Choosing the perfect and unique domain name in itself is challenging and now the time has finally arrived to select a domain registrar. This is where things start to get complicated. With many domain registrars out there offering many features like hosting, domain registration, and more in one go, choosing the best domain registrar can be tricky.
Choosing a domain name and extension is only a part of the process, like the tip of the iceberg. The process that follows is where one has to be careful, as there are a lot of areas to cover and analyze in-depth. Before we take a look at the best domain registrars we need to cover some important points.
Top Things to Check Before Selecting a Domain Registrar
Since there are a lot of domain registrars out there, all the reputed ones accredited by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) it is important to keep a few points in mind to choose the right one. Keeping the below-listed points will help you make the right decision.
1. Pricing
Pricing is an important factor in any kind of business. When it comes to domain registrar also price plays a role. Different domain registrars will be having different pricing for the same domain extensions. So, compare all the top domain registrars out there before you decide.
Also go through the terms and services, to find out if there are any hidden costs that one may incur down the line.
2. Renewal Cost
The renewal aspect is important because once you commit to a domain, you are not going to change it. So, the renewal price and the process must be seamless. The domain we register is for a period and after that, we have to renew it. Most domain registrars allow for a maximum of 10-year registration. By registering for a long time, one can forget about yearly renewals and get on with their work.
If you don’t renew your domain name, it will be available for other users. So, compare the renewal prices with the competition. The domain renewal charges will always cost more than the registration ones. This is why comparing the price to other domain registrars in the market is important.
Also, find out about the renewal policy. Will the domain registrar company send a reminder or auto-renew it for you? Having them send alerts about domain renewal way before the time is always a positive thing.
Once a domain expires, it can be registered by a different entity. If this happens, you will have to register another new domain or try to buy back the domain from the current entity at a higher price. So receiving timely alerts about domain renewal is important.
3. The Package
Remember how we mentioned at the start that you can get all the needed services from one place? Most domain registrars provide all the needed solutions like domain registration, hosting, and many more. In fact, choosing such packages can be beneficial, as the companies often throw in certain goodies like a free SSL certificate or domain name if we opt for a package.
So, if you want to maximize the bang for the buck, compare such packages with other service providers and choose the best one.
4. Services
The services that are provided by the domain registrar companies can be helpful in the long run. A few of the major services to look out for are:
- Domain transfer facility
- Domain transfer policy, fees, and time frame
- Domain lock feature
- Customer Support
- Domain management
- Domain forwarding
- Domain Protection features
- Security
These are some of the features to keep in mind when selecting a domain registrar.
5. Privacy
Domain privacy protection is an aspect many overlooks. Some domain registrars offer domain privacy features by standard whereas some charge a fee for it. ICANN requires the registrar to upload the relevant details to the WHOIS directory whenever someone registers a domain. The WHOIS directory can be accessed by any public entity, thereby allowing access to our private information like email addresses and names.
What the domain privacy protection feature does is that it will hide all the sensitive information like our name and email address in the WHOIS directory with proxy credentials.
The domain privacy protection feature is helpful in a few ways. Firstly with our credentials hidden from the general public, the spam mails like advertisements and offers we get are reduced almost to nill. Not only spam but fake renewal notices that are phishing emails can be stopped.
6. User Experience and Support
The domain registrar’s responsibility doesn’t end when we register a domain. It has only just begun. The domain registrar has to make sure that the users don’t face any problems down the line.
If such a circumstance arises, a proper customer service team should be in place to solve the problem. They should be available round the clock and must be properly trained and technically qualified. Also, note whether the support team is contactable by email, phone, or both.
Domain registrar’s who send alerts about domain expiry way before the deadline is always preferable. Alerting us weeks or even months, that too multiple times ahead is useful.
The Best Domain Registrars
1. Namecheap
Namecheap established over 20 years ago offers the lowest pricing for TLDs. With .com starting at just $5.98 only. The best part about buying a domain from Namecheap, besides its low pricing, is the WHOIS security. The domain privacy features come as standard and one doesn’t need to pay any extra amount for it. The free domain privacy feature is valid as long as one uses Namecheap as their domain registrar.
Apart from domain registration they also offer hosting plans (Free domain if a yearly plan is chosen) SSL certificates, WordPress hosting, Email services, and more.
Key Features:
- Affordable Pricing
- Free domain privacy (WHOIS) feature
- Free DNSSEC security
- 24/7 Customer support ( Livechat only)
- Auto-Renewal
- Domain Locking
- Hosting services
- Managed WordPress Hosting
2. Domain.com
Domain.com pricing for .com starts at $9.99 for the first year and offers more TLDs. One can purchase the domain for a straight five years and not worry about renewing it yearly. Domain.com doesn’t offer a domain privacy (WHOIS) feature as a standard. One has to pay an additional $8.99/year. But considering how cheap it is, one should choose the domain privacy feature to protect their private information like name and email address.
Like the competition, a free domain for the first year with an SSL certificate is included if one opts for the hosting plan packages.
Key Features:
- Great pricing for the domain privacy feature
- 24/7 customer support (phone and live chat)
- Lots of useful add-ons to choose from to maximize site security ( add-ons will cost extra)
- Hosting and Website Builder Available
- Auto-Renewal
- Domain Locking
- WordPress hosting
3. GoDaddy
Godaddy started its journey in 1999 as Jomax Technologies and has evolved to be one of the leading domain registrars on the planet right now. Godaddy is the largest domain registrar as of now. Godaddy has spread like a forest fire not just limited to domain registration but offers hosting, email services, security, and marketing services. It offers free domain and SSL certificate with hosting plans. Pricing for .com at the time of this writing costs only $0.01 but a two-year purchase is needed. From the second year, the pricing will be $19.99.
Key Features:
- Bulk domain Purchasing
- Free WHOIS (domain privacy) feature for lifetime
- 24/7 customer support (Phone and Chat support)
- Domain broker service attempts to buy an already registered domain.
- Domain locking
- Hosting services
- Email and marketing services
- Hosting Services ( WordPress, VPS, Reseller, and more)
4. Namesilo
Namesilo offers a host of domains at affordable pricing. Namesilo’s pricing gives the competition a sure fight. The .com domain extension is available for $9.95/year. Namesilo offers over 400+ domain extensions.
Namesilo also has a marketplace where one can view non-renewed domains as well as customer-listed domains. This allows one to buy the domains either by contacting the seller directly or through an auction. Apart from being a domain registrar, they also have hosting plans, Email services, Security, and more.
Key Features:
- WHOIS privacy included with domain purchase
- Email forwarding
- Domain forwarding
- Domain defender protection
- Custom WHOIS records
- DNS management
- 24/7 customer support (phone, email, and live chat)
5. Cloudflare
Cloudflare also offers domain registration services in its lineup. Cloudflare offers a domain registration service with no-marking up pricing, and bulk transfers and offers a lot of top-level domains, and many more features.
Key Features:
- Multi-user support
- DNSSEC (free)
- Automatic domain renewal
- Two-factor authentication
- WHOIS management
- Registrar locking
- Bulk domain transfers
6. Porkbun
Porkbun offers everything and stays in line with the competition. From domain registration to web hosting, email hosting, SSL certificates, and more. Porkbun as a domain registrar offers a lot of domain extensions to choose from. The .com starts at $9.13/ year and renews at the same rate (at the time of this writing).
Key Features:
- Free WHOIS privacy feature
- Free SSL certificate
- URL Forwarding
- Email Forwarding
- 24/7 customer support (Phone, chat, and email support
7. Google Domains
Google offers many services from search engine to email and also acts as a domain registrar. Google Domains pricing for .com is $12/year and renews at the same rate. There are many more extensions available. Registering with the Google domains will be a breeze as the majority will be having a google account. Therefore, no need to set up an additional email id and password.
Google domains offer a simple registration page. With the main focus on achieving the final goal of domain registration. There are no ads regarding offers or special sales. The entire focus is to make domain registration a simple process and as fast as possible. One can register a domain for 10 years upfront and not worry about renewing it yearly.
Key Features:
- Supports over 300 domain extensions
- Free domain privacy protection at no extra cost
- Domain and Subdomain forwarding
- Email forwarding
- 24/7 support (Email, chat, or phone)
- One-click DNSSEC
- Free Cloud DNS
8. IONOS
IONOS offers a .com domain extension for just $5 for the first year. The renewal pricing for .com from the second year onwards is $11/year. IONOS offers a free Wildcard SSL certificate, free private registration, and a 2GB email account with domain registrations.
IONOS offers a lot of domains for $1 like .org, .net, .info, and more for the first year. Yes, just $1 for the first year. After the first year renewal rates will increase, for .info it would be $20 from the second year onwards.
Key Features:
- Great domain pricing for the first year.
- Support 10000 subdomains
- Domain lock
- 24/7 customer support ( phone and live chat)
- Domain Guard Feature
- WHOIS domain privacy included
- .ASP Net Hosting, VPS Hosting, and more.
Also read: Best Managed WordPress Hosting Providers
9. Hover
Hover supports over 400+ domains for one to choose from. The .com pricing at Hover is $13.99/year and renews at $15.99. Hover also offers email services apart from domain registrations. They do not offer any hosting plans like others.
With Hover, one can register a domain for a period of 10 years. Hover provides discounts for bulk domain orders. The customer support offered by Hover is not 24/7.
Key Features:
- Free WHOIS feature
- Free SSL
- Great customer support, but not 24/7.
10. Hostinger
Hostinger is not just limited to a multitude of hosting options. They are also a domain registrar. The pricing for .com starts at just $9.99/year with a renewal fee of $13.99/year. With Hostinger one can register a domain for a period of 3 years in a stretch and not worry about renewing it yearly.
A free domain and SSL certificate are included if one opts for a hosting plan. WHOIS privacy protection is not included as a standard feature. One has to buy it separately and will cost $5/year.
Key Features:
- All hosting services under one roof.
- Email hosting
- Provides a 30-day money-back guarantee with WordPress hosting plans
- 24/7 customer support(Live chat, no phone support)
11. Hostgator
Hostgator apart from its hosting services also offers domain registration services. The pricing for .com starts at $12.95/yr and renews at $18.99/yr. Hostgator only provides domain registration services for 15 domain extensions, unlike others which offer a lot more. Free domain and SSL are included with hosting plans just like the competition.
The supported domains are .com, .et, .org, .site, .online, .tech, .website, .me, .info, .club, .biz, .co, .host, .space and .us. Hostgator offers domain privacy protection at $14.95/year.
Key Features:
- Domain Locking
- Auto-Renewal
- DNS management
- Email forwarding
- 24/7 customer support (Phone and Chat support)
- Dedicated, VPS and Reseller hosting
12. Bluehost
Be it domain registration or hosting, Bluehost provides all services. Bluehost started its journey 19 years ago and is still going strong with its root planted in domain registration and hosting. Look no further if you want to register the domain and have hosting services all in one go. Bluehost provides a free domain if one chooses their hosting plan packages.
The hosting plans start as low as $2.95/month and come with a free domain for the first year and an SSL certificate included with the hosting plans. Domain privacy and protection (WHOIS) is an add-on service and is not included out of the box.
The domain registration price for .com starts at $12.99/ year and offers many more domain extensions like .net, .org, .blog etc.
Key Features:
- Free domain for the first year with web hosting plans
- 24/7 Customer support through phone and live chat
- Domain Lock
- Domain Forwarding
- Auto-Renewal
- Shared, Dedicated, and VPS hosting
13. SiteGround
SiteGround also offers domain name registration services besides its hosting services. Apart from the normal domains, Siteground also offers special domains like .xyx, .expert, .photos, and more.
SiteGround has registered over 2,800,000 domain names and is still growing. Siteground offers a domain privacy feature for $12/year. The pricing for .com is $17.99/year. WHOIS privacy protection will cost $12/year.
Key Features:
- A lot of special domains to choose from
- 24/7 customer services (Phone, chat, and ticket system)
- Hosting services
- Email hosting
- WooCommerce hosting
- Reseller hosting
14. DreamHost
DreamHost is another popular hosting and domain registrar service provider. DreamHost offers TLDs as well as ccTLDs. The price for .com starts at $7.99/year and renews at $17.99 yearly. Dreamhost provides free SSL and domains with their hosting plans.
Key Features:
- WHOIS security (domain privacy) is included at no additional cost.
- Easy domain transfers.
- Simple Domain management
- Unlimited subdomains with shared, Dedicated, and VPS hosting.
- Free SSL certificate
- 24/7 support ( live chat, email)
- WordPress hosting
- Shared, VPS, Cloud, Dedicated, and Managed hosting.
Wrapping Up
All the domain registrars are ICANN accredited and are the leading ones. There are many more domain registrars out there. In the end, it all comes down to pricing, which service provider offers the most value for money, and the feature list.