- Hey guys, what's up.
I'm Christian Taylor and today I am doing an updated battle
of the domain registrar videos.
So today we're taking a look
at seven different domain registrar companies.
To let you know,
which one is the best place to buy your domain name.
(upbeat music)
Now really quick before we get into the comparison.
If you're new to buying domains,
there's going to be a term I use throughout this video.
And that is, Whois protection.
Now if you don't know what Whois Protection is,
this is basically a service
that protects your personal information
from being public to everybody out there.
So their is something called a Whois database.
When you purchase a domain name,
your name, address, and phone number, and email
all go in this database.
So anyone can go online to a Whois database lookup,
type in your domain name, and get your personal information.
That's not good.
Nobody wants that.
So Whois Protection is a service either free or provided
at a cost by the domain company,
that protects your information.
So instead of seeing your address and your name,
they see Whoisguard protected and some address
of the Whois guard agency in place of your address.
So just wanted to get that out there,
cause you are going to hear me talk about this a lot.
So I want to start with GoDaddy.
Because GoDaddy is the Walmart for domain names.
Everyone knows about it.
And chances are if you don't know where to start,
you're probably looking at GoDaddy.
Now GoDaddy,
really gets on my nerves for a number of reasons.
All right so let's start off with pricing.
GoDaddy is expensive.
They charge $17.99 per year,
for a .com domain.
Which if you're new and you've never bought a domain before,
or you don't have much experience,
you may think that's not a bad price.
And I guess it isn't for what you're getting.
18 dollars per year for a .com domain is not horrible.
But in relation to the competitors, that is double the price
of other options on this list.
So GoDaddy is expensive.
But okay price doesn't matter so much,
if they offer good quality service.
And they,
do I guess.
The panel is pretty easy to use.
And the customer service is good.
I've called them a couple times, and ask some questions,
and worked through some issues.
And the customer support people are friendly.
GoDaddy I'll give you that.
However that is basically where the positives
to GoDaddy end.
They push,
so hard,
to up-sell you.
And sell you crap you don't need.
When you add a domain to your cart,
they put Whois Protection on for 10 dollars a year.
That's very expensive and pretty much every other company
on this list gives you that for free.
So now you're up to 28 dollars a year for a domain name
that doesn't spew your personal information
out to the public.
Oh and don't forget to uncheck that box
for starting a free trial for their website builder.
Cause unless you want that, if you forget to uncheck it,
you're likely going to be charged for that.
When their website builder trial expires.
So they're already trying to sell you things you don't need
and trick you into purchasing things
that you don't even know you're purchasing.
And I have a really hard time respecting the business
who does this.
Now GoDaddy does have an app.
I think is cool when domain companies offer an app.
However I was not able to log in (laugh) and try it.
Because I did the create account using Facebook option,
when I purchased my domain name.
And when I downloaded the app,
there's no option to sign in with Facebook.
Now I'm sure if contacted their support,
they would probably help me out,
and get some way for me to log in.
But I just did not want to waste anymore time with GoDaddy.
(groaning) It's frustrating.
Please save yourself from going with them.
Their prices are expensive.
They are deceptive with their up-sell tactics.
And there are just so many better options
on this list to pick from.
Let's talk about a great company, and that is Dynadot.
Now I'm a huge fan of Dynadot.
I've seen them improve quite a bit over the past few years.
And they're finally at a point,
where they are seriously competitive
and tempting in the domain industry.
Now Dynadot charges $8.99 per year for a .com domain,
with free Whois Protection.
Yes that's right, not 28 dollars a year.
Nine dollars a year for everything.
All of it.
Done.
That's all you have to pay.
Dynadot has a nice clean website and a really attractive app
where you can purchase domains,
and even manage your domain names.
Auto-renew is off by default.
Thank the lord.
That is awesome.
So you don't have to worry about getting charged
or forgetting to turn it off.
You can turn it on if you want,
but by default you get to decide
when the domain name is renewed.
There is no pushy up-selling either.
Now of course they have other items to offer,
like Email Hosting, and Web Hosting.
And they're going to let you know they offer that,
but there's nothing wrong with that.
There's no up-sell screen you have to get through
with a bunch of deception, just to purchase a domain name.
And I really love that.
Now they do not offer 24/7 support;
however, their support team is pretty good.
I've had nothing but great experiences with their live chat.
So they're going to get you taken care of,
if you need help with anything.
So overall if you are looking for a great company,
with low prices, and a clean panel and app
to buy a domain name at,
I would definitely consider Dynadot.
So now let's talk about the cheapest option on this list.
And that is, Porkbun.
So Porkbun is an up and coming domain registrar
that really intrigues me.
Their prices are wicked low.
They charge $8.56 a year for a .com domain.
With free Whois Protection.
The best way to describe Porkbun is,
their focus is all on price.
And there's nothing wrong with that.
They look like a solid registrar.
But it's relatively a no frills experience.
There's no app.
The panel is a little bit cluttered and kind of confusing.
And they don't have 24/7 customer service.
And their hours are kind of annoying.
They close at 5:00 pm pacific, which is a little bit
of an annoyance.
Especially if you do a lot of your work at night.
However I am sure that they would take care of you,
when they are open.
And help you out if you need something.
If you're looking for the cheapest place
to buy a domain name.
This is the site for you.
I'm sure you're going to have a decent experience.
Now let's talk about Hover.
I have heard a lot about Hover recently.
And they are really making some noise
in the domain industry.
But, I wasn't really able to figure out why.
Their prices are kind of expensive.
Not terrible.
They charge I think 13 dollars a year for a domain name.
They do have free Whois Protection.
And there's no pushy up-selling.
It's a relatively smooth experience
to purchase a domain name from Hover.
There's no app and auto-renew is forced and on by default,
Which you guys know how I feel about that.
I am not a fan of that.
And overall,
I don't think you're going to have a terrible experience
with Hover.
It's not like GoDaddy,
where I would tell you stay away from it all costs.
But there's nothing really great about Hover.
They don't really have an advantage if you know what I mean.
Porkbun has the advantage of price.
And Dynadot has the advantage,
of an overall very smooth experience with very low prices.
Hover is just kind of expensive,
with no reason to really go with them.
All right, now let's talk about Namecheap.
Now Namecheap is where I personally buy
all of my domain names.
And I've been with them for several years.
I love Namecheap because they have 24/7 customer service,
via the live chat.
Which is good.
They've always taken care of me.
However sometimes they can be really really slow.
I will put that out there.
But to me Namecheap is kind of a one stop shop
for all of my needs.
I have Email Hosting with Namecheap.
They have a great Email Hosting service
for 10 dollars a year.
Super reasonable.
Really the lowest price I can find.
And rock-solid reliable.
It does everything I need it to do.
So I buy my domain names there
because I've always had a great experience.
The panel is pretty clean and simple.
They have an amazing app
that allows you to manage their domains, at a glance.
And even use Apple Pay to purchase new domains,
which I think is super cool.
They don't have pushy up-selling
and they have free Whois Protection.
Which is awesome.
Now for full disclosure,
Namecheap is not the cheapest option on this list.
They are kind of expensive.
A .com domain is around 13 dollars a year.
And .co is about 26 dollars a year.
So Dynadot, Porkbun these are all cheaper options
for domain names.
And they're all pretty good options too.
I just stick with Namecheap
because I love their Web Hosting, their Email Hosting.
And I've never had a problem with their domains.
And I just like the experience of the app and the panel.
So to me it's worth the extra couple of bucks per year,
to get a very smooth experience.
And get the cool app and everything that Namecheap offers.
They also do this thing every year
where they have a super cool Black Friday sale.
You can get .com domains for 98 cents for the first year.
So yeah.
It's pretty cool.
But moving on.
Let's talk about Google Domains.
I got so many requests to take a look at Google Domains,
in my first domain registrar comparison video.
So.
Here you go.
Google Domains.
Should you buy a domain name there.
Well,
if you want.
See my analysis of Google Domains is kind of that,
Google is just capitalizing on their name to sell domains.
It's not a bad experience.
There's basically zero up-selling whatsoever.
But similar to Hover it's kind of a bland experience.
A .com domain is 12 dollars per year.
Whois Protection is free.
And the panel is okay.
Its got Google's graphic style,
but I still feel like it could be a little bit simpler.
It's a little bit cluttered for my desire.
And their is no app available.
Google does have 24/7 support.
And they give you the option of either phone or chat,
which I really liked.
A lot of these companies are phone only, or chat only.
And not everyone loves phone support.
Not everyone loves chat support.
So giving you the option,
in addition to making it 24/7 it is pretty cool.
So overall if you trust Google.
And you'd like to have them hold your domain name for you,
I think this is a solid option.
However their was nothing that stood out to me
that makes it extremely appealing.
But it seems Google has a sound mind
with their business practices.
And, not trying to sell you stuff you don't need.
So I've got to say that,
I had a pretty good experience with Google Domains.
And lastly, let's talk about Domain.com.
This is another new one to this list,
because it seems Domain.com is very popular.
They're one of those companies
that if you search where to buy a domain,
or best place to buy a domain,
they're going to come up in Google
and in most of the lists
on where you should buy a domain name.
So I figured I should give them a shot.
And I have to say,
this is another one on this list that I would say,
stay away from at all cost.
Their prices are okay.
But they charge $8.99 per year for Whois Protection,
which you know I hate.
And their is major up-selling just like GoDaddy.
They're very deceptive about things.
When you try to decline the Whois Protection,
which is on by default.
They use something called a dark pattern.
Which is a method in interfaces,
where you try and trick the user
into clicking a certain thing.
As you can tell by this screenshot your instinct as a user,
is to click the, oh no keep Whois Protection on thing.
When you're really trying to get rid of it.
Sites that use dark patterns just really,
really get on my nerves.
And every site will do it to an extent.
But these guys are clearly abusing the concept
of a dark pattern in their favor.
To try and push you,
to spend more money when you don't want to.
And that's not cool.
And that's not something I can ever respect
or get behind as a consumer.
And I would recommend
that you guys stay away from Domain.com, at all cost.
So in conclusion,
if you're looking for my personal pick,
on the best place to buy a domain name.
I would definitely recommend that you try out Namecheap.
Their balance of customer service, decent prices,
and an overall smooth experience,
make it my preferred place to buy a domain name.
And I would definitely recommend checking it out.
Now if you're looking for the
cheapest place to buy a domain name.
I would definitely check out Porkbun.
It's pretty no frills but it's going to be cheap.
And I think you're going to gave a good experience.
If you're looking for the best up and coming registrar,
and one that is making a lot of noise,
and has even tempted me to switch to, if I'm honest,
check out Dynadot.
They really have a lot to offer,
with their app, super low prices,
and high quality customer service.
But really all these companies
will give you a pretty decent experience.
As long as you stay away from GoDaddy and Domain.com
So what do you guys think?
Which domain registrar did you pick?
I'd love to know your thoughts in the comments down below.
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With that said,
I will catch you guys next time.