great About Google Domains

• Limited country TLDs available
• No SSL option available
• Still in beta-testing

Google Domains is a fairly popular domain registrar that has been around for a few years. One big benefit of Google Domains is their pricing is transparent and they give a breakdown of exactly what it costs for each type of extension.

Everything about Google Domains is meant to be simple and easy to use. Theres absolutely no upselling and they even include domain privacy protection as part of the price.

One of the reasons I wouldnt put Google Domains at the top of my list is theyre still technically in beta testing.

I dont predict that theyll shut down the domain registrar so long as its profitable, but they have been known to close down unsuccessful ventures in the past.

Some of these projects include iGoogle, Google Reader, and the most well-known, Google+.

Another disadvantage to Google+ is while theyre not busy trying to upsell you on products, they also dont offer everything you may be interested in.

One big one here is they dont offer SSL certificates at all. If you dont obtain this through your hosting provider, then youll have to find a third-party option.

Choose A Domain Name Suffix Such As Com Or Net

After settling on the domain name, consider the suffix. The most popular suffix is .com, although .net and .org are also popular. These are considered to be top-level domains, or the highest-level domain suffixes in the domain naming system.

There are also other varieties to consider, such as country code top-level domains. These domain names end in a suffix that is particular to a specific country. A website in Germany might end in .de, for example.

Finally, there is another class of domain name suffixes called sponsored, top-level domains, which are sponsored by a specific community related to the domain name. For example, .gov is for the U.S. government and .edu is for education organizations.

For most websites, .com is the best suffix for its ease of use, but if you have a specialized website, you might consider a country code or sponsored top-level domain.

Read Also: How To Register Com Domain

Range Of Domain Extension License

Not all domain registrars are licensed to sell and register all domain extensions.

While others are limited to offer country-specific Top-Level Domains like .io or .ly, others are allowed to deal with a wider range of domain extensions.

ccTLDs are cheaper and good for experimenting or low capital startups while other gTLDs are mostly priced at higher rates and more suitable for standard websites.

Ensuring that the chosen domain registrar offers a considerable range of domain extensions is important for the short and long-term goals of a domain registrant.

What About Restricted Domains

Some top-level domains are created and managed by certain organizations or countries. You must meet some criteria in order to gain access to these domains. Sometimes these are called Brand TLDs.

Most restricted domains are not found in regular domain registrars.

For example, .gov is only issued if you work for the US government. Some countries and companies also save their own unique domain extensions. The .apple domain extension is managed and distributed by Apple Inc.

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Enom: 49 Million Domains

Whatever your needs in the domain space, Enom, an affiliate of Tucows, likely has a solution. The company, which has registered 4.9 million domains, helps small businesses, enterprises, domain investors, and domain resellers achieve their respective business goals.

Enom, known for its set of more than 430 available TLDs, boasts services that range from the simple to the complex. The registrar can help small business owners purchase a domain name, set up email addresses, and protect their brand from cybercriminals.

Its trusted platform can help users register, manage, and sell a portfolio of domain names quickly and easily. It can even help customers build a domain and internet services business via an API or a custom storefront.

Enom is also focused on securing customers digital assets through WHOIS domain privacy. With ID Protect, customers can replace the personal information in their WHOIS record with generic contact information for Enom itself.

According to the company, this information is a goldmine for spammers. No matter what provider you choose, its a good idea to take domain privacy into serious consideration.

Look For Expiration Grace Periods

Although most registrars offer auto-renewal services, they dont all offer a grace period for . The grace period after expiration can help customers who missed the expiration deadline. This can even affect users who were on auto-renewal, if their credit card on file has expired. Choosing a registrar with a grace period is essential for users who want to ensure that they dont lose their domains. Its also a good sign that the registrar isnt trying to capitalize on expired domains for more on this, see below.

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But Dont Obsess About Small Price Differences

Weve spoken about price a lot, but theres something important I want to bring up: dont get too caught up in tiny price differences.

Remember its actually the registries who set the prices for domains. Like any middle-man, domain registrars simply add their fees on top. Its how they earn.

Value isnt always a dollar by dollar comparison. Always consider what youre actually getting with each domain registrar:

• How much will renewal be?
• Do you need to pay for domain privacy?
• How good is the interface and customer service?

The difference between registrars is often just a few dollars, but higher-quality service or a stellar reputation can be worth much more.

Porkbun Review The Best Renewal Pricing On The Market

What good is a cherry domain name if you cant keep it? Weve all heard the horror stories of losing prime URL real estate on expiration. You spend the time brainstorming ideas, find an available domain, and buy it only to have all your hard work wiped away after a year.

There are two options for avoiding thisbuy a domain for as long as possible upfront or find a registrar with affordable, predictable renewal pricing.

For the latter, I recommend Porkbun.

They offer a killer combination of some of the best first-year price deals on new, trending, and alternative extensions as well as the best renewal rates nearly across the board. They beat the market on renewal pricing for over 200 domain extensions.

Look, its going to be ridiculously hard to find an available .com for your keywords at this point in the game. Unless youve gone the startup route of naming your company a cheeky misspelling of a real word, .com URLs are rare to find. Even if you do, youre going to have to pay out the nose for it.

But you dont need a .com or even a .net to have a memorable, easy-to-type web address. Think about the array of extensions that roll off the tongue and make sense for the purpose of your site, the industry you inhabit, or the type of people you want to visit.

Here are a few examples and the excellent rates you can find on Porkbun for them:

Heck, take a look at their renewal pricing on .com extensions against some of the big names:

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Best Domain Name Registrars

Best for ecommerce businesses

Shopify is the best domain registrar if youre looking to set up an online store.

If youve never set up your own website beforeor even if you haveconvenience is huge. There are an overwhelming amount of tools and platforms you need if you set up each component of a website, and especially an online store, individually.

You need a domain registrar, a server to host your domain, a website design, and most likely email and customer support functionality. Its possible to do all of this individually, but speaking from experience, it gets complicated and its easy to fall down a rabbit hole pretty quickly.

Shopify allows you to get all of this in one place. When you register your domain with Shopify, its connected to your online store immediately, which means you wont have to worry about third-party connections or complicated technical setup processes.

Prices are a little more expensive than other domain registrars, but renewal fees are reasonable. Shopify is best suited for those looking to set up an online store though, so if you dont need that functionality it might not be the right choice for you.

Quick facts:

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