Don't use godaddy. If you search a domain they will buy it in the background so you only can get it though them
this post was submitted on 08 Nov 2023
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Brb searching for 100,000 domains
For the downvotes, it was a joke to cost them money.
I wonder if I could automate searching only the highest value domains.
Just go for the shortest domains, short domain names carry a premium. Or rip through /usr/share/dict/words. Or both.
GoDaddy is the worst fucking web host, too. WHEN they fuck your website up, you wait two HOURS on hold to get them to fix it, if your lucky. If your unlucky, you wait over three hours, and they don't fix it.
In my opinion it really comes down to support, price (first year and renewal) and ethics.
For the ethics piece, if you think Google is an evil company then avoid Google Domains, as an example.
Apparently google doesn't even offer new registrations anymore
Google has trained me to think βI wonder if that still existsβ every time I remember one of their products.
The Google graveyard is vast.
Didnβt even know
I would also include support for Dynamic DNS and API access as well. Those both can come in handy depending on what your doing. I know this wasn't as common years back but maybe it is more supported now.
I used Namecheap and I think they required that I have like $50 credit on my account before the API access would open up. Maybe that has changed, like I said this was years ago last time I need to look.
Fair point. I failed to mentioned features in my previous comment. Things like WHOIS Privacy are essential to me and I imagine it is for most of us (self hosters)
Any registrar worth their salt will offer whois privacy and local representative services nowadays. I would not use a registrar that wasn't capable of them β even if my domain didn't require either, I would take it as a sign their services are limited and sub par.
Absolutely agree! Just pointing it out in case OP runs into a registrar that doesnβt offer this
while I appreciate everyone naming their favorite companies, this is the only real answer to the question. It doesn't matter at all which registrar you use, it's about brand recognition, support, add-on services, and cost.
[source: friend founded his own (now defunct) registrar and I would help out. Even when a registrar goes out of business there's no real risk, as there are plans in place to hand off customers to other sites]
Yeah that is definitely something that is important to me.
If you're not particularly set on getting a .net consider getting an EU domain name. They tend to have much better registry privacy included out of the box. With .net/.com/.org you will have to also purchase whois privacy service on top of the domain cost to keep your personal details private.
I can recommend netim.com (France) and inwx.de (Germany) as reliable providers. You can also look for a registrar in your country is you get your country's domain.
This list may also help. Shop around, see who has better prices and more features. Pay attention to the renewal price too not just the initial registration price.
Ah was not aware of this thanks for the heads up :=)
Hey again, following up on what you said, i finally got around to findind a domain name i like, registering with Porkbun. However when I went to but the domain Porkbun warned me with this message. Wonder why?
Edit: this message appeared because i chose the .eu tld.
.eu allows partial WHOIS privacy, and what can be hidden is different for individuals vs companies. If you go to this page and click on "PARTIAL WHOIS PRIVACY" you'll see exactly what. Unfortunately it looks like the email address is exposed for individuals, which is dumb.
You can look into getting a domain from a member of the European Union, they typically have better protection, but make sure to verify on Netim. For example .nl domains have full protection built-in.
For domains that don't have it you can use a privacy service if the registrar offers it, they will put their own data in the fields that must be disclosed. I'm guessing Porkbun doesn't.
Thanks for that! :) I actually ended up going with Netim for my purchase, and added only an email alias. But even when I checked the WHOIS it didnt list the email, at least not yet..
You can look into the Netim settings, I don't remember exactly but they might offer protection service for free.
Just as an FYI, you can switch registrars down the line if you don't like one, after a 60-day delay, so you aren't committed for all time. Probably some minor fee associated with that at the destination registrar, like might require a renewal or something, dunno.
Some registrars historically provided more or less information about you to whois; used to be that they required real names to be visibly-attached to domains to have a contact for abuse. I think that current registrars may not do that any more, but might be worth checking up on that if it matters to you.
Price may differ.
Some registrars may provide bundled services. Webhosting is common. I get mail service for a domain I have from my registrar, since I expect the registrar to be around for quite some time and there's a remarkable paucity of mail service providers out there today. I also get (no-additional-cost) DNS service; I'd guess that most-if-not-all registrars provide an option for that, just to simplify setup of the domain; not sure if that is of interest to you. You may or may not (this is the selfhosted community) want any services.
Use Njalla
thanks for the recommendation, they seem like a good service but quite pricy compared to Porkbun.
I use them for privacy reasons. They will register the domain name under their company name, you don't have to give out any data about yourself whatsoever. You can pay anonymously with crypto currencies like Monero. Njalla was actually founded by one of the guys who also founded The Pirate Bay.
Pretty nice that actually
Porkbun! There are many to pick from but from my experience Porkbun includes everything you need out of the box at no additional cost. Namecheap has very good first year deals, but after that it almost doubles in price.
Which registrar you pick initially doesn't matter too much. I started with Namecheap then moved to Porkbun after a year with them (Completely free to move, but you'll have to buy an extra year if you move tho)
Don't use GoDaddy though. I was searching for a domain on that site and after a few minutes it was taken.