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?

(page 2) 44 comments
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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

@wetdog love porkbun. Love their API.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

I've used two, NameCheap, and PorkBun.

Hated Namecheap, would never use them again. Janky pricing, tons of email spam, terrible UI.

Porkbun has been pretty great. Simple, solid prices, easy to use, no issues for about a year and a half.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

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

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I've been using Namecheap for almost a year now with no complaints

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[–] [email protected] 72 points 2 weeks ago (7 children)

Top answers from the last 39580202 times this was asked:

  • Namecheap
  • Porkbun
  • Gandi
  • Cloudflare
[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

I like pair domains.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 weeks ago (2 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.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago (15 children)

I have one of my domains on Cloudflare and was thinking of moving the rest of them there. What makes it harder to move name servers away from Cloudflare than other places?

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 weeks ago (2 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

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 2 weeks ago (3 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.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago

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

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago

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

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

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

giggles as the downvotes pour in

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Unfortunately yes, and I hate them with everything I've got.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks 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.

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks 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 2 weeks 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] 4 points 2 weeks ago

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

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 weeks 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 2 weeks 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 2 weeks 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 2 weeks 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] -1 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Got acquired and rised price.

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 2 weeks 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] 13 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 weeks ago

Boring and dependable.

Just like I wish politics were.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 2 weeks 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] 10 points 2 weeks ago

I have had a lot good experience with Porkbun.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks 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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

-1 for INWX. Still waiting on a domain transfer, domain is stuck for about a month, chat support was useless

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

+1 for INWX

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks 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 2 weeks ago (1 children)

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

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 weeks 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] 6 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks 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 2 weeks ago

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

[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 weeks ago

Total Webhosting Solutions

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