Simon Willison

OK, who can recommend a domain name registrar that:

- Is boring and dependable and has a rock solid track record
- Has a really good UI, including on mobile
- Supports as many TLDs as possible
- Isn't likely to get acquired by someone else
- Ideally supports multiple payment methods as insurance against accidental card expiry

I'd settled on Google Domains... but they just sold themselves to Squarespace! https://9to5google.com/2023/06/15/google-domains-squarespace/

Google Domains shutting down, assets sold and being migrated to Squarespace

Google Domains is "winding down following a transition period," with Squarespace taking over the business and assets...

9to5Google
Jun 15, 2023 at 10:57pmWeb
Show threadMichael StancliftJun 15, 2023
@simon I like dnsimple.com
Show threadDenis 🌏Jun 16, 2023
@vmstan @simon I second dnsimple
Show threadrailmeatJun 15, 2023

@simon

I would like to know that too. I have a few domains with Google. I also use Namecheap and porkbun. They seem to work. I don't really know who will last and be reliable.

Show threadJons MostovojsJun 15, 2023
@simon namecheap?
Show threadJayJun 15, 2023
@simon I use https://porkbun.com/ and recommend it. I think it hits all your points.
porkbun.com | An oddly satisfying experience.

Porkbun is an amazingly awesome ICANN accredited domain name registrar based out of the Pacific Northwest. We're different, we're easy, and we're affordable. Use us, you won't be sorry. If you don't use us we'll be sad, but we'll still love you.

porkbun.com
Show threadMerlin.2160p.BDRip.x265.10bitJun 15, 2023
@ve3mal I can vouch for Porkbun as well, but in my experience their selection of gTLDs isn’t the largest. I can only host 2 of 5 domains there due to them not supporting the other TLDs (sadly). But if yours are supported they’re seemingly perfect.
Show threadSam MinnéeJun 16, 2023
@ve3mal @simon note that I’ve found porkbun’s nameserver hosting to have poor uptime (outages every few months causing UptimeRobot to detect website outages) and ended up moving nameserver hosting off them because of it.
Show threadDrew Brereton - aebrerJun 15, 2023
@simon oh shit they were my registrar -_-
Show threadsamir, an unknown quantityJun 15, 2023

@simon I’ve been using Hover for a long time and it’s barely changed at all. I like it. The UI is fine, not amazing, but works.

I hear good things about Gandi and Namecheap too but I haven’t tried them.

All of the above seem to be incredibly stable.

Show threadKevinJun 16, 2023
@samir @simon +1 for Hover. I consolidated everything there from Gandi and a few others many years ago. Boringly reliable, just what I wanted.
Show threadAshJun 16, 2023
@samir Gandi got bought out and have just jacked the price for a .com renewal to £24/year!
Show threadsamir, an unknown quantityJun 16, 2023

@ash Booo, that really sucks. Not as stable as I’d hoped. 😕

Hover’s still good!

Show threadCory Jun 15, 2023
@simon dnsimple has been excellent for me and I've heard good things about Porkbun. Hover is also a respectable option.
Show threadRyan BaumannJun 15, 2023
@simon I’ve been happy with DNSimple, FWIW https://dnsimple.com/r/a18daa6869b815
Friends don't let friends use bad domain tools.

rfbaumann would like to invite you to DNSimple. Receive $6 credit towards your subscription when you activate your plan.

Show threadLeigh GarlandJun 15, 2023
@simon I've been using https://purely.domains for years. Very happy with them. A small business, quietly doing stuff I need them to do.
Cheap Domain Names | UK Cheap domain name registration

Cheap domain names with identical cheap registration and renewal pricing in UK since 2002. Register cheap domain names today from £5 per year.

Show threadDan LykeJun 15, 2023
@simon currently using NameCheap because when my previous registrar screwed up, they were strongly supporting the EFF. Been happy since then. Oddly, I didn't note the "when" on my blog, but at a guess I've been with them for a decade.
Show threadLes OrchardJun 15, 2023

@simon I don't think they check off all the items on your list, but I bought my first few domains from Pair Domains almost 20 years ago and have never transferred them away

https://www.pairdomains.com/

Pair Domains

Show threadDenis 🌏Jun 16, 2023
@lmorchard @simon okay THAT takes me back! I'm pretty sure I bought and hosted the first ever domains I owned on pair. I'd completely forgotten that!
Show threadEatonJun 15, 2023
@simon i, too, have had great success with Namecheap over the years.
Show threadDaniel DavisJun 15, 2023

@simon I moved to NameCheap a couple of years ago and have been happy - good docs and support, no issues so far.

When I looked into it, DNSimple were also a good candidate.

Show threadKungFuDiscoMonkeyJun 15, 2023

@simon I'm using namecheap and have no real complaints but I would like to be able to push a zone file and use gitops with my domains. I have some hacky code I wrote against the namecheap API, but I'm curious to see what sourcehut eventually has planned with a names.sr.ht registry 🤔

https://sourcehut.org/blog/2022-11-15-four-years/

Four years of SourceHut

sourcehut is a network of useful open source tools for software project maintainers and collaborators, including git repos, bug tracking, continuous integration, and mailing lists.

Show threadJason Miller 🦊⚛️Jun 15, 2023
@simon I've been migrating all of mine to Cloudflare.
Show threadMatt HaliskiJun 15, 2023
@developit @simon same
Show threadTejas SanapJun 15, 2023
@simon i think if you dont mind terrible UI and using a bunch of different sub-products then, AWS Route53 is the best option.
Show threadDan O'NeillJun 15, 2023
@simon dynadot.com is my go-to registrar. Good, crisp, reliable, and price competitive.
Show threadTed M. YoungJun 15, 2023
@simon I used to use Namecheap, but they started not being cheap, so moved everything to Dynadot.com 5 years ago. Been super happy with them, have good prices, and seem to fit everything you mentioned: have over a dozen payment options, support all the TLDs I've looked at, manage over 4.5MM domains and explicitly say "no plans to go public or become acquired by a faceless corporation."
Show threadBrian EoffJun 15, 2023
@simon Hover.
Show threadJake HowardJun 15, 2023
@simon Gandi is great for me so far. Had stability issued from namecheap in the past. Porkbun is another I've heard good things about.
Show threadMerlin.2160p.BDRip.x265.10bitJun 15, 2023
@simon the opposite of an endorsement: be careful with NameCheap. They’re playing fast and loose with domain cancellations. A tweet about some "suspicious traffic" gets your domain deleted quickly. Also, for a domain registrar, they can be pretty political after suspending all Russian customers last year. Nothing wrong with the suspension itself, but IMO a domain registrar shouldn’t be too politically involved.
Show threadadamghillJun 15, 2023

@simon Another happy customer here of namecheap. I've been using them for 10+ years after switching away from GoDaddy.

Not sure about their mobile UI although I use their iOS app and it's decent.

Show threadRobert RoskamJun 15, 2023
@adamghill @simon thanks for the heads up. I also had been using Google Domains.
Show threadPatrick ChanezonJun 15, 2023
@simon
http://gandi.net
Been using since the 90s, never had an issue.
Gandi.net: Domain Names, Web Hosting, SSL Certificates and Emails

➤ Manage your websites, your emails, your SSL certificates, and VPS servers. ✅ Included with a domain name: 1 SSL certificate, Unlimited aliases & forwarding, and our LiveDNS.

Gandi.net
Show threadFaisal MisleJun 16, 2023
@chanezon @simon might fail step 4, they just got acquired
Show threadPatrick ChanezonJun 20, 2023
@faisal @simon oops, I had missed that! Thank you Faisal.
Show threadArty Starr : ☮️ :starrgirl.ethJun 15, 2023
@simon Ugh. Would love to know what you find out... I've got the same questions now too.
Show threadFunky BobJun 15, 2023
@simon I've been using joker.com since my first domain, and will continue to use them.
Show threadGreg NewmanJun 15, 2023
@simon I've been using Hover for a while but I don't know how many TLDs they have.
Show threadJeff TriplettJun 15, 2023
@greg @simon I am happy with Cloudflare as a registry. Plus it helps me justify/offset the free services I have dozens of domains using of theirs.
Show threadGreg NewmanJun 15, 2023
@webology @simon I actually never thought of using them
Show threadJeff TriplettJun 15, 2023
@greg @simon they are easier and cheaper. Dynadot has served me well but I have been slowly moving more and more to CF.
Show threadGreg NewmanJun 15, 2023
@webology @simon I have a few with cloudflare and might just start migrating them as the come up for renewal.
Show threadAaron Bieber (no relation)Jun 15, 2023
@simon Piling on to rep Namecheap. I have 34 domains with them right now, never a problem, their "advanced DNS" is all I need. I've never had to contact support.
Show threadDan MayerJun 15, 2023
@simon have you looked at https://dnsimple.com I have used them for years and they are a smaller shop of distributed international remote devs who have always been responsive.
DNS hosting provider and domain registrar | DNSimple - DNSimple

DNSimple delivers simple and secure automation for domain registration, primary DNS hosting, SSL certificates, and more. Try us free for 30 days.

Show threadBoris MannJun 15, 2023

@simon I still use NameCheap (but was preferring Google Domains for new registrations and recommending). They are doing more upsells but have been solid for decades.

We have a reseller account for @fission at Hexonet https://www.hexonet.net/

I need to look at it carefully, we may be able to open up sub accounts.

Domain Name Search | HEXONET

It all starts with a great domain name. HEXONET offers hundreds of TLD options, transfers, backorders, web apps, products, and more to our customers and resellers.

Show threadAaron HuslageJun 16, 2023
@boris cloudflare has been great too.
Show threadBoris MannJun 16, 2023
@aaron it doesn’t have a very broad selection of TLDs, and I personally like to use them for DNS but use a separate firm for registrar
Show threadAaron HuslageJun 16, 2023
@boris fair
Show threadJonJun 15, 2023
@simon Namecheap for me - that said I've transferred most of mine to Cloudflare once I'm happy I'm keeping them longterm. I just took advantage of a cheap domain deal from https://www.spaceship.com/ too who seem quite good so far - I think they piggy back Namecheap tho so might not last long?
Launch into the future - Spaceship

Get online seamlessly with Spaceship Domains, Hosting, Email and other online products and solutions. Spaceship connects you with digital products empowering your ideas with top tier products, security and privacy, managed through a powerful and fast platform.

Spaceship.com
Show threadScannerJun 15, 2023

@simon I am still quite happy with hover.com .. no annoying ads or promotions.. just lets me take care of my domains (all 39 of them). Biggest problem is likely that I am not sure that they support having multiple payment methods. I have never tried (I set it up with ApplePay).

Oh, and apparently there is a referral link - https://hover.com/JpP2KUyP

They are run by Tucows.

Show threadScannerJun 16, 2023
@simon multiple payment methods aside, I have had my payment method with them expire and I got an email that renewal did not work due to payment.. updated the info and moved on. You can also set up an account balance that is used for all renewals, and if that reaches $0.00 they will then use your default payment method. See: https://help.hover.com/hc/en-us/articles/217282297-Managing-payments#h_01c96997-dbe5-4b41-9ce3-ba8f8e65eeed
Show threadSimon WillisonJun 16, 2023
@scanner yeah, I'm looking for something to help reassure people (me) who can't keep on top of their email!
Show threadScannerJun 16, 2023
@simon one option if you are good at budgeting and tasks is to keep a balance and remember to top it off on a schedule, like once a year.
Show threadC J SilverioJun 15, 2023
@simon All of my domains are registered with gandi.net ; it hits your stable and unlikely to be sold criteria, as well as the multiple ways to pay as a backup. The UI is better than most. My colleague loves porkbun.com-- better user experience for sure, but I cannot personally attest to its longevity.
Show threadC J SilverioJun 15, 2023
@simon ..... aaaaand I just found out that gandi is not so stable a business as it has been. Sigh. I'll stop recommending it for a bit until I am sure of it again myself
Show threadJeff NoxonJun 16, 2023
@ceejbot @simon Gandi was sold recently to a terrible steward.
Show threadC J SilverioJun 16, 2023
@jeff @simon I learned that earlier today. Sigh. Time to move.
Show threadJoe Fabisevich Jun 15, 2023
@simon IWantMyName is simple, though I’ve started moving some domains to Cloudflare to be more integrated with my web hosting.
Show threadSam Steele 🏳️‍🌈 🎮 📸 👨‍💻Jun 15, 2023
@simon I've been using DreamHost.com for over 15 years for both registration and web hosting. I think you can use them as a registrar without a hosting plan, too.
Show threadMichael PrattJun 15, 2023
@simon I would have recommended Gandi.net, but they just jacked up prices so now I too am looking for alternatives.
Show threadSam WronskiJun 15, 2023
@simon Wait, Google Domains is going away? Shoot. I guess I'll need to start looking as well. Did they send out a notification about this? I haven't gotten anything.