In today’s article, you’ll find the domain name registration comparison of the top companies. They’re well-known services with millions of hosted domains. Furthermore, every company has its own pricing model and features. In the end, you’ll be able to select the right domain name provider for your website or business. Also, you can save money by comparing these companies based on prices and, especially, for the renewal cost.
Top domain name registration services compared
To compare domain name registrars, you need to have some experience with each company. Indeed, some companies are good while the others are bad with lots of complaints and negative reviews. I’ve used and still use all the following domain name providers. That’s what helped me to have a clear opinion about each service and their customer support.
NameCheap Vs GoDaddy Vs 1&1 Vs Name is the best comparison choice. All these companies are hosting lots of domains, and they have been in that business for years and even decades now. Beside of that, those organizations have powerful DNS and domain control panels to manage everything.
Domain name registration services compared with prices
The cost of the domain name is not only the first price you pay for in the first year or so. Every domain name needs renewal and that’s what many beginners neglect. The following domain name registrars cost comparison will make things easier for you to choose a good provider.
Please note that I used the “.com” domains as they’re the most popular. It’s the best domain extension and the comparison will be easy with it.
| NameCheap | GoDaddy | 1&1 | Domain | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| “.com” Domain | $10.69 | $11.99 | $0.99 | $8.99 |
| “.com” Domain renewal | $10.69 | $14.99 | $14.99 | $11.49 |
| “.com” Domain Transfer | $9.87 | $7.99 | $8.99 | $8.29 |
| Customer support rating | 5/5 | 4/5 | 3/5 | 4/5 |
| Domain control panel | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| DNS tools | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Visit Namecheap | Visit GoDaddy | Visit 1&1 | Visit Domain |
Using the above domain comparison table, you can see that GoDaddy is the most expensive domain registrar. While, NameCheap and 1&1, are among the cheapest, especially NameCheap in the renewal prices.
On the other hand, if we compare the control panels, we will find that NameCheap has the best one. The NameCheap control panel is easy to use and well-organized, unlike the GoDaddy control panel that’s confusing.
1. NameCheap
NameCheap is one of the best places to buy domain names for thousands of bloggers, webmasters, and business owners. But also, it’s the greatest domain marketplace where internet marketers and investors find great deals. They have a marketplace where anyone can list domains and sell them. Also, you can buy domain names.
Related Article: Wix Unlimited Plan Review: Is it Worth It?
NameCheap offers domain name registration and web hosting services in the same place. They offer hundreds of domain extensions. But also, they have web hosting packages for shared hosting, VPS, dedicated servers, and even email hosting.
NameCheap lets you register a generic top-level domain (gTLD) such as:
Besides of that, the company lets you register a country code top-level domain (ccTLD) such as:
The list of these domains’ database can be found in the official IANA (Internet Assigned Number Authority) page.
NameCheap Uptime
NameCheap is one of the few domain name registrars and web hosting services with 100% uptime guaranteed. That’s good enough to know that they have a strong infrastructure with amazing network uptime and availability.
2. GoDaddy
This is another popular website domain registration service. GoDaddy is a giant company with millions of hosted domains. They offer all the old extensions, and the new extensions as well like “.reviews”, “tips”, “website” and more.
GoDaddy offers web hosting along with the domain names. However, they are known originally as a domain name registrar company. The GoDaddy domain names start at $11.99 per year. The renewal prices of GoDaddy is not cheap at all, it costs $14.99 and that’s a bad signal for people who want to host lots of domains.
- Read also: How to get a Domain Name that’s already registered
For the customer support, GoDaddy offers support by phone, live chat and also emails and tickets. Unfortunately, they have lots of customers compared to other companies, and it looks like their customer support department is not able to solve all the problems.
3. 1&1
With this domain registrar, you can buy cheap domains with less than a dollar per each one. But, wait, that’s only for the first year. Later, the renewal price will be $14.99 and that domain price is expensive compared to NameCheap and other domain name registrars.
In addition, 1&1 is a web hosting provider with lots of downtimes. So, there is a risk of downtime with their servers, unlike the NameCheap case that’s much more reliable.
What about the uptime?
1&1 has a 99% uptime guarantee, although this may be true, but in today’s’ world, the minimum downtime can cost you money. That happens especially with online stores and e-commerce websites. When you minimize the risk of downtimes, your website will be available better and your visitors will reach your products anytime they want.
For that reason, it’s recommended to check your domain name registrar uptime before anything. Read their terms of service if you want. Thus, you’ll find the details of their uptime, downtimes, and scheduled maintenance information.
Related Article: How to Register a Domain Name without Web Hosting and Why?
4. Domain
Domain, is another domain name registrar with competitive prices, especially for the new domain purchases. They buy Top Level Domain names, and Country Code domains, Nevertheless, they don’t show all their domain prices. The domain name price list can be helpful for all of us to know the cost of each domain extension before going to their checkout page.
Where to buy domain names?
Domain names can be found in different websites and marketplaces. Actually, there are hundreds of companies, but the problem is the quality of their services. That includes the DNS, the control panel, and the customer support of course. That’s why coming up with a short list of companies is the best way to choose a cheap domain name registration with fast DNS.
NameCheap is the best recommended service to register domain names. They have all the tools and they offer better uptime and of course, it’s an affordable domain name registration service.
Why choosing NameCheap?
I recommend going with NameCheap, as they are a trusted service with amazing features. Their renewal price is the cheapest among the other companies. Of course, that will save you money in the long term, especially if you have lots of domain names.
Powerful DNS
Unlike the regular domain name providers, NameCheap offers both, free and premium DNS. That means a lot in terms of speed and uptime these days. With over 2 million hosted domains, NameCheap has the experience and the resources to make your domain available all the time.
Free and premium DNS
NameCheap offers a free powerful DNS. In other words, you can use their DNS for any domain name even if its’ registered elsewhere. That will speed up the domain name when people visit it from different locations. Also, their great DNS management tool lets you add different types of domain records including the following ones:
These records can be used when you want to verify a domain ownership, a website ownership or more. You’ll need these records later.
Also, you can create your own domain name servers to customize everything. That’s only an option that you can use when needed.
Affordable domain names
Another reason for choosing NameCheap is their affordable domains. Indeed, you pay cheaper than the other providers like GoDaddy and Name. Also, you get a cheap domain renewal and transfer price. With only $10.69, you can buy your own domain, and renew it at the same price. Best of all, you get free extras, such as the domain email forwarding, DNS backup, SSL, and more.
Domain marketplace
The domain marketplace is not only for those who sell and buy domains but also, for individuals. Anyone can search and purchase his own domain through the NameCheap’s domain marketplace. It’s a trusted place to find high quality domains with a good background, and even with links. But please, make sure to investigate the domain before purchasing it to avoid scammers.
Powerful domain SSL certificates
Here is a great deal with this domain name registration service, they offer low-cost SSL certificates. But wait, they are not any certificates, but the Comodo SSL certificates. They are the best SSL in the world with strong encryption and security for your domain.
The positive SSL costs $1.99 for the first year with NameCheap. Really, it’s a cheap price if you know that the original certificate costs around $40 per year.
Conclusion
No matter what website you want to build, and what business you want to run online, the domain name makes a huge impact on your online presence. If you choose the right domain name registration service, everything will be ok. However, you need to take care of your domain name, make automatic renewal “ON” and protect your domain from unauthorized transfers. That’s all offered by NameCheap, and they are the best registrar that I recommend.