How to Choose Best Domain Registrar for Your Website? (Guide)

by Vivek Badani
Posted on February 7, 2024

A customized domain name gives an identity to your company. A good domain name also tells search engines and visitors what to expect when they visit your website. Let’s take a look at what makes a good domain registrar and how to choose best domain registrar. In this article, we’ll explain which domain registrars we recommend for different sorts of businesses.

Table of Contents

What Is A Domain Name Registrar?

A domain name registrar handles the reservation of domain names as well as assigning IP addresses for them. Domain names are alphanumeric aliases used to access websites; for example, Google’s domain name is ‘google.com’ and their IP address is 192.168.1.1. Choosing a good Domain name and registrar makes it easier to access websites without having to memorize and enter numeric IP addresses.

How to Choose Best Domain Registrar?

Due to the competition in the domain registration business, you will come across companies with some very attractive offers. Our latest guide on how to choose the best WordPress hosting can help you narrow down your search based on pricing, features, and offers. While these offers may look good, there may be some downsides that you may not notice right away.

Price

Pricing is an important consideration when you choose best domain registrar. Each domain registrar charges differently for each domain extension. This implies that a registrar may provide fantastic deals on.com names but awful deals on.org domains.

In addition, several registrars charge extra for security and privacy features. If you opt to purchase both your hosting plan and your domain from the same vendor, you must additionally factor in normal website hosting fees. Use domain renewal coupons to save on domain name and hosting renewals. Some cheap yet efficient domain registrars include:

Domain Transfers

You won’t need to utilize this option, but if you’re unhappy with your current domain registrar, you’ll want to be able to simply transfer your domain to another. If you wish to leave your existing domain registrar; the ability to do a simple domain transfer is even more critical.

You can avoid choosing domain registrars that demand extra costs for domain transfers. To ensure that your ownership of your domain name does not expire, you can configure domain renewal automatically every year.

Expiration Policy

An expiry date is included with every domain purchase. If you let your domain expire, someone else will be able to purchase it, thus shutting down your business. You may be compelled to repurchase your domain at a greater price, or worse, you may lose access to it forever.

Most domain registrars configure your auto domain renewal so you don’t have to worry about it, but it’s still worth looking into what happens if your domain does expire. The best domain registrar will provide a grace period during which your domain will be locked to your account for a set number of days.

Bad User Experience

Most domain registrars try to make their website easy to use, so they can keep you as a customer. However, some domain registrars do the exact opposite.

This would make it difficult for you to change your domain name settings like nameservers. You will need to do that if you want to transfer a domain to a new host, or a new domain registrar.

The easiest way to look for this is by searching for domain registrar’s online reviews. Keep in mind that very few happy customers leave online reviews, so it’s important to read the reviews thoroughly.

Hidden Charges

You may also need to look for hidden costs and fees when choosing the best domain registrar.

Some domain registrars may have special offers for cheaper domains for first-time registrations. Most beginners don’t realize it, but the renewal cost of the domain is often quite different and even higher.

Others

Many of the top domain registrars also provide additional services. These services include anything from domain privacy and parking to web hosting, email hosting, and email marketing. Some of these services may come as part of your domain registration, while others will cost extra.

There are a few things to think about here. Do you really need any more features? If yes, what add-ons are you looking for? What importance do you place on the quality of these services? All of these considerations will aid you in selecting the best domain registrar for your requirements. You can also establish your brand with a domain registrar free of cost.

All good domain registrars make it easy to transfer your domain name to a different company. However, some will put an additional fee.

That being said, let’s take a look at some of the best domain name registrars, and how they compare against each other.

Choose Best Domain Registrars For Your Website

What we have for you here is a comparison of 10 of the very best domain registrars out there, their detailed offers, prices, and extra info on what you can expect from each one.

Domain.com

Starting in 2000, Domain.com is one of the most popular domain name registrars in the world. They allow you to register all top-level domain name extensions (TLDs) and even dozens of country code top-level domains (ccTLDs).

It provides all types of premium domains that are generally short and easy to understand. Some common premium domain suffixes include .com, .net, etc. These premium domains are easy to remember and help you with better branding, better search ranking, smart business investment, etc.

Additionally, it also has a control panel that provides full control of DNS for your domain name. You can even transfer your existing domain to their platform without causing any downtime to your website. The domain transfer process generally takes 5-7 days, although the entire process is automated and hassle-free.

If you only need to register a domain name without web hosting, then we highly recommend Domain.com.

Domain.com Pricing:

.com – $9.99
.co – $6.99
.net – $12.99

Bluehost

Bluehost is one of the best and largest domain registrar companies in the world to choose from. And they are an official WordPress hosting partner. As part of their web hosting service, they also offer domain name registration.

To begin, you can search your preferred domain name in the search box and see if it’s available. Bluehost will let you purchase your domain if it’s available. Otherwise, it will provide you with several alternatives related to your search.

It also lets you manage your domain address and site from an easy-to-use control panel and change DNS across multiple domains. Plus, the auto-renewal feature keeps your domain safe and prevents it from expiring or getting lost. You can even switch back to manual renewal at any time you want.

Additionally, the ‘Domain Lock’ feature keeps your domain locked to prevent unauthorized transfers. You can unlock your domain name anytime for transfers; until then, Bluehost will keep your preferred domain name safe.

They also have many features that website owners need such as the ability to add unlimited subdomains, malware protection for websites, professional emails through G Suite (Google Workspace), and more.

The prices are industry standard. However, what makes this a great deal is a fact that you get a free domain with even the cheapest hosting package (which starts at $2.75/month).

Namecheap

Namecheap is an ICANN-accredited domain registrar that helps you choose a domain name of your choice. It also allows for domain transfers if your domain name is registered somewhere else. And Namecheap won’t take more than 30 minutes to transfer your domain automatically.

Additionally, Namecheap also provides website hosting services, WordPress hosting, security products, business email hosting, etc. It covers all web hosting services like shared, VPS, Managed WordPress, dedicated, and more.

There’s a ‘Beast Mode’ option that helps you find and register the exact domain name you’re looking for. You can filter your search based on options like price range, suffix, keywords, etc. You can even narrow down your search by mentioning your niche, including travel, educational, travel & lifestyle, etc.

The domain registrar also comes with an in-built account panel to help you manage your domain effortlessly.

Plus, it provides free DNS with your domain during the time of domain transfer. After the transfer, FreeDNS will automatically switch to its default new server. Not only this, but you can also transfer any expired domain name you want.

Namecheap also claims to provide zero downtime and lifetime free WhoisGuard privacy protection. You also get free DNSSEC security to protect your site from fraud and a business email for 2-months.

The prices for Namecheap are:

.com – $12.98
.net – $12.98
.co – $25.98

NameSilo

NameSilo provides domain registration services, transfer of the domain, bidding of domains, etc. It comes with a search tool that lets you perform a single domain search and bulk domain search.

You also get domain privacy for a free and massive discount for domain registration and transfer in bulk.

Besides, all the domains come with:

DNS management tools
Free domain privacy
Registry lock
Domain defender protection
Portfolio management

NameSilo also comes with a marketplace that contains all the domains listed by their customer or non-renewed domains. You can buy your preferred domains either through auction or by paying the buyer directly.

Plus, you can transfer your existing domain names to NameSilo in just three steps. You just need to verify your domain name, enter your EEP authorization code in the transfer form, and add the domain to the cart. The domain will get transferred within 5 to 7 days.

Namesilo Pricing:

.com $9.95
.net $11.79
.org $10.79

GoDaddy

GoDaddy is one of the most popular domain registrars and web hosting companies to choose from that manages over 80 million domains.

It provides a ‘Domain Name Generator’ to help you generate the most suitable domain name for your site. You just need to enter your business name or idea, and their software will create a suitable domain for your website. The domain generator provides up to 100 sub-domains to create a custom web address.

You can also migrate your existing domain name to GoDaddy with just a click for $7.99 (.com extension).

GoDaddy also lets you choose from a variety of domain names in multiple foreign languages and extensions. What’s more, it centralizes multiple domain names and lets you manage them from a single dashboard. The ability to monitor your domain running and uptime with its real monitoring feature is another bonus.

Another unique feature called ‘Domain Broker’ helps you acquire an already registered domain name. You get the assistance of a personal domain broker to reach out to the current domain owner on your behalf and negotiate the prices and terms.

It also lets you search and buy domain names in bulk – up to 500 at a time. You can also create a list of keywords or domains and upload it as a .CSV, .XLS, or .XLSX file.

Additionally, GoDaddy offers business protection to all domain addresses. If you forget to renew the domain name, it keeps you protected from accidental and malicious domain transfer. It also keeps your personal data hidden from hackers and protects your website with automatic malware and security scans.

Hover

Hover is a domain registrar that helps you register new domains, renew your old domains, or transfer existing domain names to Hover. It offers over 300 Top Level Domains or domain extensions like .com, .net, .ca, .org, etc.

Enter your business name or related keywords, and Hover will provide you with hundreds of available domain name options.

The domain registrar also provides built-in tools to manage your domains, DNS, and emails. Coming to security, Hover offers free WHOIS security with all domain names and two-factor authentication.

The fact that it’s solely a domain registrar can be a good thing since you won’t get bombarded by upsells. That said, you would have to rely on other software for your web hosting.

Hover pricing:

.com – $12.99
.org – $13.99
.net – $15.49

DreamHost

DreamHost is another popular domain name registrar and web hosting service provider. They are offering our readers a free domain name with domain privacy included for anyone signing up for their Shared Unlimited hosting plan.

You can also register a domain name without buying hosting through them for $8.99 / year which also includes free private registration.

DreamHost offers 400+ TLDs and comes with all domain management tools that you can expect from a large domain provider like DreamHost.

Aside from shared hosting, Dreamhost also offers managed WordPress hosting called DreamPress which is great for larger websites.

.com $7.99
.net $10.99
.org $11.99

Conclusion

Choosing and buying a domain registrar and name can be tough if you’ve never done it before. Finding a reliable domain registrar will make your life much easier. You can choose best domain registrar from the below options:

Domain.com — Best for keeping domain costs low
Bluehost — Best for creating your first website
Namecheap — Best domain registrar for tight budgets
NameSilo — Most affordable domain deals with bulk purchasing
GoDaddy — Best domain registrar for protecting your personal data
Hover — Best deals on unique domain extensions
DreamHost— Best option for premium domains

Regardless of your situation, budget, or website type, you’ll be able to buy a domain name from one of the registrars on this list.