Seeing the news with Google domains, I’m looking to move registrars, and was wondering who everyone uses.
I use porkbun.
The prices are similar to google domains and the dns management interface is ok.
I like their sense of humour. The definitely don’t take themselves too seriously.
Moved to Porkbun yesterday. No fuss, quick setup and pricing is good.
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.
Do they have dyndns support? That was what led me to google.
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.
Yeah, it’s just nice to consolidate where able.
I used porkbun with Cloudflare DNS, porkbun were cheaper for me than Google.
Porkbun is great. Definitely cheaper. A bit outdated UI but we all know that’s the kinda one you really trust.
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.
Namecheap. I’ve been using them for several years for various projects and have never had a problem with them.
Same here. My only complaint was the slow adoption of hardware MFA tokens, and the limited DNSSEC support on some TLDs but that’s mostly resolved now.
Namecheap has okay starting prices but man their renewal prices aren’t great compared to other registrars.
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.
Namecheap
+1 been with Namecheap for many years and have many domains with them. Also very happy with their support.
Another +1 for namecheap here. Have a dozen or so domaions/projects with them.
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’m basically in the exact same boat. Used namecheap forever, and sometimes use route 53. They both work well
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.
I’ve been using nearlyfreespeech.net for (looks) 14 years now. Their business aligns with my ideals and I’ve always been happy with their service.
I’m using porkbun for my instance and it’s been great
my domain renewal was half google domain’s offering price+1 for pork bun! Everything is easy and cheap. I don’t really ask for much more from a registrar
Cloudflare, the prices are just right, and the features they offer are hard to beat.
Cloudflare for supported TLDs and Hover for the rest
https://njal.la for privacy, paying with crypto and no bs. Although a bit more expensive.
Just keep in mind it’s not your domain; it’s theirs.
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.
Isn’t that the case with every registrar?
Nope, when you register a domain at, for example, Namecheap, this domain is legally yours. It is registered to your name, and even if Namecheap doesn’t like you, they can’t just take the domain away from you. (excluding for legal reasons, of course)
If they do anyway, you can take legal action and complain at the NIC.
Njalla offers domains by proxy. So they register the domain you would like to have for you and let you use them. However, they have registered the domain in their name, so they own the domain. If Njalla decides tomorrow that you shouldn’t use the domain anymore or they want to sell it to someone else, they have the full legal right to do so.
tl;dr Good service if you want an anonymous domain you don’t really care about. If you want a domain for something important, don’t use them.
I have two domains through a local Czech registrar. How do I know if it’s theirs or mine (I know, I should have read the contract but oh well). According to eurid they are tied to my email.
99% of registrars do it the right way, so the domain is in your name. What Njalla is doing is not really common, and they usually market it as a unique feature.
Your email showing up at eurid is a good sign :)
Okay, thanks! Just that who.is shows my registrar instead of me, but I guess that is something data protection related?
Yes, due to the GDPR, they are no longer allowed to disclose private information.
Depending on the registrar they either respond to whois requests with just nothing or just with themself.
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
.studiodomain and it costs $28.16 to renew at Namecheap and $21.09 at Porkbun. My.xyzdomain 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.)
Thanks for the detailed and thoughtful response, I really appreciate it. Yeah, I’m not a fan of centralizing everything and hence avoid cloudflare. Good to know the differences with namecheap and porkbun. I have my account loaded with credit on namecheap to get API access. I’ll use that up and then move over to porkbun. Thanks again!
I use Namecheap personally. I really like it.
Porkbun if you’re cheap and Njalla if you’re paranoid. Cloudflare if you do things that other registrars can’t do.
Have you used Njalla? I was considering them recently, but these reviews gave me serious pause:
I don’t really think Trustpilot is a good place to get info, a la Yelp.
I can vouch for Njalla as one of the more privacy respecting providers(they require zero personal info and allow you to pay in crypto). Other providers said a .gg domain requires WHOIS data to be published, Njalla didn’t give a shit and gave me WHOIS privacy anyway. Even their name servers spell out “you can get no info”. Also, Pirate Bay uses them lmao
Downsides would be being billed in euro, higher cost, and they require you to pay into your account then they use your account “credit” to pay for your domains, but remember, they operate in “cash”. They don’t know you and they don’t know your card info, so they can’t just bill your card when your renewal comes up.
For privacy and overall service they get a 10/10 from me. Porkbun is cheaper if you’re not paranoid.
I don’t really think Trustpilot is a good place to get info, a la Yelp.
Hard disagree on that, I’ve found it invaluable as a tool for assessing the safety of a company. Sure you’re going to get some idiots who simply don’t know how to use the tool and go online to bitch about it, but if you’re seeing a significant number of people making the same complaints about support or having domains withdrawn from them, it certainly makes me suspicious.
Thank you for your reply though, it’s good to hear that some people are having success. My understanding from the reading I’ve done online is that they used to be a lot better but have fallen in quality over the last 2 years.
