GoDaddy alternative?

[Tonearm]

I can't take it anymore. They're always trying to trick me into buying something when all I want to do is renew my domains and now I couldn't even get their Javascript-laden site to work in Firefox so I had to fire up Opera to complete my renewal. Is there an alternative registrar that is as inexpensive and provides a better experience?

[Brett_Tabke]

First, we don't like to get into recommending one service over another service because many registrar employees participate here.

Well, that is a tough one - all, registrars are pretty sucky interfaces. Most were written in the late 90's and have only had random coats of 2.0 paint put on them.

That said, if you still to some of the bigger names your quality will be all near the same. Sites like:

Register.com Networksolutions Enom Dotster Tucows Moniker

Those will all work about the same.

[Tonearm]

Alright, it sounds like there isn't much in the way of superior alternatives. GoDaddy used to be the superior alternative. :(

[Webwork]

From my monitoring the "registrar dialogue" it appears, for that past several years+, that they all equally suck in their own special way.

Re GoDaddy - GD nailed the "successful domain registrar" model a long time ago, which is why they're as big a player as they are. The money was never going to be in providing domain registration. Noooo. They money was always going to be in the (overpriced) value(?) added services: hosting, privacy, blah blah blah. GoDaddy has always pushed a seemingly endless supply of "addition offers you should consider". Bleh. Just renew my damned domains. NOW, thank you.

Other than the "common suck factor" my persistant relationship with Moniker, since Monte's departure, would border on inexplicable. I can't say I've had serious issue with Moniker but I will say that I miss the old days of being able to promptly get someone knowledgable, able and "sounding concerned about me/my business" on the phone. But, as I indicate above, the money/profit isn't in selling domains, customer service, etc. The real money is now in the registrar grabbing any dropping domains . . and parking them . . and putting them up for auction . . or keeping them and parking them once the newest version of traffic testing (redemption cycle) reveals there's money to be had.

[ron15]

I disagree with the previous comments implying that all registrars suck.

I am very happy with <my favorite domain registrar> .com. Their interface is good, and prices are excellent. They won't try to trick you like Godaddy.

And as an FYI, Godaddy is generally considered the worst of the worst.

[edited by: Webwork at 2:32 pm (utc) on Dec 11, 2011]
[edit reason] We mostly avoid endorsement threads. Sometimes unendorsements of everyone are OK :p [/edit]

[davezan]

Or put another way, all registrars suck in one way or another. :P

David

[Webwork]

:)

Hey, it's a democracy. Everybody gets to vote.

Today the option to vote is "they all suck, in one way or another". Despite their imperfections (it's not that they all really suck) we tend to settle for the imperfect one that best fits us. (Think of it as a marriage that works, with human frailty/shortcomings, versus a divorce leading to the realization that the grass really isn't greener - there's just different weeds.)

Since, over the years, I've had the opportunity to play with more than 30 registrars UI's that makes me pretty well qualified to vote . . more than once. :P

Alrighty, in light of BT's comment and to fend off any in rush of registrar fanboys/girls, I think I'm declaring "vote for your favorite registrar day" over by closing this thread - with the following advice.

Domain registration costs are so cheap that it really is easy, a no-brainer, to sort out this issue.

All you have to do is transfer 1 domain and pay 1 years renewal fee to see just how well any registrar's UI and customer service "works for you".

For about $100 you can renew 10 of your domains and try out ~10 registrars and then choose the 1 that works for you "this year", remembering that "lasts forever" (As in "Wow, this registrar is GREAT!") is an experience seldom encountered in the world of business operations . . albeit the McDonald's hamburger has been a consistently same product . . :P ("Damning by faint praise" anyone?)