The best domain registrars (or registry services) are an essential investment when building a new online presence.
These companies allow business leaders to purchase memorable domain names for their websites, making it easier for consumers to find them online.
When chosen with care, the right domain name gives your business instant credibility and appeal.
It also ensures that you can develop a consistent brand image.
Domain registration services ensure that you can purchase not only your preferred domain name but also any add-on domains you wish to avoid falling into the hands of the competition.
Today, we’re reviewing some of the best domain registrars on the market for 2023, chosen for their affordability, ease of use, and unique features.
What are The Best Domain Registrars?
The best domain registration services are the companies that can offer an affordable way to access and retain the domains you need when building your brand.
These are some of the companies that currently offer the best results to entrepreneurs.
1.Domain.com
Better Overall
Domain.com is a versatile domain name registration solution perfect for small and medium-sized businesses.
With tons of domain options to choose from, including more than 25 country codes and popular favorites like .org and .com, Domain.com ensures you can build the perfect brand.
More than just a domain registrar, Domain.com actually offers a number of features for brands to get started online, including web hosting and web design services.
The company also sells premium domains as a broker for other brands and has over 2 decades of experience in its industry.
Main Features
- Excellent customer support: Extensive support and guidance from the Domain.com team if you ever have issues with your domain.
- Wide range of domain options: Choose from a large number of industry and location-specific domain TLDs to suit your needs.
- Multiple Extra Features: Tons of extra features including privacy protection, email, web hosting, SSL certificates, and malware protection.
Domain.com Pricing
The price of your domain with Domain.com will depend on a number of factors, including the type of TLD you want.
A .com domain starts at $9.99 for your first year of registration, then costs $15.99 per year for subsequent years.
Although the price of your domain may increase slightly over time, Domain.com keeps its costs extremely transparent and simple, so you know how to keep track of your budget from one year to the next.
You can also access a variety of additional services such as hosting.
Pros
- Offers optional protection and privacy features
- Affordable pricing options
- Supports multiple hosting plans
- Reliable uptime
- Responsive customer service
- Feature-rich website-builder tools
- Comprehensive shared and WordPress hosting packages
Cons
- No reseller options
- No monthly plans
- No cloud, VPS, dedicated, or reseller server options
2. Bluehost
The Best Hosting Package
Bluehost is a hosting company that offers a range of domain registration services along with its hosting options.
If you are looking for a service provider capable of offering domain registration and hosting in one affordable package, Bluehost might be the service for you.
You’ll get a free domain included with any shared hosting plan.
Bluehost offers dozens of different domain options, including .org, .tech, and .com, with relatively cheap prices for both your initial signup and renewal.
You can also set up automatic renewal and lock your domain to prevent unauthorized transfers.
Main Features
- Domain Management: You can manage all aspects of your domains from one easy-to-use control panel and automatically lock domains from being transferred.
- Expert Support: The Bluehost team is available to answer all your questions and help you with everything from auto-renewal to domain forwarding.
- Combination Packages: When you purchase their hosting packages (starting at $8.99 per month), you can get a free domain to save money on startup costs.
Bluehost Pricing
The cost of your Bluehost domain will depend on your TLD and how long you are buying the domain.
A .com domain will cost around $12.99 per year.
However, you can save money on domain registration and hosting by signing up for a shared hosting plan for $8.99 per year, with the free domain included for the first year.
The price of your domain name can change over time with Bluehost, so it’s worth making sure you’re aware of renewal prices before setting up the auto-renewal service.
Pros
- Unmetered bandwidth
- Free SSL certificate and domains
- Excellent uptime
- Affordable first-term contract
- Reliable uptime
- Shared hosting plans offer generous storage
- Great initial pricing packages
- Consistently reliable performance
- Excellent customer support
- Generous storage options
- The first term is very affordable
- Offers unmetered bandwidth
Cons
- Limited storage on the cheapest plan
- Limitations on monthly site visitors
- Their system constantly bombards users with upsells
- Entry-level plans have limited backup options
- Uses only US-based servers
- Expensive added features
- Renewal rates are expensive
- Poor backup options
3. Network Solutions
The Best for long Term
Affordable and reliable, Network Solutions offers a wide range of hosting services, with over 500 extensions for business owners to choose from.
As an added benefit, you have peace of mind knowing that Network Solutions is ICANN Certified, which means it meets the strictest standards to keep your domain protected.
Network Solutions allows you to register a completely new domain from scratch, or you can choose from a variety of existing premium domains.
It can also include various other services, such as website hosting and e-commerce, and email tools.
You can also get a free domain name from Network Solutions with one of their hosting plans.
Main Features
- Wide range of extensions: You’ll have over 500 TLD extensions to consider, including popular options like .org and .net.
- Privacy and Security: Integrated privacy and security solutions help you reduce the amount of spam you receive on your domain name.
- Award-Winning Support: Get great support from ICANN-certified team members who work hard to protect your business and domain.
Network Solution Pricing
The cheapest way to get a domain name from Network Solutions is to access the company’s “Essential” hosting plan for $9.96 per year with a free domain name.
If you upgrade to a Premium plan, you can also get an SSL certificate.
The price of premium domain names can vary by the thousands depending on what you need, while the costs of standard domain names vary depending on your required TLD.
For example, you can get a .com domain name for $9.99.
Pros
- Dependable customer support
- Great shared, WordPress, and eCommerce options
- Comes with a website-building software
- Reliable uptime
Cons
- No Windows server options
- The interface isn’t very intuitive
4. Pork bun
Best for .com Alternatives
Porkbun is a lesser-known hosting company that offers some of the best domain registration services on the market.
The company is currently ranked number one for the lowest initial registration and renewal prices, and can also offer easy access to domain name transfer if you want to switch from another registrar and keep your domains.
Porkbun offers free privacy tools to protect your domain names, as well as access to email hosting starting at $2 per month.
You can also access all-in-one packages with a domain name and website hosting in one plan.
Porkbun is particularly useful for businesses looking for alternatives to the standard .com domain name, as it has a wide range of alternative TLDs.
Main Features
- Premium features included with all domains: You’ll get free WHOIS privacy to keep contact information safe, free SSL certificates, URL forwarding, and email forwarding with your domains.
- Great prices – Porkbun offers some of the cheapest deals on the market, even when you include domain hosting and other services.
- Fantastic Customer Support – Porkbun excels at offering multiple forms of customer support, including phone service, knowledge base access, email, and chat.
Porkbun Prices
As with most domain registration services, the price you’ll pay for a domain from Porkbun depends on your TLD.
Some options start as low as $0.99.
If you prefer a more recognizable domain name with a .com extension, it costs $4.75 to register a new one.
Porkbun also offers special offers and combo packages for web hosting and domain name access.
Alternatively, you can visit the Porkbun marketplace to search for premium domains for sale.
Porkbun allows buyers to purchase up to 10 domain names at a time.
5. Go daddy
Best for Privacy
Suitable for website creation, hosting, and buying domain names, GoDaddy is one of the most popular registrars on the market today.
The renowned provider offers tons of domain options to choose from and currently manages more than 75 million domains for more than 17 million customers around the world.
GoDaddy also has incredibly low registration prices.
Like many of the best domain registrars, GoDaddy offers several valuable “extras” up front, including things like free WHOIS privacy access, to protect your contact details from spammers.
You’ll also get tools like auto-renewal, so you don’t have to remember to re-purchase your domain every year.
However, many of GoDaddy’s best deals require a two-year subscription.
Main Features
- Domain and Professional Email: You can access a GoDaddy domain name and email address for as little as $1 a month in some cases.
- WHOIS Privacy Included: Automatically redact contact information from your WHOIS directory to prevent domain-related spam.
- Great Hosting and Domain Packages: You can get cheap hosting plans starting at $3.99 per year with a free domain, but you have to sign up for 3 years.
GoDaddy Domain Pricing
The price of domain names depends on the TLD you choose.
A .com domain can be as low as $0.01 for the first year, followed by a price of $19.99 at renewal and annual recurring billing thereafter.
Also, all GoDaddy hosting packages come with access to a free domain, but you will be required to sign up for a subscription of at least one year.
Many of the better packages require a minimum two-year subscription, and the second year can be much more expensive.
Pros
- Very responsive templates
- Can work for people with no design experience
- Free marketing tools are available
- Higher tiers let you host unlimited websites
- Offers unlimited bandwidth
- Frequently offers special promos and discounts
- Provides unlimited disk space
Cons
- SEO tools aren’t as great as others
- There is no app store
- Can get pretty expensive
- Inconsistent customer support
- Live chat support is not available around the clock
6. Google domains
Best for Ease of Use
Google Domains might be the ideal place to search for your domain if you want to focus heavily on simplicity.
Google is one of the best-known companies in the world, particularly in the digital world, and has many great domain name extensions to offer today’s business leaders.
You can access more than 300 domain endings and expect simple and affordable prices for all of them.
With the power of Google behind your domain, you can expect excellent service, with 24/7 support from real humans if something goes wrong.
You can also transfer a domain you already own to Google with minimal stress.
Google also uses DNS servers to host its domains, which means you can count on fantastic security, speed, and support.
Main Features
- Simple Design: Finding a domain name you want to buy and registering with Google is extremely quick and easy, with no complexities to navigate.
- Over 300 domain endings: While you won’t get all the domain extensions you can get elsewhere, all the major TLDs are available.
- Simple Pricing: Pricing is standardized using simple whole numbers, making it much easier to keep track of all your important budgets each year. Also, you get freebies like WHOIS privacy.
Google Domain Pricing
Google’s pricing options for domains depend on the type of TLD you want to access.
Popular options like .com and .org start at $12 for the first year.
After this, you may end up paying a bit more for the renewal price.
Notably, while there are cheaper domain name registration services out there, Google offers bonuses you don’t get anywhere else, like one-click DNSSEC, Google two-step verification, and privacy protection already built-in.
7.NameSilo
Best for Wholesale Purchases
Easily one of the best online domain registrars for businesses looking to buy domain names in bulk, NameSilo makes it quick and affordable to stock up on domain options.
With NameSilo, you can combine affordable pricing (starting at $0.99) with a convenient interface where you can manage all your domains in one place.
NameSilo has over 400 domain extensions to choose from, and you can search hundreds of available domain names with just a couple of clicks.
As an added bonus, NameSilo offers special discount prices if you are buying in bulk.
Plus, buying your domains and keeping track of everything is wonderfully simple and straightforward, with very few annoying upsells.
Main Features
- Bulk Domain Pricing: Domain prices at NameSilo are already pretty low when you buy one name at a time. If you’re buying in bulk, you can save a fortune.
- Excellent security: The service comes with enterprise-grade security already built-in, with WHOIS privacy protection so you can prevent annoying spam from your site.
- Easy to use environment: There is a simple back-end environment where you can start setting up your domains and keep track of everything. You will also have access to 24/7 customer support if something goes wrong.
Silo Price
The price of your domains from NameSilo is based on a number of factors, including the TLD you choose and the number of domains you purchase at one time.
Pricing for a .com name starts at $9.95 for the initial setup, and you can get a business email for free.
If you want to add an SSL certificate, you can do so for $9.99 per year, and you’ll even be able to get a full hosting package from NameSilo starting at $2.99 per month.
Remember, all domains come with free WHOIS privacy, domain advocacy, and free DNS management.
The Best Free Domain Registrars
If you’re on a tight budget when looking for the best domain name registration solution, you may be tempted to consider “free” domain registration.
While there are extremely cheap “free” domain registration options out there, they often come with a number of caveats.
For example, you can get a free domain with Bluehost when you sign up for one of their hosting packages, but the domain is only free for the first year, and you’ll still need to pay your hosting package costs, so it’s not completely gratuitous.
Also, companies like GoDaddy can offer domains for an initial registration cost of just $0.01 in some cases.
However, you usually have to agree to a three-year contract with the company to qualify for this price, and the renewal price can be much higher.
It is very difficult to get a free domain name without any problems, so be sure to check what you are going to pay for before signing up.
Domain Registrar Buyers Guide
What are Domain Registrars?
Domain registrars, or domain registration services, are companies in charge of managing the reservation of domain names and the assignment of IP addresses on the web.
These companies must be accredited by a generic top-level domain or country-code top-level domain registry.
Domain registrars allow you to buy domain names or “addresses” on the Internet and also manage your domains.
In some cases, you can apply various forms of privacy and security to your domain name with a registrar.
What to Look for in The Best Domain Registrars?
There is no single approach to choosing the best domain name registrar.
There are many solutions out there, all with their own distinctive benefits to offer.
You’ll need to think about a number of different things, from how much you’re willing to spend to what kind of extra features and security you want to include with your domain registration.
Here are some of the most important factors to consider:
Extension or TLD Options
Most domain registration services will allow you to purchase a .com or .co domain.
However, if you want more specific and niche domain names, such as .tv, you may want to consider narrowing down your search.
More TLDs and extension options also mean you can buy more variations of the same domain name, to prevent other companies from stealing them.
Privacy & Security
Privacy features like WHOIS protection can be very important when choosing your domain name registrar.
This protection ensures that you can hide your contact details from other people who might want to spam your email.
Additional Characteristics
Many domain name registration services may also offer additional services, such as access to website hosting, SSL certificates, and professional email addresses.
You can often save a decent amount of money by bundling all of these services into one package with the same provider, so it’s worth exploring your options.
Customer Service
If something goes wrong with your domain name or registration, it’s good to know that someone is available to help you.
A strong reputation for customer service should be something to consider when signing up for long-term service with any brand.
Budget
Budget will always be a major consideration for any business owner investing in an essential service or tool.
With that in mind, make sure you can afford the price of your domain name, not only initially, but also over several years of renewal.
Keep an eye on the minimum subscription requirements, as these can also affect your budget.
Choosing the Best Domain Registrars
The best overall domain registrar is Domain.com, which offers the widest range of extensions, the best customer support, and a wide range of additional features, such as privacy protection.
However, if you’re looking for a domain name and hosting in one simple package, you might want to save some money with Bluehost preferably.
Alternatively, Porkbun will give you the widest choice of extension alternatives if you’re looking for something other than .com, while Google Domains provides a simple and straightforward experience.
Good luck choosing the best domain name registration service.
Thanks for Reading
Domain Registrar FAQ
Q: What is a domain name?
A domain name is the address of your website that your customers or users type into the URL bar when they want to find a website online.
Q: What is a TLD?
A TLD, or top-level domain, refers to the extension at the end of your domain name, after your company names, like .com or .org.
While .com is the most popular TLD, there are other options that are attracting attention today.
Q: How do domain names work?
The Internet is essentially a huge network of interconnected computers connected via wires.
To identify other computers, each is given a unique IP address. Because IP addresses are complex and hard to remember, domain names were invented to make it easier for people to find website locations.