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registrars Who is the best registrar in the business?

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Who is the best registrar?

  • 1st

    GoDaddy

    253 
    votes
    29.8%
  • 2nd

    NameSilo

    191 
    votes
    22.5%
  • 3rd

    NameCheap

    114 
    votes
    13.4%
  • 4th

    Uniregistry

    95 
    votes
    11.2%
  • 5th

    Dynadot

    78 
    votes
    9.2%
  • 6th

    Name.com

    34 
    votes
    4.0%
  • 7th

    Epik

    29 
    votes
    3.4%
  • 8th

    NameBright

    20 
    votes
    2.4%
  • 9th (tie)

    InternetBS

    votes
    0.6%
  • 9th (tie)

    Enom

    votes
    0.6%
  • 10th (tie)

    101Domain

    votes
    0.5%
  • 10th (tie)

    Domain.com

    votes
    0.5%
  • 10th (tie)

    Hover

    votes
    0.5%
  • 10th (tie)

    Moniker

    votes
    0.5%
  • 11th (tie)

    Fabulous

    votes
    0.4%
  • 11th (tie)

    NetworkSolutions

    votes
    0.4%
  • 12th (tie)

    Dotster

    vote
    0.1%
  • 12th (tie)

    NamePal

    vote
    0.1%
  • 12th (tie)

    Register.com

    vote
    0.1%
  • 13th

    Rebel

    votes
    0.0%

equity78

Top Member
TheDomains Staff
TLDInvestors.com
Impact
28,336
It's been over 18 months since the last big poll here, a few things have changed, and there is new policy out of GoDaddy today. So let's take a new poll on best registrar. GoDaddy ran away with the last poll.

  1. Godaddy
    303 vote(s)
    52.5%
 
5
•••
The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
Very fast and knowledgeable support at NameSilo both via email and chat.

I agree with the member who earlier mentioned it is annoying that GoDaddy no longer offers email support. And the last two times I have used GoDaddy's chat support, they have barely had a clue about domains. I guess they need to know about many of the other products they offer, so they cannot be domain experts.

The only thing that "worries" me a bit about NameSilo is how they make money... I would love for them to make a good profit so we can use them for many years to come. But with low domain prices, free privacy and no other products such as hosting, I guess profits must come from marketplace commissions?

Thanks for the kind words - they are appreciated!

It is actually not an abnormal question for people to ask us how we are able to offer the pricing we do and remain profitable. We actually wrote a quick article on this topic:

https://www.namesilo.com/Support/How-our-pricing-can-be-so-low

To expand on the details covered there, we are backed very well financially and have remained profitable every year since our inception. We do not have the same overhead as many of our competitors - this allows us to keep our prices low and still make money. We are also extremely focused on the other cost factors associated with running the business. We have been in business since 2010 and have learned a lot in that time that allows us to continue improving operational efficiency without sacrificing quality of service such as fast and knowledgeable email/chat support, stable system infrastructure (DNS, Marketplace, etc.) and a control panel that simply works.

What this all adds up to is that our model remains viable and consistent (we haven't raised .com prices for example for about 5 years) while allowing us to continue to offer the pricing we do as well as to expand and refine our services.

Sorry that I can't offer more specific examples as that would get into the "secret sauce" of some of the elements of our successful operations and growth, but you can rest assured that we are in absolutely no danger of having our services compromised in a way that would prevent you from using us "for many years to come"... just the opposite really :)
 
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Thanks for the kind words - they are appreciated!

It is actually not an abnormal question for people to ask us how we are able to offer the pricing we do and remain profitable. We actually wrote a quick article on this topic:

https://www.namesilo.com/Support/How-our-pricing-can-be-so-low

To expand on the details covered there, we are backed very well financially and have remained profitable every year since our inception. We do not have the same overhead as many of our competitors - this allows us to keep our prices low and still make money. We are also extremely focused on the other cost factors associated with running the business. We have been in business since 2010 and have learned a lot in that time that allows us to continue improving operational efficiency without sacrificing quality of service such as fast and knowledgeable email/chat support, stable system infrastructure (DNS, Marketplace, etc.) and a control panel that simply works.

What this all adds up to is that our model remains viable and consistent (we haven't raised .com prices for example for about 5 years) while allowing us to continue to offer the pricing we do as well as to expand and refine our services.

Sorry that I can't offer more specific examples as that would get into the "secret sauce" of some of the elements of our successful operations and growth, but you can rest assured that we are in absolutely no danger of having our services compromised in a way that would prevent you from using us "for many years to come"... just the opposite really :)

Thanks for this explanation. It really does make sense. And it makes sense for domain investors to use you.
 
1
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I've been really happy after switching to NameSilo after using NameCheap for years. I never really liked NameCheap's redesign of their backend, it just felt kind of unnecessarily "big" and cumbersome. Had one little issue over the whole .co kerfuffle, that wasn't even their fault, and they had it sorted out super quick. I've also used GoDaddy when I've had to, but not a huge fan of their renewal prices or all the other charges they ding ya for.

NameSilo gets my vote for helpful support staff, a really simple dashboard, very reasonable prices, fast transfers when I make sales, and becasue the silo reminds me of spending summers at the farm.

@namesilo Keep it up!!
 
4
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I'm tied with Namesilo and Epik but I liked Fasthosts $1 dotcoms last year.
 
1
•••
I start using GD 7 years ago when I bought a domain name and then bought website hosting and run my own website on GD.
My website never been down.In this year I start domaining,all my names on GD.
 
2
•••
I don't understand.... how can anyone vote for godaddy as the best ? Have anyone of you tried some of the other good registrars?
 
1
•••
..because of their massive marketplace ? what else??
 
0
•••
Last time there was a best registrar poll, i voted for namebright.. i still like them, its surprising that not many people voted for them.. those who use dropcatch.com to backorder domains must've had some experience with them.

I think all namebright needs is a little faster support team and afternic/sedo premium partnership.. they have the best rates. reg, renew or transfer, same rate.. $8.03 per .com!!
 
2
•••
My Vote is for Epik. They won me over when I first started using them and I had an issue with a renewal. I emailed support at close to midnight. Within 10 minutes I got an email reply from Owner Rob Monster, himself, letting me know it was taken care of. Thanks @robepik Epik's marketplace is great in offering a managed payment plan and commission free sales. (commission free is if the funds are re-spent on the site) and only 6% if the money is moved out. They have the fastest and easiest transfers - in and out.

I have been testing the waters a bit with @namesilo especially in their marketplace. So far I have been impressed.
 
1
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Domain.com - the best, they allowed me to register .NET domains for 5 years for only $ 3.71 ($ 0.742 / year).
 
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At GoDaddy.com: crazy prices for renewals and what's good for business in it? Overpay for renewal is this a way to do business?
 
1
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Been awhile, and could not help but notice the poll taking up the right column when I signed in.

The way the question is worded, I can only conclude the poller wants the reader to believe Godaddy made a bad policy move (so let's have a new poll, and see if they win Now). Of course the wording of a poll question most often skews-up the results. As 'leading questions' don't produce objective results.

Though, in my case it did reinforce why I go with Godaddy -as one of the good things about larger, stock holder, owned corporations is the Objective Quality of Service. Something I don't often find with the smaller 'culture clan' shops -where the level of service often depends on if they like you. And, if they don't -they can mess with you in ways Godaddy customer service reps can't get away with. Then there is the phone service, which has always quickly solved any issue I had.

It's been over 18 months since the last big poll here, a few things have changed, and there is new policy out of GoDaddy today. So let's take a new poll on best registrar. GoDaddy ran away with the last poll.
 
1
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Been awhile, and could not help but notice the poll taking up the right column when I signed in.

The way the question is worded, I can only conclude the poller wants the reader to believe Godaddy made a bad policy move (so let's have a new poll, and see if they win Now). Of course the wording of a poll question most often skews-up the results. As 'leading questions' don't produce objective results.

Though, in my case it did reinforce why I go with Godaddy -as one of the good things about larger, stock holder, owned corporations is the Objective Quality of Service. Something I don't often find with the smaller 'culture clan' shops -where the level of service often depends on if they like you. And, if they don't -they can mess with you in ways Godaddy customer service reps can't get away with. Then there is the phone service, which has always quickly solved any issue I had.

Actually Claude no, I don't want the reader to do anything, their choices don't affect my life in any way, shape or form. I had been planning on starting a new poll actually a month prior because I like a yearly poll on this topic in the largest community in the domain industry.

There have been a lot of changes this year, not just GoDaddy's policy change which I was neither for or against. Enom is now owned by Tucows, Name.com is now owned by Donuts. Sentiment has been growing in favor of NameSilo on here for awhile. So I thought it was about time to see where the community was at. There is no leading question, Who is the best? pretty cut and dry in my opinion, not who has a cute swag giveaway, who you like for a certain tld, but overall, who do you think is the best. Mentioning GoDaddy won the first time was noted for historical purpose.

Thank you for taking the time to reply.
 
4
•••
Can't believe people are voting for GoDaddy, I loved their control panel when I was a newbie and couldn't understand why many members here hated it, but after using other registrars' control panel I think GoDaddy needs to make a lot of changes. Name.com, Dynadot.com, Namesilo.com, Namebright.com, Uniregistry, all 5 have a much easier to use control panel.

Customer support is good, pricing is not.

imo
 
1
•••
Who is voting for NameCheap any why? They're cheap and I am not referring to the pricing here, the pricing is anything but cheap.

Name.com and NameBright.com deserve more votes.
 
0
•••
A closed-ended question does not include a qualifying statement (especially about 1 of the choices). It is a direct (closed) question. Even stating the winner of the last poll, "over 18 months ago", can influence respondents. Especially new comers and those who did not participate in the previous poll.

http://www.pewresearch.org/methodology/u-s-survey-research/questionnaire-design/#question-wording

Also, as a Godaddy customer, I was wondering what "new policy out of GoDaddy today?" were you talking about, as I did not get an email, and found no new policy at Godaddy, on the day of your post. So I looked at your blog post, on the day you posted the survey here, and found a 'heated' discussion lead, by an influential domainer, claiming Godaddy changed its policy to let domain owners bid on their own auctions... so he pulled his domains out of Godaddy -as its the ethical thing to do (implying others do the same).

So it does appear, to this reader, that it does "affect your life in some way, shape or form", as, at the very least, you began a 'poll' on NP referencing that alleged new policy at Godaddy. Or, is that a coincidence? and you're talking about another new policy. If so, can you point me to it? I'm curious, what new policy?
 
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0
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..because of their massive marketplace ? what else??

Cheapest prices if you're in their club and you have lots of domains. We went thru the actual numbers in some other thread.

I've always had great support, VIP account rep. Not sure how it is with a basic account.

And like you said the marketplace. It's easy to buy and sell, move domains.

Namesilo is good too. I just registered names for the first time during the BF/CM sale. I like their interface better.

Looks like GD is catching up in the poll, 126, Namesilo 141.

At the end of the day, if you're happy with where you have your domains, it's all that matters.

The last poll it was
GoDaddy
Namecheap
Dynadot
Namesilo - so they've been moving up
 
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3
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Who is voting for NameCheap any why? They're cheap and I am not referring to the pricing here, the pricing is anything but cheap.

Name.com and NameBright.com deserve more votes.

Namecheap has one of the best support I've tried, if not the best. Their live chat is 24 hours every single day and connects you to a support staff in under a minute. They're very helpful too.

To be fair, they're not the cheapest most of the time, but some of their coupons and deals have been pretty close.
 
0
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I think a poll like this is almost useless because most of the votes could well be from domainers who have only used 1 or 2 registrars. If the same question was asked to a group of people who had actually used at least 10 of these registrars. You might get a better answer to your question. Then again, you get domainers who like 1 particular feature of 1 registrar, which is why they user and/or voted for them. Like for me personally, It's no surprise GoDaddy is top. I dislike GoDaddy so much, I think they are one of the worst registrars on the planet. I'd put them just above 1and1 registrar. Really. Slightly interesting but not very informative would be my opinion of this poll. Nothing really new here from the last time this was asked.
 
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Cheapest prices if you're in their club and you have lots of domains. We went thru the actual numbers in some other thread.

I've always had great support, VIP account rep. Not sure how it is with a basic account.

I have used godaddy, but I kinda gave up. I find their interface to be very badly organized, archaic and uneffective. Also their marketing strategy of high prices coupled with floods of coupons (that might even not work as promised or at all) became just really annoying.. so I thought to myself, what a waste of time, and, people must use them now because they have used them for years and don't know well organized and effective systems etc. and, actually, if we where to start from scratch I really really cant imagine "anyone" would use godaddy.

However I might have change my opinion a little bit lately. Maybe their interface isnt that terrible if one is used to it. And their marketplace is "the best" I guess if we talk about numbers.

Also, I have to admit I didn't know they are the cheapest? is this really true??? How much do you pay for renewals?

btw.
Im using namecheap, namesilo, and dynadot now.

And, Im surely gonna look into using epik, which I thing might be "the best" all things considered.
 
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Moniker is by far the best.

At least for what I need/want.
 
0
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Moniker is by far the best.

At least for what I need/want.

Thanks for replying, could I ask what is Moniker better at? They obviously have fallen over the years in the eyes of many domainers.

Thank you
 
1
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A closed-ended question does not include a qualifying statement (especially about 1 of the choices). It is a direct (closed) question. Even stating the winner of the last poll, "over 18 months ago", can influence respondents. Especially new comers and those who did not participate in the previous poll.

http://www.pewresearch.org/methodology/u-s-survey-research/questionnaire-design/#question-wording

Also, as a Godaddy customer, I was wondering what "new policy out of GoDaddy today?" were you talking about, as I did not get an email, and found no new policy at Godaddy, on the day of your post. So I looked at your blog post, on the day you posted the survey here, and found a 'heated' discussion lead, by an influential domainer, claiming Godaddy changed its policy to let domain owners bid on their own auctions... so he pulled his domains out of Godaddy -as its the ethical thing to do (implying others do the same).

So it does appear, to this reader, that it does "affect your life in some way, shape or form", as, at the very least, you began a 'poll' on NP referencing that alleged new policy at Godaddy. Or, is that a coincidence? and you're talking about another new policy. If so, can you point me to it? I'm curious, what new policy?

The policy change Claude was the new 30 days instead of 42, not all customers got the email and that caused a bit of a stir here as well.

https://www.namepros.com/threads/godaddy-domain-name-expiry-changes.1051138/#post-6445967

Thread where some wondered why they didn't get an email, https://www.namepros.com/threads/go...our-domains-after-30-days-expiration.1051137/
 
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I have used godaddy, but I kinda gave up. I find their interface to be very badly organized, archaic and uneffective. Also their marketing strategy of high prices coupled with floods of coupons (that might even not work as promised or at all) became just really annoying.. so I thought to myself, what a waste of time, and, people must use them now because they have used them for years and don't know well organized and effective systems etc. and, actually, if we where to start from scratch I really really cant imagine "anyone" would use godaddy.

However I might have change my opinion a little bit lately. Maybe their interface isnt that terrible if one is used to it. And their marketplace is "the best" I guess if we talk about numbers.

Also, I have to admit I didn't know they are the cheapest? is this really true??? How much do you pay for renewals?

btw.
Im using namecheap, namesilo, and dynadot now.

And, Im surely gonna look into using epik, which I thing might be "the best" all things considered.

You can belong to their marketplace without being a registrant. But you'll need an account if you intend to win any domains. I thought they'd given up on coupons, years ago? Do they still have them? I agree with your sentiments, even it labels me as a GD basher. Which I admit I am. How much is their privacy? $6+? Cheapest? Choke, Joke. You can't beat NameBright's at cost, registrations/renewals. NameSilo is a very good offering with everything included, from a smallish registrar. Epik not so bad if you are on their domainer pricing. But a tad inflexible, IMHO. But some of their additional services could be quite useful. Landing pages etc (although not tried them). But my personal favorite is Dynadot. Cheap prices, if you belong to one of their plans. Great Support.
 
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Thanks for replying, could I ask what is Moniker better at? They obviously have fallen over the years in the eyes of many domainers.

Thank you

Like many, I've used most registrars, and still hold accounts with them, so it's just my view of Moniker v's others.

I don't think it's any particular thing, but the security Moniker offers is second to none, and that was even the draw when I started using them back in 2006.

I like the fact that everything I need to do is in the dropdown menu options, or switching to the legacy system simplifies everything. It just feels easier to use.

Their prices have always seemed reasonable, and I've never had any issues.
 
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