
NameCheap is More Popular Than GoDaddy Among HackerNews Users - matt1
http://www.leandomainsearch.com/blog/28-namecheap-is-the-most-popular-registrar-for-hackernews-users
======
smacktoward
I would imagine chlamydia is more popular than GoDaddy among Hacker News
users...

~~~
indiecore
Doesn't that entail having sex? I'd check your figures.

------
nicholassmith
News just in: HackerNews users read HackerNews and avoid companies with bad
business practises. Pretty much everyone I know with a GoDaddy domain shifted
them over the last 18 months, even if it cost them more, as they didn't want
to take the chance of sticking with GoDaddy too much longer.

------
Osiris
Disclosure: I work at GoDaddy and I still don't own any domains with them. I
find that I can get better rates from other places (like Namecheap).

However, I do use their DNS control panel (dns.godaddy.com). You can put in
any external domain (no need to transfer). Their DNS manager supports almost
every type of record including AAAA and TXT. It's much better than the DNS
managers I've used in the past.

I would point out, however, that GoDaddy's focus is on small businesses that
(generally) aren't tech savvy and want to buy a domain with email and a
hosting account. Those of us that are more tech savvy are more likely to find
better prices for various products at different places rather than paying the
extra for the convenience of getting it all in one place.

GoDaddy offers a lot of products I didn't even know existing before I started
working here, like Online Storage.

~~~
aGHz
I guess this would be a good place to ask. I remember a while ago using a DNS
provider that actually let you edit your zone file in a textarea, but I can't
for the life of me remember which one it was. Does anyone know?

~~~
Osiris
GoDaddy's has a "Bulk Edit" feature and an "Import/Export" feature that may do
what you're looking for, though I haven't used either myself.

------
danso
GoDaddy is definitely cheaper than Dreamhost...but I prefer the
latter...because by the time I've figured out how to do something simple in
GoDaddy, I've wasted much more money (converting my hourly-rate-to-dollars)
than if I had just done the setup in Dreamhost...

Of course, that setup-cost would go down if I used GD all the time. However,
my brief experience with them is that they nickel and dime you for a lot of
things...is this still the case? For example, private-registration (obscuring
your WHOIS by having it be under something like "Dreamhost Services") cost
$9.99 a year...DH offers domains for $9.99 and private-registration is the
default.

Also, I hate feeling like I'm logging onto an adult site when I'm just trying
to configure DNS. I know sex sells but GD is just shameless.

~~~
drzaiusapelord
Money isn't really an issue for me as we're talking a couple dollars of
difference. Ignoring Godaddy's politics, I would still not use them because
their web interface is not only terrible its also user hostile. Its all
upsells and ads.

I'd put up with this crap for a free service, but when you're a commodity then
you better add some non-negative value to your service.

Jesus, how did GD get so big anyway? Are horny geeks this gullible?

~~~
Osiris
(GoDaddy employee) There's a huge internal push right now to significantly
simplify the website.

For example, there was an email was used to send out with new accounts that
had tons of ads and coupons. No one clicked on it. We're working on a new
simple one with one button and small 20% off coupon at the bottom. Conversions
went from 0% to 28%.

~~~
SkyMarshal
Nice. You guys should check out Name.com as a good example of UI/UX design for
a domain site. It's one of the most soothing on the Internet. Sometimes I log
in when I don't even have anything to do there, just to enjoy the UX.

~~~
pwf
Maybe it's just me, but having a bunch of strangers staring at me on the
landing page was a pretty poor user experience.

------
PakG1
I think a ton of people switched during the whole SOPA thing, besides the bad
services. You know what, this reminds of that South Park episode where that
big box retailer moves in, grows so big, everyone burns it down to the ground
and sings kumbaya together, and starts supporting a local retailer instead.
The local retailer becomes so successful that it grows and grows until it's as
big and evil as the old big box retailer. Then they all burn it down again and
sing kumbaya again. I'm just saying I wouldn't be surprised if one day
namecheap also eventually turned rotten in eyes of the HN crowd. I'm not
predicting that it will happen, I'm just saying I wouldn't be surprised.

~~~
singular
There is a significant difference in that Go Daddy has specifically engaged in
bad business practices, whereas namecheap appear to care about not doing that,
so it's not so much about size as behaviour.

~~~
Rayne
I think he was implying that there is a correlation between size and evilness
and that if namecheap grows too large, it could potentially turn evil.

------
xenophonf
I moved everything off Dotster to Gandi this summer. While good business
practices were a major factor in my vendor selection process, I also had
important technical reasons for choosing Gandi - namely, they supported IPv6
and DNSSEC as well as complete XML-RPC API. Gandi also has done an excellent
job translating their user interfaces and documentation into the languages I
and my clients use. Other vendors (NameCheap and EasyDNS included, to pick the
top two vendors mentioned on Hacker News during the SOPA/PIPA debates) are
English-only and only offer modern DNS features in beta (or charge more for
the same).

------
subpixel
I recently talked to a potential client about a major project that started out
as an internal discussion about how to get off GoDaddy. I think there were
GoDaddy whois results showing up in Google that they thought presented them in
a bad light.

~~~
aioprisan
How does a whois record matter to a company? Do customers look that up? And
why would NameCheap being the vendor matter at all? Is something like Lycos
better?

~~~
Turing_Machine
Right. It's hard to imagine anyone clueful enough to do a whois who wasn't
also aware that the registrar is a commodity service.

------
larrik
I really expected name.com to be on that list. Is there something I don't know
about them?

~~~
matt1
27 people who chose _None of the above_ said they use Name.com which puts them
at about 1.7% of the total.

I probably should add them to the registrar list -- thanks for bringing it up.

------
zaidf
One thing GoDaddy does have is rock solid documentation. We recently had a
client I had to walk through to make a DNS change. I pretty much read him the
steps verbatim from GoDaddy's documentation as we are on the phone and it was
spot on.

~~~
balac
If you have a half decent UI you shouldn't need to read through documentation
to make a basic change like that.

~~~
zaidf
Are you suggesting my non-tech client(a surgeon) should just know how to
change his DNS?

~~~
balac
If he knows what DNS is, it should be trivial to change it. That someone who
is technical has to read through documentation to make a basic change like
that is pretty silly...

------
cm2012
I'm surprised even that many still use GoDaddy, truth be told. Though of
course some domain purchases can last for many years.

~~~
CaveTech
Their use of algorithmic prices means that you can sometimes get domains on
GoDaddy for cheaper than other registrars. Price is something that is hard to
argue against.

~~~
paulgb
Unless it's changed in the last few years, GoDaddy's administration panel is
so atrocious that even MySpace would be embarrassed to release it. If you're
as frugal with your time and sanity as you are with your money, GoDaddy is far
from an obvious choice.

~~~
PakG1
It's honestly the biggest reason I changed. It's so hard to do anything. Half
the time I ended up just calling their tech support, which is not toll free,
last time I experienced it.

~~~
Osiris
Wow people still use land lines with long distance charges these days? I can't
remember the last time I paid for "long distance". I use ObiTalk with Google
Voice for free home phone.

------
roldie
To echo the sentiment above. I use NameCheap, and am very happy with them.
Easy to use, and they leave me alone. I will never use nor recommend GoDaddy
ever again for their SOPA support, bad business practices in general,
tasteless ads (not even offensive, just bad), Bob Parsons, and horrible
product.

With plenty of competitors out there, most offering similar prices and better
services, I don't see any reason to use GoDaddy.

But it is curious that 27% still use it. I'm guessing those people are just
too lazy to switch.

------
geargrinder
If you are a domainer, with hundreds/thousands of domains, GoDaddy is hard to
beat. Price is a big part of it. Also, most people you sell domains to also
have GoDaddy accounts which makes it very easy to push domains to them.

If you don't have a lot of domains it is easier to use other registrars, and
most HN users are concerned only with their few projects.

------
StavrosK
I use NameTerrific after I saw them here, they're pretty great. They have DNS
snippets you can include in your configuration, they accept BitCoin (not that
I use it, but still), and their home page _actually shows you a list of your
domains_! None of the other registrars I tried does this (any more).

------
2mur
Switched over to <http://iwantmyname.com>

So happy to get away from GD

~~~
DASD
Are they an accredited registrar? I was under the impression they were just a
reseller.

~~~
TallboyOne
They're accredited for 80+ TLD. They also have nice, user-friendly business
practices:

<https://iwantmyname.com/about>

I love iwantmyname, I buy all my .io names from there.

~~~
DASD
Thanks. Can you point me to their company name on ICANN's list?

<http://www.icann.org/registrar-reports/accredited-list.html>

~~~
treitnauer
We are not an ICANN accredited registrar but it's something we might consider
in the future. Lots of registrars started out as resellers (or still are for
ccTLDs, e.g. eNom, Netsol going through a German registrar) so this is not an
uncommon thing.

Most of our TLDs are registered through 1API which is a pure wholesale
registrar and we're having a very close business relationship with them. I can
promise you if there ever is an issue on the registrar/registry relationship
part of the business, we will be able to solve it faster than many ICANN
registrars.

------
jarifikwa
What are some recommended registrars if one wants to minimize exposure to USA
regulators? I had previously heard Gandi, but more recently have heard the
company now operates through a US subsidiary. I'm looking to register a .is
domain.

~~~
freejack
All gTLD registrations are subject to U.S. law. Its an artifact of the
structure of the market and technology.

If you want a reasonably safe registration, pick a domain in a country-code
TLD with laws you like and registry directly with the registry.

------
harrisonjackson
Seems to me that godaddy often has lower prices on domains - sure their tools
and customer service are poor - but once you point the nameservers at route53
you never have to login to godaddy again! 1 thing I have always liked about
godaddy is their donations option at checkout. You can round up to the nearest
dollar and donate the extra few cents to the charity of your choosing. More
sites should have this as an option.

------
lnanek2
I have domains on both, namecheap doesn't cover everything, and do find
namecheap a lot cleaner and easier to use and more trouble free. Although
honestly, last domain I registered, I just did through my hosting company,
DreamHost, for minimal fuss. I trust them to have a clean panel just the same
as namecheap, but am logged into them all the time anyway for other things.

------
propercoil
I switched to namecheap after the sopa deal and because of godaddy's
aggressive email campaigns and ugly ui. I have 12 domains with them and i'm
very happy - they don't spam my email, managing my domains is easy and most
importantly, they don't go behind my back and deal with government tools to
take away the one piece of freedom i have left.

------
wyck
I also heard they don't shoot elephants.

------
wkonkel
Give Badger.com a try!

~~~
drivebyacct2
Wow, trial admin is a good idea. If the actual admin panel is as fast as that
demo is, I'm impressed.

~~~
wkonkel
We mocked out the API layer to achieve the demo so it'll be slightly slower
when it has to make real requests to our API. That said, the live version is
quite snappy!

------
abfan1127
I use a small local registrar named Namesilo.com. I've been very happy. The
best part is "No Upselling".

~~~
z92
Checked it. Doesn't seem to support Dynamic DNS. I needed one to maintain my
home servers. But looks very good and honest site.

------
gprasanth
This analysis, but for hosting provider (although most will belong in cloud)
would be interesting.

------
caioariede
I'm using name.com for years without any trouble. Don't know why it wasn't
taken into account.

------
sareon
I thought we were boycotting them? I can't remember why or for how long but
someone told me not to use them so I haven't since. Might have been Reddit
though too.

~~~
Turing_Machine
It was because of the SOPA issue. However, they backed off on that pretty
fast.

------
lectrick
Both suck. Use DynaDot (<http://www.dynadot.com/>)

They're also on the ICANN Accredited Registrar list.

------
circa
I have transferred most of my domains to hover.com and I love it. name cheap
is great too though. oh how I despise GD.

------
tjbiddle
I moved to NameCheap after 1) The SOPA ordeal and 2) I noticed GoDaddy made me
want to destroy something beautiful.

------
aioprisan
They do have amazingly cheap SSLs, I picked up a few wildcard SSLs for
<$40/year on Cyber Monday

------
cmalpeli
surprised dnsimple.com isn't there....they rock - especially if you are using
heroku...

~~~
g-garron
I have just started transferring my domains to dnsimple. I love how they
configured my google apps with one click.

------
abdophoto
I buy all my domains on there. Good service, but it's not the cheapest.

------
silasb
I think they all suck. We need a open solution to DNS.

~~~
freejack
Umm.

I think you mean we need an open solution to domain registration.

DNS is one of the oldest open Internet protocols.

------
twodayslate
How is this news?

------
egze
You don't say

