I just saw that Google will be shutting down Google Domains / selling all domains to Squarespace, which makes me wanna see if I can pick a better registrar.
I only used Google Domains for the reliability and convenience, but would rather not go with Squarespace. I don’t see any section on hosting/registrars on the main site so was wondering what anyone else recommends.
I’ve heard talk before that Njalla is bad because you don’t actually own the domain and there have been instances of them shutting down / revoking access?
Also along the same lines I wouldn’t mind recommendations for good website hosting services too.
I’ll second porkbun. They are great.
If not porkbun then name cheap.
If not either of those anyone but godaddy.
Don’t forget to run the DEJIGAMAFLIPPER on your domain after purchase. Very important.
So I hear the “anyone but godaddy” thing a lot, however I have struggled to find anyone that has the same features as they do. For example:
- Domain security which entirely hides contact information for registries
- Email Proxy
- 2FA that supports yubikey or security keys
- Doesn’t black hole registration when using a protonmail.com email domain.
- EDIT: Porkbun support took care of this after sending them an email. YAY
The email and contact proxy seems to be specific to certain TLDs but for the one I happen to use GD supports it.
I’d love to move to something else if for no other reason than the website is annoying, but every time I look the other options are worse.
- WHOIS privacy is like the most common feature among registrars?
- Mail forwarding isn’t always free but pretty common too
- According to dongleauth DNSimple, Gandi, Namecheap, and Porkbun also support webauthn right now (hover plsss)
I see the anybody but GoDaddy thing a lot too. The controversies page on Wikipedia does a decent job at pointing out some of the reasons people dislike them.
Looking at feature set though, I’m in the same boat as you. Part of it is me being lazy though. When my registrations come up for renewal in a few years I’ll take a serious look at porkbun.
Almost any registar is good, except GoDaddy or Newfold Digital / Endurance International Group or Network Solutions.
I would suggest looking at TLD List for the major registar’s and their prices.
Regarding good website hosting, you have to find the one best for you (and your needs). You can go with what a registar offers, but some may offer other things you need.
I use namecheap.com but porkbun.com has also been highly recommended.
On the hosting side, I’ve been very happy with racknerd.com. They’re still listing and honoring their black Friday deals [1] and they’re ridiculously cheap! I have two shared hosting accounts but keep wanting to pick up at a VPS at these prices.
[1] https://my.racknerd.com/index.php?rp=/store/black-friday-2022
I use https://www.namecheap.com/ myself. The Security Now (Steve Gibson) seems to use and talk fondly of https://www.hover.com/. Know nothing about them personally.
Cloudflare domains seems to be the cheapest or the same price as porkbun.
