Best Secure Places to Buy a Domain Name in 2024

Last Updated: June 8, 2024

Image: Shutterstock/hoangpts

I have used several domain registrars over the past 20 years, starting from the world’s largest registrar (GoDaddy) all the way down to smaller companies you’ve probably never heard of.

One thing I can tell you for sure is that both high popularity and premium prices are no indication of service quality or security.

Most review (affiliate) sites recommend Domain.com, Bluehost and GoDaddy, but there are other places where you can pay half the price (especially for renewal) and get better service (more on these companies below).

Let me start with my own recommendations for secure and affordable domain registrars to consider in 2024.

Best Places to Buy a Domain in 2024

The following are five of the most trustworthy sites where you can buy a domain name with free Whois privacy and account security, based on my own personal experience as of 2024.

1. NameCheap

Pros

• Reasonable prices
• Frequent TLD sales
• Free full Whois privacy
• Optional premium DNS
• Cheap SSL certificates
• 24/7 chat support
• Two-factor authentication (optional)

Cons

• No discounts on renewals

NameCheap is my favorite domain registrar because they have affordable prices and great services. This is the place where I buy most of my domain names these days, and so far they haven’t failed me once.

In terms of market share, NameCheap is only second to GoDaddy. I have used both companies (still do), and I’d say NameCheap is the clear winner for their more reasonable pricing and better support.

What I like the most about NameCheap is the massive sales they frequently have on different popular TLDs. Although the discounted prices only apply to the first year of registration, that’s still plenty of time to decide whether renewing the domain would be worthwhile or not.

Another thing I find useful is the prepaid account credit feature that allows me to keep some funds in my account for quick checkouts and automatic renewals. It’s safer than keeping your credit card details on file.

The knowledge base includes a large collection of self-help articles and how-to videos that can come in handy for beginners. Here’s one example of a video explaining how to verify your domain to work with Google Workspace:

2. Dynadot

Pros

• Low-cost registration and renewal
• Well designed and organized interface
• Free Whois privacy
• Live chat support
• No pushy add-ons
• Two-factor authentication (optional)
• Account security lock with PIN

Cons

• No phone support

Dynadot is another affordable and reliable domain registrar I have been using for quite a while. I give them an “A” for their low pricing, simplicity and security.

This company is mainly focused on domain registrations and they don’t annoy you with many unnecessary upgrades or add-ons every time you just want to order a domain name.

I really like the simple interface Dynadot has. It makes the process of managing and updating your domains very quick and efficient.

I also like the Account Lock security feature that makes it impossible to transfer any domain out without unlocking the account first, which asks for the birthday that you entered when creating the account.

As long as the account is locked, even if someone gained access to it, they won’t be able to steal/transfer any domains unless they also know the birthday value.

And the biggest reason to choose Dynadot is their low prices for most TLDs. Unlike other registrars, they won’t rip you off with unjustifiably high renewal fees.

3. NameSilo

Pros

• Competitive prices
• Bulk discounts
• Free private registration
• Email address forwarding
• Live chat support
• Two-factor authentication

Cons

• Some parts of the site are outdated
• Hosting service not that good

If you frequent domain/webmaster forums, you must have heard a lot about this company. NameSilo is particularly famous among domainers who own a large number of domains. Why? Because they offer very competitive and transparent prices, in addition to bulk discounts.

I’ve been keeping a few domains with NameSilo for years and I have nothing but good things to say about their service. The only issue I can point out is that the admin interface needs a modern and better organized design, but that’s not a big deal.

Update: NameSilo has recently increased their prices, but they are still competitive and reasonable IMO.

4. Google Domains (CLOSED!)

Update: Google Domains was shut down after all assets were acquired by Squarespace. I suggest you consider other registrars on this list instead.

Pros

• Simple and secure service
• Affordable pricing
• Same price for renewal
• Free Whois privacy
• Email and URL forwarding
• Fast cloud DNS

Cons

• Does not support all countries
• No discounts on any TLDs

In case you missed the news, Google began offering domain names to public users back in 2015, and the service was released out of beta in 2022. Google Domains is quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with in the industry.

Their prices are transparent and quite competitive. They are not so much into “special” offers or discounts, and you get all of the essential features you’ll likely need for free. These include Whois privacy, DNS management, and email address forwarding.

Unfortunately, Google Domains isn’t currently offered in all countries (only 29 countries are supported at the time of writing this post). They are slowly adding more countries to the list, so if yours isn’t supported yet, keep an eye on it.

5. Cloudflare

Pros

• One of the cheapest registrars
• No renewal fee hikes
• Whois data redaction
• Free DNS and CDN
• Additional premium business services
• Two-factor authentication

Cons

• Can’t use third-party DNS
• Country and state appear in Whois record
• No technical support for the free plan

You may be familiar with Cloudflare as a provider of CDN, DNS and network security services — and that’s what millions of business and professional websites use them for.

More recently, they started providing domain registration services to their customers at some of the lowest prices on the market.

Unlike the registrars mentioned above and others, Cloudflare doesn’t sell domains for profit. They sell them at cost because they consider them a basic commodity for their customers who use the several other premium services and products this company is better known for.

But there is a catch here: any domain you register at Cloudflare must use their DNS. You cannot use a third-party DNS service. So, for example, you won’t be able to change the domain’s nameservers to use your hosting provider’s nameservers.

Another issue you should be aware of is that Cloudflare doesn’t offer full Whois privacy protection. Instead, you get free Whois redaction, which removes most personal details from the public Whois record except for the organization name (if provided), country and state.

Is GoDaddy a Good Domain Registrar?

Well, GoDaddy has been the largest domain registrar in the world for quite a while, so one cannot simply overlook this name in the domain registration game.

The place I registered my very first domain name at — many years ago — was no other than the world-famous GoDaddy. This used to be my favorite registrar for years, and I still keep some domains with them.

Unfortunately, things have changed over the years, and I rarely use GoDaddy these days for the following primary reasons:

Increasing Prices

You’d think that a company of this size with millions of paying customers can afford to sell domains at a lower price, but nope, not GoDaddy!

Their prices keep going up time and time again. While they offer some discounts on first-year registration fees for certain TLDs, the renewal fees are among the highest on the market without any added benefit you can’t get cheaper elsewhere.

Costly Full Whois Privacy

GoDaddy gives you basic privacy protection for free, which removes most of your personal details from the public Whois record of the domain except for your country, state/province, and your organization name (if one is provided).

If you want full privacy protection, it’s gonna cost you an extra $10 per year per domain. Other companies give you full privacy protection for free.

Outsourced Support

Although the company is based in the US, their support service is mostly (if not completely) outsourced. Now, outsourced support isn’t necessarily bad if the agents are well trained and knowledgeable about their stuff, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with GoDaddy support.

Some chat agents appear clueless about their own services. This is something I personally experienced, and numerous other customers mentioned in their feedback.

But despite all of the above, there is one thing that makes me come back to GoDaddy on a regular basis, and that is their domain auctions section. Every now and then, I manage to find a decent expired domain that is up for auction there.

What About Domain.com and Bluehost?

Domain.com and Bluehost are both owned by the same parent company called Newfold Digital, or formerly, Endurance International Group (EIG).

This conglomerate also owns dozens of other domain registration and web hosting brands, including HostGator, Web.com, Register.com, Network Solutions, iPage, Crazy Domains, and many others.

There is barely any “top registrars” review out there that doesn’t include Domain.com and Bluehost, and there is barely any of those reviews that isn’t written by affiliates of these two providers.

I don’t feel comfortable recommending services I wouldn’t use myself, and both Domain.com and Bluehost are companies that I avoid. They have the same issues that GoDaddy has, particularly, high renewal prices and disappointing outsourced support.

They attract new customers with low registration fees and then overcharge for renewals. For example, renewal of a .com costs $21.99 per year at Domain.com, and $19.99 at Bluehost.

Do you need Whois privacy for your domain? That’s an extra $12.99 at Domain.com, and an extra $15 at Bluehost.

For about the same price, you can have 2–3 domains with free Whois privacy at some of the recommended registrars above, and it even comes with a better support service.

Which is The Best Domain Registrar According to Reddit?

You can find a lot of firsthand reviews of many domain registrars on Reddit. I’ve been following the discussions there for a while, and I tend to agree with what most users recommend and don’t recommend.

Some of the most reliable domain registrars according to Reddit users are NameCheap, Dynadot and Cloudflare. This isn’t really surprising because anywhere you ask, you’ll mostly hear positive opinions about these companies.

Another domain registrar that gets plenty of positive mentions on Reddit is Porkbun. I haven’t personally used this company (I just can’t take that name seriously), but they have some of the most competitive prices for many TLDs, so check it out if you don’t like any of the other registrars mentioned above.

As for registrars to avoid, the most common names you’ll see on Reddit are GoDaddy, Bluehost, Domain.com and other brands owned by Newfold Digital. Again, I agree with this for the reasons I discussed above.

Keep Your Domains and Hosting Separate

There is very little you can do with a mere domain name. If you are starting a new website, then the next step is to set up a web hosting account and associate it with your domain (this is done by updating your domain’s nameservers to those provided by your web host).

It may seem convenient that many domain registrars also provide hosting services, and the same applies to web hosting providers offering domain registration services. However, experienced webmasters — myself included *cough cough* — would usually recommend keeping your domains and hosting at separate providers.

Here are a couple of reasons why you should do that:

• Most of the reliable domain registrars aren’t among the best hosting providers you can find. Many of them offer web hosting as a secondary service while they remain mainly focused on domain services.
• You may need to change your web host down the road for one reason or another. Transferring your domain alongside the website to a new company may be an unnecessary hassle.

It’s more manageable and secure to stick with one registrar that you’re happy with and keep all your domains at one place (or maybe two if you prefer so).

You will likely use different web hosts for different domains, and whenever you need to change a web host, all you have to do is change the domain’s nameservers to the new host’s, and that’s it.

That’s what I do and that’s what most professional webmasters and domainers do.

Recommended: Check out my article about the best WordPress hosting providers if you are looking for a reliable web host for a WordPress website.

How to Choose The Right Domain Registrar?

The following are some of the most important factors you should keep in mind when selecting a company to buy a domain name from.

1. Industry Presence and Reputation

You don’t want to register your domain at a company that is barely known and may very well be gone next year (or so). Opt for a registrar that has a strong commendable history and a solid reputation in the industry.

2. Customer Feedback

While online user reviews may not always be the most reliable way to evaluate the worthiness of a certain company, you can often find plenty of useful information and details in customer feedback.

I’ve examined hundreds of user reviews of the companies in the list above as an extra assurance that I made the right selections.

3. Ease of Use

Some companies will have you running around in annoying circles of add-on offers and confirmations before you can finally make a simple domain purchase. Try to avoid providers that have a complicated browsing and checkout process.

4. Fair Pricing

Some companies sell domains at two or three times the average market price because they think they can. Some also try to attract unsuspecting customers with exceptionally low registration fees without clearly mentioning their exceptionally high renewal fees.

When a discounted price is offered for new registrations (first year) only, you should also see the regular price listed alongside it so that you know how much you’ll be charged come renewal time.

5. Essential Features

There are a few important features you’d want to seek in a domain registration provider. These include free Whois privacy, DNS management, domain locking, two-factor authentication, and automatic renewal.

6. Support Service

You probably may never have to contact the support team about technical issues with your domain registration because those rarely occur (unlike the case with a web hosting service).

Nevertheless, you want to make sure that when problems do happen, there will be an experienced and responsive support team to get everything sorted out for you in a timely manner.

An around-the-clock technical support service isn’t a luxurious option, it’s a necessity in today’s fast-paced cyber world. This was one of the key priorities I factored in while compiling this list of the top domain name registrars.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which domain extension should you choose?

Generally, the .com extension or TLD is considered the best choice for both commercial and non-commercial sites. You can’t go wrong with a .com since it’s the most popular of all TLDs.

But it’s not easy to find a good .com domain that is available for registration. Other popular secondary choices include .net, .co, and .io.

There are also numerous newly-released generic TLDs that are worth considering. Examples of these include: .site, .online, .shop, .store, .pro, .dev, .app, and many others that you can browse at any registrar’s website.

Does the domain extension affect SEO?

No, it doesn’t. All generic TLDs are treated the same by search engines. So, for example, a .com domain won’t help your site rank any higher or faster than a .info domain.

However, when it comes to country-code TLDs (ccTLDs) — such as .ca or .co.uk — then the answer is yes, these can affect your site’s rankings in different geographic locations.

Search engines usually give priority to websites using a ccTLD in search results shown to users in the corresponding country, while they may be excluded from search results shown to users elsewhere.

What characters are/aren’t allowed in a domain name?

These are the basic guidelines regarding what’s allowed and what’s not allowed in a domain name:

• It can have both letters and numbers/digits
• It can start and/or end with a digit
• It cannot contain any special characters other than a hyphen (-)
• It cannot start or end with a hyphen

Are domain names case sensitive?

No, domain names are not case sensitive. It doesn’t matter if you use lowercase or uppercase letters when registering or accessing a domain name since both will work and return the same result.

However, it’s customary to use lowercase letters for domains because capitalized names can be more painful on the eye and harder to read.

Also read: Reddit Picks: Best Domain Registrar to Use in 2024

References

• Katyanna Quach (June 18, 2023) “Google Domains to shut down, bought up by Squarespace.” The Register (link: https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/18/google_domains_shutting_down/)
• “Regular Rates Summary.” Domain.com (link: https://www.domain.com/help/article/regular-rates-summary)
• “How Much Does A Domain Name Cost? Prices Of Domains / TLD’s.” Bluehost (link: https://www.bluehost.com/help/article/domain-name-pricing)
• “Endurance International Group.” Wikipedia (link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endurance_International_Group)
• Mark Basch (February 11, 2021) “Web.com merges with competitor, becoming Newfold Digital.” Jacksonville Daily Record (link: https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2021/feb/11/web-com-merges-with-competitor-becoming-newfold-digital/)
• “The Best Cheap Domain Registrar According to Reddit.” Reddit (link: https://www.reddit.com/r/SiteWays/comments/162841o/the_best_cheap_domain_registrar_according_to/)
• Kyle Byers (January 30, 2022) “Domain Extensions: .com vs .org, .net, .io & 4 Other TLDs (Study).” GrowthBadger (link: https://growthbadger.com/top-level-domains/)
• “Does Capitalization and Spaces Matter in Internet Addresses?” Computer Hope (link: https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000709.htm)
• Lindsey Miller (July 29, 2022) “Domain Naming Best Practices & Guidelines.” Nexcess (link: https://www.nexcess.net/blog/domain-naming-best-practices/)

Disclosure: This article contains some affiliate links that may result in a small commission paid to me at no extra cost to you. This helps support my independent research and writing efforts and is much appreciated.