Been using porkbun as the registrar and cloudflare for Dns, no complaints. I like the cloudflare interface better and like having Dns and registrar separate.
Keep in mind you can always use a different DNS provider who does support dynamic dns. For example you could use cloudflare (free) with a domain bought from Pork Bun.
I've been using Cloudflare for a while now, Namecheap before that. Both have been good to me, but I prefer Cloudflare more for their various other services, so it made sense to move the domains there as well.
I just switched everything over to cloud flare the other day. I already ran most my services through them so it just made sense. The very next day Google sold their domain biz.
Ha, GoDaddy is not bad at all compared to Network Solutions. Run far, far away from them. Only registrar I've ever had the displeasure of dealing with that will actually actively attempt to block you from transferring domains away from them.
Thanks for this comment, I hadn’t compared pricing in a while and just assumed Name”cheap” was cheap haha! Looks like I might switch to CloudFlare (where I manage DNS anyways) and/or porkbun which others have suggested.
I have used NameCheap for a long time and they have been great. I use AWS Route53 and Cloudflare for some zone hosting and both of their domain registration services are fine but usually not the cheapest out there.
I emailed their support to complain that their transfer out ui was broken so I couldn't get the transfer code, they sent me the code without me proving who I was. I was communicating with them using a different email and even different email domain than anything they had on file.
Namecheap has been good so far. They even provides free DNS service when everyone was still charging for DNS. We have cloudflare now that provides better free DNS service, but for domain registrar I'm still loyal to namecheap.
+1 for porkbun. I haven't compared the prices carefully, but I really enjoyed their convenience. I have very little knowledge about that stuff, but I had no trouble using porkbun tools
Yes, that's correct. Definitely don't use it for really transcendental stuff, but it works well for internet projects. They also have a good track record. The were founded by the pirate bay founder.
I have most of my domains on Google, but also have a couple on CloudFlare. I suppose I will just move them all to CloudFlare. They offer free WHOIS privacy and several other features for free. For those of you self hosting on a dynamic IP, there's a pretty good API that you can use for DNS updates.
I only have com/net/org domains, so I never noticed that. But you've provided good information. There is a list of CloudFlare supported TLD's here https://www.cloudflare.com/tld-policies/
Well actually it depends, I have things spread across different registrars for different things. For all my personal stuff I have been using https://www.namesilo.com/ for over 5 years with not much to complain about. They generally have good prices and support quite a few TLDs, and no nonsense. Though they've been in a control panel redesign limbo for like 2 years which is pretty annoying, especially since I liked the old one better.
For IT stuff that I do for nonprofits and other orgs I've used Google Domains, but I guess that will have to change. Mostly because it integrates well with Google Workspace. I already use Cloudflare for a few of these things, so maybe I'll just move the domains to Cloudflare too. Generally I'm pretty happy with most things Cloudflare.
I hear excellent things about Porkbun but have never used it myself.
I've been using Joker.com for so long, my first bill might actually have been in Deutsche Marks.
I mainly stay with them because it just works, but also haven't seen an option out there so much better that it would be worth the minor hassle of changing.
But you might want to look at one of the comparison charts people posted here (though I don't see Joker on those) and see what services you want (whois hiding, dyndns, etc.).
I just transferred all my domains out of Namecheap into Porkbun. I think Porkbun is 10 to 50 cents more expensive than Cloudflare, but they seemed a bit easier to use and could hold all my TLDs. So far, a way better experience than Namecheap!
Do you mind sharing the things that you find better at porkbun over namecheap. I have domains scattered over there registrars and might use this as an impetus to consolidate. I've been okay with namecheap but not sure what I'm missing out.
For me it was really the price of domain renewals. Namecheap has great starting deals, but eg. I have a .studio domain and it costs $28.16 to renew at Namecheap and $21.09 at Porkbun. My .xyz domain costs $9.92 to renew at Porkbun, $14.16 at Namecheap. (Registrar comparison chart here.)
In terms of pure price, Cloudflare is cheaper to renew for all the domains I have, but Porkbun is only a dollar or two off and I like supporting a smaller company. Edit: Porkbun offers free SSL which is nice if you don't feel like bothering with LetsEncrypt yourself.
(Also, I find Namecheap's domain management console absolutely horrible to work with in terms of UI.)
Just switched to cloudflare after the seeing the announcement. It's actually cheaper too, for a .com its $12/year from Google and for cloudflare its only $9.15/year. Switching was painless, was already using cloudflare as the nameservers for the domain anyway.
They're not the cheapest. But they support most of the TLDs that anybody could want, they have reasonable policies, and they are big enough that I don't need to worry about them disappearing overnight. Those are all important things that I'm willing to pay for
Thanks for the post! I didn't realize google was going out of the registrar business. I only have a couple domains with google (mostly stopped using all of google services so this was the final service I was using).
I really like cloudflare due to the at-cost renewal/registration so that'll be where I am moving them to
I’ve been using squarespace for my domain and hosting because I got a special deal on it. I was planning on switching to Google but now I’m wondering if I should just keep it on squarespace
Consolidated all of my domains with NameSilo.com over 10 years with no regrets. Prices are very good with no additional fee for WHOIS privacy protection. I’ve tried multiple registrars, including GoDaddy back when they were good.
Disclosure: I work for a hosting company and we use eNom (as a reseller). I’d still pick NameSilo.com
I have been using naemcheap for years. Seems fine for me. Just wondering when Porkbun would be better? Just wondering if I am missing out on something. Thanks,
Never heard of them, but just looking at a registrar comparison chart, their renewal costs are pretty high. eg. $20 for .wiki renewal at Porkbun and $30 at Hover. Maybe they bundle in a lot of services along with it that make the price worth it? but unless you're taking full advantage of those (if they're offered) then you could def get a better deal elsewhere.
I liked namecheap but it did not support automated let's encrypt certificate renewal (I don't know if this has changed). Now I'm using Cloudflare and I have been liking it so far.
I'm struggling with this right now, certificate-manager has a plugin for namecheap, but it works only when i whitelist my extremely dynamic IP address...
is it possible to change registrars for already existing domains? I'm guessing i could forward to other service's nameservers or something? how did you move to cloudflare?
I recommend namesilo, and the reason is because they give privacy shield for free in all your domains, also good prices, and also you can pay with bitcoin at market price. I kind of hate to put my personal data and my financial data in the same spot, that's why the bitcoin part is important to me.
I switched over to Netim after Gandi announced their new prices and removed the free mailboxes. They're a bit pricey (close to current Gandi pricing) but it comes with a mailbox (1GB) and a 250MB website.
They were close to Gandi pricing. Gandi just hiked up their prices on most TLDs by 75-100%. For my next renewal all my domains show up as €28 now. Netim is actualy looking pretty good right now with €15-22. 😆
Please don't recommend GoDaddy, someone may actually listen to you. They're well known as one of the worst registrars. I would suggest you find a recommendation on this post that looks good to you and then move your domains there. Literally anywhere would be better than GoDaddy.
@greg
Scrolling down the thread wondering why GoDaddy is not getting any attention.......... Then I saw your reply and my heart sank!
So do you recommend I switch to someone else?